N-CSR 1 d681791dncsr.htm NUVEEN INVESTMENT FUNDS, INC. Nuveen Investment Funds, Inc.

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM N-CSR

CERTIFIED SHAREHOLDER REPORT OF REGISTERED MANAGEMENT

INVESTMENT COMPANIES

Investment Company Act file number 811-05309

Nuveen Investment Funds, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)

Nuveen Investments

333 West Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL 60606

(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code)

Christopher M. Rohrbacher

Vice President and Secretary

333 West Wacker Drive,

Chicago, IL 60606

(Name and address of agent for service)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (312) 917-7700

Date of fiscal year end: December 31

Date of reporting period: December 31, 2018

Form N-CSR is to be used by management investment companies to file reports with the Commission not later than 10 days after the transmission to stockholders of any report that is required to be transmitted to stockholders under Rule 30e-1 under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (17 CFR 270.30e-1). The Commission may use the information provided on Form N-CSR in its regulatory, disclosure review, inspection, and policy making roles.

A registrant is required to disclose the information specified by Form N-CSR, and the Commission will make this information public. A registrant is not required to respond to the collection of information contained in Form N-CSR unless the Form displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) control number. Please direct comments concerning the accuracy of the information collection burden estimate and any suggestions for reducing the burden to Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission, 450 Fifth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20549-0609. The OMB has reviewed this collection of information under the clearance requirements of 44 U.S.C. ss.3507.


ITEM 1. REPORTS TO STOCKHOLDERS.

 


LOGO

 

Mutual Funds

 

31 December

2018

 

Nuveen Equity Funds

 

Fund Name   Class A   Class C   Class R3   Class R6   Class I
Nuveen Global Infrastructure Fund   FGIAX   FGNCX   FGNRX   FGIWX   FGIYX
Nuveen Global Real Estate Securities Fund   NGJAX   NGJCX     NGJFX   NGJIX
Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund   NRIAX   NRICX     NRIFX   NRIIX
Nuveen Real Estate Securities Fund   FREAX   FRLCX   FRSSX   FREGX   FARCX

 

Beginning on January 1, 2021, as permitted by regulations adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, paper copies of the Funds’ annual and semi-annual shareholder reports will no longer be sent by mail, unless you specifically request paper copies of the reports. Instead, the reports will be made available on the Funds’ website (www.nuveen.com), and you will be notified by mail each time a report is posted and provided with a website link to access the report.

If you have already elected to receive shareholder reports electronically, you will not be affected by this change and you need not take any action. You may elect to receive shareholder reports and other communications from the Funds electronically anytime by contacting the financial intermediary (such as a broker-dealer or bank) through which you hold your Fund shares or, if you are a direct investor, by enrolling at www.nuveen.com/e-reports.

You may elect to receive all future shareholder reports in paper free of charge at any time by contacting your financial intermediary or, if you are a direct investor, by calling 800-257-8787 and selecting option #1. Your election to receive reports in paper will apply to all funds held in your account with your financial intermediary or, if you are a direct investor, to all your directly held Nuveen Funds and any other directly held funds within the same group of related investment companies.

 

Annual Report


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NOT FDIC INSURED  MAY LOSE VALUE  NO BANK GUARANTEE

 

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Table

of Contents

 

Chairman’s Letter to Shareholders

     4  

Portfolio Managers’ Comments

     5  

Risk Considerations and Dividend Information

     17  

Fund Performance and Expense Ratios

     21  

Holding Summaries

     30  

Expense Examples

     34  

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

     36  

Portfolios of Investments

     37  

Statement of Assets and Liabilities

     68  

Statement of Operations

     69  

Statement of Changes in Net Assets

     70  

Financial Highlights

     72  

Notes to Financial Statements

     80  

Additional Fund Information

     94  

Glossary of Terms Used in this Report

     95  

Annual Investment Management Agreement Approval Process

     98  

Directors/Trustees and Officers

     107  

 

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Chairman’s Letter to Shareholders

 

LOGO

Dear Shareholders,

The global economy seemed to reach a turning point in 2018. Growth was peaking in the U.S. and slowing elsewhere. Deregulation and tax law changes, which lowered corporate and individual tax rates and encouraged companies to repatriate overseas profits, helped boost U.S. economic growth and amplify corporate earnings during 2018. Meanwhile, a weakening housing market and a flattening yield curve in the U.S. and disappointing economic growth across Europe, China and Japan signaled caution. As the year developed, future corporate profit growth was looking less certain than at the start of the year. Adding to the uncertainty were the removal of U.S. central bank monetary stimulus, rising interest rates, a stronger U.S. dollar, trade negotiations and unpredictable politics, including Brexit and a prolonged U.S. government shutdown. Bearish sentiment intensified at the end of 2018, pressuring stocks, corporate bonds and commodities alike.

Although downside risks have been rising, the likelihood of a near-term recession remains low. Global growth is indeed slowing, but it’s still positive. The U.S. economy remains strong, even in the face of late-cycle pressures. Low unemployment and firming wages should continue to support consumer spending, and the November mid-term elections resulted in change, but no major surprises. In China, the government remains committed to using fiscal stimulus to offset softening exports. Europe also remains vulnerable to trade policy as well as Brexit uncertainty, but underlying strengths in European economies, including low unemployment that drives domestic demand, remain supportive of a mild expansion. In a slower growth environment, there are opportunities for investors who seek them more selectively.

We expect volatility and challenging conditions to persist in 2019 but also think there is potential for upside. You can prepare your investment portfolio by working with your financial advisor to review your goals, timeline and risk tolerance. On behalf of the other members of the Nuveen Fund Board, we look forward to continuing to earn your trust in the months and years ahead.

Sincerely,

 

LOGO

Terence J. Toth

Chairman of the Board

February 22, 2018

 

 

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Portfolio Managers’ Comments

 

Nuveen Global Infrastructure Fund

Nuveen Global Real Estate Securities Fund

Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund

Nuveen Real Estate Securities Fund

These Funds feature portfolio management by Nuveen Asset Management, LLC, an affiliate of Nuveen LLC. For the Nuveen Global Infrastructure Fund, Jay L. Rosenberg has been a portfolio manager since its inception in 2007 and Tryg T. Sarsland has been a portfolio manager since 2012. For the Nuveen Global Real Estate Securities Fund, Jay L. Rosenberg has been a portfolio manager since its inception in 2018, along with Scott C. Sedlak. For the Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund, both Jay L. Rosenberg and Jeffrey T. Schmitz, CFA, have been portfolio managers since the Fund’s inception in 2011. Brenda A. Langenfeld, CFA, and Tryg T. Sarsland were added as portfolio managers in 2015. Jeff Schmitz retired from Nuveen Asset Management on December 31, 2018. For the Nuveen Real Estate Securities Fund, Jay L. Rosenberg has served as a portfolio manager since he joined the Fund’s management team in 2005, while Scott C. Sedlak and Sarah Wade joined the team as portfolio managers in 2011 and 2017, respectively. Effective January 2, 2019 (subsequent to the close of this reporting period), Benjamin T. Kerl was added as a portfolio manager to the Nuveen Global Real Estate Securities Fund.

Effective January 2, 2019 (subsequent to the close of this reporting period), Jean Lin, CFA, a co-portfolio manager for the TIAA-CREF High Yield Fund and a member of the firm’s Leveraged Finance Team, joined Rosenberg, Langenfeld and Sarsland as a portfolio manager on the Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund.

Effective August 21, 2018, the Nuveen Global Infrastructure Fund and the Nuveen Global Real Estate Securities Fund have a primary benchmark change and the Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund has a secondary benchmark change. The benchmark changes reflect a change from the gross total return (“TR”) version of the Fund’s index to the net total return (“NR”) of the same index. The current total return methodology assumes full reinvestment of dividends the Funds earn on non-U.S. equities with no tax withheld. The proposed net return methodology withholds taxes on foreign dividends according to rates set by each foreign country. The proposed changes better reflect the actual foreign dividend withholding taxes incurred by the Funds, which impacts Fund performance.

Effective January 26, 2018, the Nuveen Fund Board approved an investment policy change for the Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund that allows investment of up to 5% in real assets-related senior loans.

On the following pages, the portfolio management teams for the Funds discuss the economy and financial markets, key investment strategies and the Funds’ performance for the twelve-month reporting period ended December 31, 2018.

 

 

This material is not intended to be a recommendation or investment advice, does not constitute a solicitation to buy or sell securities, and is not provided in a fiduciary capacity. The information provided does not take into account the specific objectives or circumstances of any particular investor, or suggest any specific course of action. Investment decisions should be made based on an investor’s objectives and circumstances and in consultation with his or her advisors.

Certain statements in this report are forward-looking statements. Discussions of specific investments are for illustration only and are not intended as recommendations of individual investments. The forward-looking statements and other views expressed herein are those of the portfolio managers as of the date of this report. Actual future results or occurrences may differ significantly from those anticipated in any forward-looking statements and the views expressed herein are subject to change at any time, due to numerous market and other factors. The Funds disclaim any obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or views expressed herein.

For financial reporting purposes, the ratings disclosed are the highest rating given by one of the following national rating agencies: Standard & Poor’s (S&P), Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (Moody’s) or Fitch, Inc. (Fitch). This treatment of split-rated securities may differ from that used for other purposes, such as for Fund investment policies. Credit ratings are subject to change. AAA, AA, A and BBB are investment grade ratings; BB, B, CCC, CC, C and D are below investment grade ratings. Holdings designated N/R are not rated by these national rating agencies.

Refer to the Glossary of Terms Used in this report for further definition of the terms used within this section.

 

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Portfolio Managers’ Comments (continued)

 

What factors affected the U.S. economy and financial markets during the twelve-month reporting period ended December 31, 2018?

The U.S. economy accelerated in this reporting period, with gross domestic product (GDP) growth reaching 4.2% (annualized) in the second quarter of 2018, the fastest pace since 2014, then receding to a still relatively robust 3.4% annualized rate in the third quarter of 2018, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis “third” estimate. GDP is the value of goods and services produced by the nation’s economy less the value of the goods and services used up in production, adjusted for price changes. The boost in economic activity during the second quarter of 2018 was attributed to robust spending by consumers, businesses and the government, as well as a temporary increase in exports, as farmers rushed soybean shipments ahead of China’s retaliatory tariffs. While consumer and government spending continued to drive economic growth in the third quarter, the export contribution declined as expected and both business spending and housing investment weakened. The government’s fourth quarter 2018 GDP growth estimate was not yet available due to the partial government shutdown from late December 2018 to late January 2019.

Consumer spending, the largest driver of the economy, remained well supported by low unemployment, wage gains and tax cuts. As reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate fell to 3.9% in December 2018 from 4.1% in December 2017 and job gains averaged around 219,000 per month for the past twelve months. The jobs market has continued to tighten, while average hourly earnings grew at an annualized rate of 3.2% in December 2018. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 1.9% over the twelve-month reporting period ended December 31, 2018 on a seasonally adjusted basis, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Low mortgage rates and low inventory drove home prices higher during this recovery cycle. But the price momentum slowed in recent months as mortgage rates began to drift higher and homes have become less affordable. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, which covers all nine U.S. census divisions, was up 5.2% year-over-year in November 2018 (most recent data available at the time this report was prepared). The 10-City and 20-City Composites reported year-over-year increases of 4.3% and 4.7%, respectively.

With the U.S. economy delivering a sustainable growth rate and employment strengthening, the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) policy making committee continued to incrementally raise its main benchmark interest rate. The most recent increase, in December 2018, was the fourth rate hike in 2018 and the ninth rate hike since December 2015. Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s term expired in February 2018, and the new Chairman Jerome Powell maintained the Fed’s gradual pace of interest rate hikes. However, amid signs that economic growth might have peaked, the markets’ unease about the future pace of monetary tightening, along with other factors, drove sharp volatility in the final months of 2018. Additionally, the Fed continued reducing its balance sheet by allowing a small amount of maturing Treasury and mortgage securities to roll off each month without reinvestment.

During the twelve-month reporting period, geopolitical news remained a prominent market driver. The U.S. moved forward with tariffs on imported goods from China, as well as on steel and aluminum from Canada, Mexico and Europe. These countries announced retaliatory measures in kind, intensifying concerns about a trade war, although there have been some positive developments. In July 2018, the U.S. and the European Union announced they would refrain from further tariffs while they negotiate trade terms, and in October 2018, the U.S., Mexico and Canada agreed to a new trade deal to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. At the November 2018 G-20 summit, the U.S. and China agreed to a 90-day trade truce, although the details were murky. Brexit negotiations continued to be uncertain and Prime Minister Theresa May faced significant difficulty getting a plan approved in Parliament. Elsewhere in Europe, markets remained nervous about Italy’s new euroskeptic coalition government, immigration policy and political risk in Turkey. The U.S. Treasury issued additional sanctions on Russia in April 2018 and re-imposed sanctions on Iran following the U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear agreement. Bearish crude oil supply news, along with heightened tensions between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia after the disappearance of a Saudi journalist, drove oil price volatility. On the Korean peninsula, the leaders of South Korea and North Korea met during April 2018 and jointly announced a commitment toward peace, while the U.S.-North Korea summit yielded an agreement with few additional details. In the final week of the reporting period, the U.S. government began a prolonged partial shutdown due to an impasse on border security funding (which ended in late January, subsequent to the close of the reporting period, when a temporary funding measure was passed).

The sell-off accelerated in December 2018 with the bellwether S&P 500® recording its lowest monthly return since 1931 and ending the reporting period with its worst annual return in a decade of -4.38%. Indeed, all major U.S. stock market indexes dropped sharply

 

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and ended the reporting period in the red. Earlier in the reporting period, U.S. investors favored small-cap stocks over larger-cap stocks, likely believing that these companies would benefit more from tax reform, are better insulated from the rising U.S. dollar because most of their earnings are domestic and may have less exposure to tariff-related issues. However, this segment was harder hit during the market correction at the end of the reporting period leading small caps to underperform larger companies for the period as a whole, as measured by the -11.01% return for the Russell 2000® Index. Growth-oriented stocks led value stocks through the end of September 2018 before selling off more sharply at the end of the reporting period. That said, the segment’s earlier outperformance helped growth stocks maintain their lead for the reporting period as a whole. For example, in the large-cap segment, the Russell 1000® Growth Index only lost -1.51% versus the -8.27% return of the Russell 1000® Value Index. Meanwhile, geopolitical issues in Europe, trade war concerns and signs of an economic slowdown overseas weighed heavily on developed markets outside the U.S. As a result, these markets produced much lower returns, falling -13.79% as measured by the MSCI EAFE Index. The beleaguered emerging markets also finished the reporting period in the red. Angst surrounding the U.S. trade war with China, the stronger dollar, higher U.S. interest rates and elevated political cycle turmoil in emerging market (EM) countries were several of the factors that pressured this segment throughout the reporting period and led EM stocks to sell off sharply in the final weeks. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index produced a -14.58% return in U.S. dollar terms.

Nuveen Global Infrastructure Fund

How did the Fund perform during the twelve-month period ended December 31, 2018?

The table in the Fund Performance and Expense Ratios section of this report provides total returns for the Fund for the one-year, five-year, ten-year and/or since inception periods ended December 31, 2018. Comparative performance information is provided for the Fund’s Class A Shares at net asset value (NAV). The Fund’s Class A Shares at NAV outperformed the new primary benchmark, the S&P Global Infrastructure Index NR (Net Return), the S&P Global Infrastructure Index TR (Total Return) and the Lipper classification average during the twelve-month reporting period.

What strategies were used to manage the Fund during the reporting period and how did these strategies influence performance?

The Fund seeks to provide long-term growth of capital and income by investing primarily in equity securities issued by U.S. and non-U.S. companies that typically derive the majority of their value from owned or operated infrastructure assets. During the reporting period, our strategy for managing the Fund remained consistent as we focused on buying global infrastructure companies that own and operate long life assets that have visible cash flows, strong balance sheets, manageable amounts of leverage and inelastic demand characteristics. We believe these types of companies will have ongoing access to capital and the best chances for producing sustainable and growing cash flow. The Fund is structured using a number of core infrastructure companies that we believe should provide long-term outperformance versus the market, combined with more opportunistic holdings that we believe are undervalued by the market in the short term. We have exposure around the globe to a mixture of holdings that represent significant value, as well as positions in companies that may prove to be more stable in a slowly growing global economy.

During the reporting period, the global infrastructure sector experienced weakness with the segment returning -10.37% as measured by the S&P Global Infrastructure Index NR, underperforming domestic equities (S&P 500®) by nearly 6%. The segment also fell short of global equities, as measured by the MSCI All Country World Index, which returned -9.42%. After a strong year for global infrastructure in 2017, the sector lost its momentum for much of 2018. Defensive categories such as infrastructure remained out of favor for the first nine months of 2018 as investors clamored for higher earnings growth amidst the backdrop of higher interest rates. The long-dated nature of many of the contracts and concession agreements that govern infrastructure company revenues makes their cash flow streams more visible, which provides defensive characteristics relative to broader equities. However, this same factor also makes infrastructure companies more sensitive to interest rate increases. Therefore, as rates rose somewhat quickly in the first part of the reporting period, stock prices within the infrastructure group were under pressure. In the final months of the reporting period, however, defensive categories like infrastructure returned to favor as markets digested potentially slowing economic growth, downward earnings revisions, and substantial trade and geopolitical risks, while investors clamored for more stable earnings amidst the backdrop of a “risk-off” environment.

 

7


Portfolio Managers’ Comments (continued)

 

Within the benchmark index, electric utilities and rail holdings were the only sectors that posted positive, albeit modest absolute returns for the reporting period. Electric utilities, a more stable and highly regulated area within infrastructure, performed the best among all of the sectors within the infrastructure benchmark, particularly during the market sell-off. Although rising interest rates often pose headwinds to lower growth/higher dividend yield sectors such as electric utilities, the lower volatility characteristics of their businesses helped the group. The rail sector performed well because the segment had stronger underlying fundamentals and was more tied to an improving economy, which helped offset the impact of rising rates.

The weakest areas within the index were the diversified infrastructure, ports and midstream energy sectors. The diversified infrastructure sector fell almost 40% mainly due to issues surrounding Macquarie Infrastructure Corporation, discussed in more detail below. Macquarie Infrastructure was the only benchmark constituent in the diversified infrastructure sector until partway through the reporting period, when Chinese company Shenzhen International Holdings Limited was added. Ports, especially Chinese ports, struggled under the escalating rhetoric concerning the trade war between the U.S. and China. The sector was down nearly 25% in the index. Master limited partnerships (MLPs) and pipelines alike were adversely impacted by negative sentiment in the energy industry largely stemming falling crude oil prices, which could result in lower growth in the future for the segment. Broadly, MLPs in the Alerian MLP Index retreated more than 12% while C-corp pipelines experienced a 16% fall.

Specifically as it related to the Fund, outperformance was driven by the airport, diversified infrastructure, port and pipeline sectors. As a partial offset, the Fund experienced weakness from the electric utilities and water utilities sectors.

Airports contributed the most to relative performance, mainly due to our security selection and underweight position in this poorly performing sector. The sector was down more than 16% within the index during the reporting period. The main culprit weighing on the sector in the index was British aircraft services firm BBA Aviation PLC. Shares traded off fairly substantially after the company reported lower operating margins in the first half of 2018 due to weaker-than-expected growth in U.S. business and the overall aviation market. We did not own BBA Aviation in our portfolio because a very large portion of its business is tied to the highly cyclical aircraft fueling industry, which we don’t believe is a good fit for the Fund’s strategy. Also, performance benefited from our underweight position in all three publicly traded Mexican airport groups. We opted to underweight these names due to uncertainty regarding the renegotiation of NAFTA, which could have impacted freight volumes and throughputs, along with political rhetoric during the most recent election where the leftist candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador intimated discontent about the privatized airport model. These concerns, combined with reservations about the Mexican peso’s strength relative to the U.S. dollar, led us to maintain an underweight position. Following the election, Mexican airport stocks rebounded for a short time until October 2018 when new president AMLO, as he’s referred to, lived up to his negative campaign rhetoric and held a referendum on whether or not to continue construction on the new $13 billion Mexico City airport project that was already in progress. Even though only about 1% of the population cast a vote, AMLO declared that he would stand by the results, which were in favor of cancelling the project. This caused shares of all Mexican airport companies to falter and potentially casts a pall on private Mexican investment in general. The move was seen as hostile to the private sector and raises concerns about the health of the Mexican democracy. Additionally, the Fund benefited from no exposure to Chinese airport operator Beijing Capital International Airport Co. Ltd.

Security selection in the diversified infrastructure sector was also a significant contributor to the Fund’s performance. As noted above, this sector within our benchmark was down almost 40% during the reporting period, primarily driven by the largest benchmark constituent, Macquarie Infrastructure Corporation. While Macquarie Infrastructure is classified as a diversified infrastructure company, its largest business is oil and gas storage. We typically prefer to gain access to these types of companies through more “pure-play” pipeline and MLP companies, rather than owning this name. Therefore, our portfolio had a significant underweight position in the stock. Macquarie’s new CEO, Christopher Frost, took over the company reigns just before the reporting period began. In February 2018, he held a detrimental earnings call where he guided 2018 cash flow lower by 8-10% and announced a dividend cut of approximately 28%, causing a significant drop in Macquarie Infrastructure’s shares. As a result, the Fund’s underweight in the name was responsible for nearly all of the outperformance in the diversified infrastructure sector.

Stock selection within ports also contributed to the Fund’s relative outperformance during the reporting period. We positioned the Fund with underweight positions in all three Chinese seaport index constituents, including Hutchison Port Holdings Trust, China Merchants Port Holdings Co., Ltd. and COSCO SHIPPING Ports Limited, which resulted in most of its relative outperformance for the group. Shares of these companies suffered sharp sell-offs due to the escalating trade war rhetoric between the U.S. and China. The

 

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Trump Administration placed tariffs on aluminum and steel imports, and then followed later in the reporting period with tariffs on hundreds of other Chinese goods. The potential reduction in demand, which would lead to a slowdown in overall trade, weighed heavily on Chinese port stocks.

The pipeline sector also contributed favorably to the Fund’s relative performance during the reporting period, mainly due to our lack of exposure to Brazilian storage and distribution company Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. The company’s shares dropped sharply due to ongoing higher inflation in Brazil, U.S. dollar strength, and most importantly, an investigation into three of the country’s biggest fuel distribution companies over price fixing allegations. Also, more broadly speaking, our underweight position in C-corp pipeline companies relative to the benchmark benefited performance as the reporting period progressed. While valuations appeared reasonably attractive in the pipeline sector, investor demand remained muted and a sharp drop in the price of crude oil later in the reporting period caused some downward pressure on the companies in the space.

The Fund’s relative results were hampered by our underweight to electric utilities, the largest sector by weight in our benchmark. Although we shifted our portfolio to its highest weighting in the electric utilities sector in several years, it still remained underweight primarily for two reasons. First, we prefer to be more diversified than the benchmark across all the potential investment areas within infrastructure. Second, we are uncomfortable investing in several electric utilities companies in the benchmark with business models that make them somewhat commodity price sensitive. In particular, the Fund’s results were hurt by no exposure to Exelon Corporation and Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. and underweight positions in CLP Holdings Limited, Enel SpA, DTE Energy Company and Southern Company. Given the performance strength of the electric utilities group versus most other areas, our underweight was the largest drag on the Fund’s performance.

Water utilities also detracted modestly from relative performance, mainly due to our out-of-benchmark position in China Everbright International Limited and our overweight position in Beijing Enterprises Water Group. Generally speaking, Chinese equities experienced a significant pullback amidst the escalating trade tensions between China and the U.S. Also, U.S. dollar strength broadly weighed on emerging markets. The Chinese government continues to provide significant support for environmental service companies like China Everbright that operate water, waste-to-energy and biomass energy facilities. Beijing Enterprises Water experienced a significant drop in its share price primarily due to a Fiscal Year 2017 earnings miss and subsequent downward reduction in earnings growth rate guidance for 2018. One of the biggest reasons for investors’ concern and the company’s guidance revision was the recent scrutiny of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) activity in China. The Chinese government ordered a thorough review of all PPP projects and their funding schemes throughout the country. Unfortunately, Beijing Enterprises Water had recently tilted its business significantly toward the PPP model. Although the company maintained a healthy project backlog and comfortable funding position following an equity issuance, we sold our position because Beijing Enterprises’ medium and long-term strategy remains uncertain as it awaits details surrounding the PPP rules and funding guidelines.

Toward the end of the reporting period, we began to shift the Fund’s positioning. Earlier in the reporting period, we favored areas that disproportionately benefit from ongoing economic growth trends, versus more defensive and interest rate sensitive sectors within infrastructure, due to ongoing economic growth, fiscal stimulus and the likelihood of higher interest rates. In the final months, we took the opportunity to reduce the Fund’s overall beta, or market sensitivity, and add to areas where our conviction in company earnings was highest and to companies whose business models are less correlated to the global economic cycle. Generally speaking, we began to focus more heavily on mitigating downside risk given how late it appears to be in the business cycle and how much downside volatility we saw in global equity markets late in 2018. While we did not completely abandon higher growth areas within infrastructure, we did modestly decrease exposure, which essentially provided the funds to rebalance the portfolio by adding back to some of the more defensive sectors.

We have begun to favor higher exposure to more defensive areas like utilities given potential deceleration in global growth and earnings. That, combined with more dovish comments made recently from the Fed, may also indicate less upward pressure on interest rates in 2019 relative to 2018, making slower growth, higher dividend paying companies potentially more attractive. We believe these companies could hold up better in more volatile equity markets. Given the U.S. implementation of hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs on trade with China, we are watching for any signs of fundamental deterioration in the areas that would be most negatively impacted by a trade war such as the seaport, airport, toll road and freight rail areas.

 

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Portfolio Managers’ Comments (continued)

 

Geographically, we continued to keep the portfolio well diversified. At the end of the reporting period, the Fund had broad exposure to well over 20 different countries. We prefer to spread our holdings out over many geographies and regulatory jurisdictions to mitigate risk.

Nuveen Global Real Estate Securities Fund

How did the Fund perform during the abbreviated reporting period from the Fund’s commencement of operations on March 20, 2018 through December 31, 2018?

The table in the Fund Performance and Expense Ratios section of this report provides total returns for the Fund for the abbreviated since inception period ended December 31, 2018. Comparative performance information is provided for the Fund’s Class A Shares at net asset value (NAV). The Fund’s Class A Shares at NAV underperformed the FTSE EPRA/Nareit Developed Index TR (Total Return) and the new benchmark FTSE EPRA/Nareit Developed Index NR (Net Return), but outperformed its Lipper classification Average during the abbreviated since inception reporting period.

What strategies were used to manage the Fund during the reporting period and how did these strategies influence performance?

The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation with a secondary objective to provide current income. The Fund invests in income-producing equities of companies engaged in the real estate industry. Applying a fundamentally based, relative value process, the investment team diversifies across geographies and sectors of listed global commercial real estate by investing at least 80% of the sum of its net assets and the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes in common stocks, preferred securities and other equity securities issued by U.S. and non-U.S. companies in the real estate industry, including real estate investment trusts (REITs) and similar REIT-like entities. REITs are types of real estate companies that pool investors’ funds for investment in real estate or in real estate related loans or other interests. REITs in the U.S. are generally not taxed on income distributed to shareholders so long as they meet certain requirements of the Internal Revenue Code. Foreign REITs and REIT-like entities are organized outside of the U.S. and generally have operations and receive tax treatment in their respective countries similar to that of U.S. REITs, though some countries may have REIT-like structures that are significantly different from U.S. REITs or may not have adopted a REIT-like structure at all. Equity securities in which the Fund may invest may be of any market capitalization, including small- and mid-capitalization companies.

The Fund may invest at least 40% of its net assets in securities of non-U.S. issuers and, in any case, will invest at least 30% of its net assets in such issuers. The Fund will invest in securities of issuers in at least three different countries and may invest up to 25% of its total assets in securities of emerging market issuers.

The Fund may utilize derivatives, including options, futures contracts, options on futures contracts, and forward foreign currency exchange contracts. The Fund may use these derivatives to manage market or business risk, enhance the Fund’s return, or hedge against adverse movements in currency exchange rates.

During the abbreviated reporting period, the underweight diversified infrastructure sector and an underweight to the mall sector were the top contributors to the Fund’s relative performance, while health care REITs and net lease detracted from results. By country, the Fund’s exposures to the U.K. and Australia added value overall, while a slight underweight to U.S. investments generally detracted.

The Fund’s leading contribution during the abbreviated reporting period came from favorable stock selection and an underweight position in the poorly performing mall sector. The Fund maintained a significant underweight to malls, largely the result of ongoing negative secular trends affecting brick-and-mortar retail due to the growth of ecommerce and the resulting concerns about oversupply and continued retail store closures. Additionally, in light of a potential economic slowdown, many of the mall companies displayed substantially more downside volatility given their direct ties to the individual consumer. Several of the larger constituents in the benchmark were down more than 20% during the reporting period. The Fund’s positive attribution was spread throughout the group given the underweights we maintained in most of the index constituents.

In the diversified infrastructure sector, the Fund benefited from both security selection and an underweight position in this sector. Specifically, the favorable impact from the sector was primarily the result of underweights to Brookfield Property REIT and the large

 

10


U.K.-domiciled diversified infrastructure companies. Brookfield Property Partners finalized its previously announced acquisition of General Growth Properties, the nation’s second largest regional mall owner. In connection with the deal, the company created a new U.S. REIT, Brookfield Property REIT. We had previously owned General Growth Properties as a pure-play mall company in our portfolio, but opted not to wait to convert to the Brookfield Property REIT shares due to differences in the underlying businesses and assets. This proved beneficial because Brookfield Property’s shares sold off fairly significantly after completion of the transaction with some of the weakness coming from technical pressure as the newly formed REIT was given a smaller weighting in several REIT indices. The U.K. underweight was the result of elevated political risk due to uncertainty surrounding Brexit. The environment there put significant downside pressure on U.K.-based stocks and our underweight contributed significantly to the outperformance within the diversified infrastructure sector.

Conversely, the Fund underperformed in the health care REIT sector mainly because of our underweight allocation to the group as a whole. The sector faced a mix of fundamental issues such as lower year-over-year senior housing earnings growth, tenant concerns in skilled nursing, slower external growth in medical office, and a fear of rising interest rates, which more adversely impacts this longer duration sector. That said, our portfolio’s underweight was primarily based on some ongoing challenges in the senior housing and skilled nursing areas. During the reporting period, however, any investor concerns around occupancy and profitability were overshadowed during the late 2018 market sell-off by demand for the defensive characteristics that health care REITs typically exhibit. As a result, the Fund’s underweight positioning detracted from both relative and absolute returns as the health care REIT segment posted a positive total return during the reporting period.

Finally, our underweight position in the net lease sector detracted from relative returns. We positioned the Fund with an underweight because of many of the companies’ exposures to retail-oriented businesses and the longer-term leases that are usually prevalent in the group. However, the long-duration nature of the leases in the sector became a benefit during the reporting period and especially in the fourth quarter 2018 when investors sought out companies with more certain cash flows. The net lease sector posted positive overall returns when most other sectors and broader equities were down for the reporting period.

Toward the end of the reporting period, we added modestly to the Fund’s U.S. real estate exposure, but ended the reporting period still slightly underweight relative to the benchmark. We added most significantly to Japanese exposure because these companies demonstrated superior defensive characteristics throughout the difficult fourth quarter 2018. This brought the Fund’s weight in Japan back to relatively neutral versus the index. We added to German opportunities during the country’s market weakness, while reducing the portfolio’s overall weight to Australia.

By sector, the industrial area remained the Fund’s largest overweight. We continued to favor the sector because of the positive trends of ecommerce retailing that are driving demand for space, in addition to relatively well-contained supply, positive property price appreciation and net operating income growth. Likewise, positive supply and demand trends within data centers and cell phone towers also drove the Fund’s second largest overweight in the technology infrastructure sector. In the cell tower area, global tower densification continues on the back of individual and corporate demands for more data. Meanwhile, the data center industry continued to benefit from demand for space to house servers to support several themes including cloud computing, big data and web-based enterprise technology solutions. The Fund’s largest underweight was in retail malls, mostly resulting from the ongoing disruption caused by ecommerce trends.

Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund

How did the Fund perform during the twelve-month period ended December 31, 2018?

The table in the Fund Performance and Expense Ratios section of this report provides total returns for the Fund for the one-year, five-year and since inception periods ended December 31, 2018. Comparative performance information is provided for the Fund’s Class A Shares at net asset value (NAV). The Fund’s Class A Shares at NAV outperformed the new Real Asset Income Blend benchmark and the Lipper classification average, but underperformed the old Real Asset Income Blend benchmark and the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High Yield Bond Index during the twelve-month reporting period.

 

11


Portfolio Managers’ Comments (continued)

 

What strategies were used to manage the Fund during the reporting period and how did these strategies influence performance?

The Fund seeks a high level of current income with a secondary objective of capital appreciation by investing in a global portfolio of infrastructure and commercial real estate related securities (i.e. real assets) across the capital structure. These securities include a combination of infrastructure and real estate common stock, infrastructure and real estate preferred stock, and infrastructure and real estate related debt. Our goal is to combine these securities into a portfolio that provides investors with an attractive level of income and dampens levels of risk versus the broader equity market. We continued to select securities using an investment process that screens for companies and assets across the real assets market that provide higher yields. From the group of securities providing significant yields, we focus on owning those companies and securities with the highest total return potential in the Fund. Our process places a premium on finding securities whose revenues come from tangible assets with long-term concessions, contracts or leases and are therefore capable of producing steady, predictable and recurring cash flows. The Fund’s management team employs a bottom-up, fundamental approach to security selection and portfolio construction. We look for stable companies that demonstrate consistent and growing cash flow, strong balance sheets and histories of being good stewards of shareholder capital. Also earlier in the reporting period, the Fund invested in long and short U.S. Treasury future contracts to hedge against interest rate risk within the high yield bond portfolio. We closed out this position before the end of the reporting period.

During the reporting period, none of the five of the “real asset” categories represented in the Real Asset Income Blend benchmark produced positive absolute returns. While all of the sectors were in the red, the high yield segment declined the least among the five categories. That said, the sector was not immune to credit spread volatility caused by fluctuating Treasury rates, trade war tensions and questions regarding the length of the credit cycle. Spreads versus Treasuries ended the reporting period 200 basis points wider than where they started. The high yield segment also experienced large investor outflows, accelerating into the end of the reporting period, which drove prices lower despite the positive technical of limited issuance. Nonetheless, credit fundamentals remained solid. Balance sheet leverage and coverage metrics remained consistent with mid-cycle expansion and corporate earnings continued to validate strong fundamentals, even as earnings growth rates moderated. Although some of the interest rate pressure subsided toward the end of 2018, the high yield sector still posted a -2.08% return as measured by the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High Yield Bond Index TR over the reporting period.

Real estate investment trust (REIT) stocks experienced some significant volatility during the reporting period, but managed to outperform broader equity markets. After remaining fairly flat throughout 2017, the 10-year Treasury rate was pressured upward for much of the reporting period. This caused a correction in REIT prices early on as investors sought higher growth and less rate-sensitive investments to defend against the effects of higher interest rates in the U.S. However, as the reporting period progressed, the REIT sector made up some of its previously lost ground, particularly during the sharp market sell-off in the final quarter of 2018. Investors rewarded the steadier earnings of real estate equities, at least in relative terms, in the late-year 2018 “risk-off” environment as markets digested potentially slowing economic growth, downward earnings revisions, and substantial trade and geopolitical risks. The public commercial real estate sector ended the reporting period with a -5.63% return as measured by the FTSE EPRA/Nareit Developed Index NR, outperforming the broader global equity markets, which returned -8.71% as measured by the MSCI World Index. REITs also significantly outpaced global infrastructure common shares, which were the worst-performing sector within our custom benchmark during the reporting period as measured by the -10.37% return for the S&P Global Infrastructure Index. After a strong year for global infrastructure in 2017, the sector lost its momentum in 2018. The segment, which is even more defensive than real estate, remained out of favor for much of 2018 for many of the same reasons that plagued real estate, but also outperformed the broader equity market in the “risk-off” environment toward the end of the reporting period.

Similar variables weighed on the performance of preferred securities through much of the reporting period, including rising interest rates, nagging geopolitical headlines, increasingly tense trade war rhetoric between the U.S. and China, and wider spreads across most credit sectors within fixed income. The two preferred indexes within the Fund’s Custom Blended Benchmark finished the reporting period down fairly significantly with the Wells Fargo Hybrid & Preferred Securities REIT Index returning -7.34% and the Bloomberg Barclays Global Capital Securities Index falling by -5.93% for the reporting period.

We attempt to add value versus the Real Asset Income Blend benchmark in two ways: by re-allocating money among five main security types when we see pockets of value at differing times and, more importantly, through individual security selection. During the reporting period, the Fund’s global infrastructure common equity, REIT common equity and high yield segments produced favorable

 

12


results relative to the benchmark. The two preferred segments within the portfolio, infrastructure preferred and REIT preferred, detracted from relative results.

Global infrastructure equity was the leading contributor to the Fund’s performance versus the blended benchmark. Our positioning within energy infrastructure, especially midstream pipeline companies, as well as our underweight in the airport sector were responsible for the majority of the outperformance. As noted above, defensive equities such as real estate and infrastructure were both under pressure at the beginning of the reporting period due to rising interest rates in the U.S., while energy shares also generally underperformed. The pipeline sector within the S&P Global Infrastructure Index was down as investors preferred to allocate capital elsewhere. While our underweight to the group added value as a result of the difficult absolute returns in the space, our security selection contributed much more in terms of relative outperformance. As volatility increased in the global marketplace and fundamentals across and within sectors diverged, security selection became more important. Within pipelines, the Fund’s weighted average return was strongly positive. The Fund also held almost no exposure to airports, a sector that represents nearly 5% of our benchmark and fell more than 16% in the index. Airports, which have a higher sensitivity to the global economic cycle than many other areas of infrastructure investment, were caught up in the general equity market sell-off. Our portfolio tends to underweight airports because these securities typically don’t offer much in terms of yield.

The real estate common equity segment also contributed to the Fund’s relative returns versus the blended benchmark, mostly due to strong security selection within the group. One of the portfolio’s largest overweights, health care REITs, added the most value. The group provides a substantial set of companies with dividend yields that qualify for portfolio inclusion based on the primary objective of providing investors with income. Investment opportunities within the health care REIT area are also largely limited to the U.S., which helped both in absolute and relative terms given the strength of U.S. real estate over non-U.S. during the reporting period. The companies in the portfolio with skilled nursing assets performed especially well because they were given a boost when a more favorable reimbursement system was announced with better-than-expected rates for fiscal 2019. Another contribution came from the Fund’s overweight and selection within the industrial real estate area. Across the globe, the industrial area benefited from strong underlying fundamentals resulting from the secular tailwinds from ecommerce demand. As demand for industrial space to facilitate home delivery of goods purchased online continued to outpace existing supply in most markets throughout the world, cap rates continued to decline as property values showed strength during the reporting period. Merger and acquisition activity in the segment also provided share price support. As a result of the underlying fundamental strength, industrial companies held up much better than most property groups during the difficult period, producing positive returns.

In the debt portion of our portfolio, an overweight position and security selection in the defensive electric utility sector were the primary drivers of relative outperformance in the segment. Investors sought the safety of more consistent earnings streams during the market downturn later in the reporting period across all parts of the capital structure. Within this particular category, the Fund’s holdings were collectively up more than 7% while the high yield universe as measured by our representative index was down by more than 2%.

The infrastructure preferred area hindered performance primarily because of the Fund’s overweight to pipelines and electric utilities. These types of securities, which include fixed-to-floating rate, fixed-to-fixed rate and convertible preferreds, are more commonly found in electric utilities and pipelines, contributing to some of the Fund’s overweight positioning in the sectors. However, late in the reporting period, these securities detracted because interest rates reversed course and moved lower toward the end of the reporting period. Also, these types of issues came under technical pressure because of outflows from exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that invest in these structures, and a relative value trade as investors shifted from variable-rate securities into securities with higher yields. In addition, widening credit spreads, especially within the midstream space, put pressure on prices.

The REIT preferred equity segment was a modest detractor to the Fund’s relative results versus its benchmark. The majority of underperformance came from not owning several of the benchmark constituents that outperformed the securities the Fund did own. Additionally, an underweight position in the self-storage area negatively impacted relative returns for 2018. We were concerned about significant amounts of new supply in the self-storage market potentially impacting pricing and causing slowing earnings in the space throughout 2018. However, the defensive characteristics of this sub-property type quelled those concerns and the group outperformed most others during the reporting period.

 

13


Portfolio Managers’ Comments (continued)

 

We continued to actively manage the Fund’s allocations among the five investment categories to reflect what we believed to be the best opportunities in our investment universe. At the beginning of 2018, we began shifting the portfolio’s weights in response to stronger U.S. economic growth, fiscal stimulus and the likelihood of higher interest rates. At that time, we began emphasizing several themes in the Fund, including a broad underweight to equities, an underweight to more interest rate sensitive fixed rate REIT preferreds, and a preference for infrastructure preferreds with security structures that possess somewhat lower rate sensitivity. We maintained this positioning throughout 2018, and in fact further decreased the Fund’s equity weighting in the final months of the reporting period by reducing our overweight in real estate equities and decreasing infrastructure equity exposure.

The Fund’s fixed income exposure was relatively neutral versus the benchmark during the reporting period. However, the composition of the debt portfolio remained higher in quality relative to historic ranges as we continue to find more value in higher-quality issues relative to the benchmark. We continued to find opportunities to invest in a number of attractive bonds with stable cash flows and minimal exposure to volatile commodity prices. We maintained a geographic representation in the debt portfolio that is similar to the equity and preferred categories. And similar to the preferred segment, utilities and pipeline infrastructure holdings remained the largest sectors in the debt portion of the portfolio at the end of the reporting period.

For a portion of the reporting period, the Fund also held long and short U.S. Treasury futures contracts to hedge against potential increases in interest rates. The contracts had a positive effect on the Fund’s performance during the reporting period.

Nuveen Real Estate Securities Fund

How did the Fund perform during the twelve-month period ended December 31, 2018?

The table in the Fund Performance and Expense Ratios section of this report provides total returns for the Fund for the one-year, five-year, ten-year and/or since inception periods ended December 31, 2018. Comparative performance information is provided for the Fund’s Class A Shares at net asset value (NAV). The Fund’s Class A Shares at NAV underperformed the MSCI U.S. REIT Index, but outperformed the Lipper classification average during the twelve-month reporting period.

What strategies were used to manage the Fund during the reporting period and how did these strategies influence performance?

The Fund seeks to provide above average income potential and long-term capital appreciation by investing in income producing common stocks of publicly traded companies engaged in the real estate industry. During the reporting period, we continued to implement the Fund’s strategy of investing on a relative value basis with a focus on individual stocks rather than economic or market cycles. We also continued to invest the Fund in a fairly sector neutral manner (with a couple of notable exceptions within the industrial, office, health care and net lease sectors) with a goal of providing a well-diversified portfolio of public real estate stocks to our shareholders. A sector neutral approach reduces the impact of any one property type on performance. Additionally, we continued to invest in a broader universe of stocks than our benchmark index to access more dynamic parts of the commercial real estate cycle.

During the reporting period, the public commercial real estate sector returned -4.57% (MSCI U.S. REIT Index), which was fairly close to the overall broader equity market return of -4.38%, as measured by the S&P 500®. However, these return numbers mask a significant shift that took place in market leadership during the reporting period. During the first nine months of the reporting period, the public commercial real estate sector significantly underperformed the broader equity market. The catalyst for real estate investment trust (REITs) underperformance was the increase in 10-year U.S. Treasury rates that began shortly after the beginning of 2018 after remaining mostly flat throughout 2017. The 10-year Treasury yield rose from 2.44% to as high as 3.24% at one point, which kept sustained pressure on REITs as investors sought higher growth and less rate-sensitive investments to defend against the effects of higher interest rates in the U.S. The tide turned abruptly in the fourth quarter of 2018 as the real estate segment significantly outperformed U.S. equities, although it did so in a down market. During the substantial stock market sell-off witnessed during the fourth quarter of 2018, the relatively stable cash flows from the lease structures of REITs provided the defensive characteristics that investors favored, leading the segment to outperform. REITs also likely benefited from a late-year decline in U.S. interest rates as they are typically a little more sensitive to rate movements than equities in general. Commercial real estate made up a lot of ground, which essentially brought the segment’s returns back in line with the broader equity market for the full year. Occupancy remained high in most real estate sectors

 

14


and ongoing economic strength and job growth kept pricing power in the hands of landlords, who continued to raise rents as previously signed leases expired. While prices recovered significantly later in the reporting period, some REITs still traded at discounts to underlying NAV at the end of the reporting period.

Specifically as it related to the Fund, relative performance was favorable in the diversified infrastructure, technology infrastructure and manufactured homes sectors. On the other hand, the Fund experienced weakness from the health care REIT, hotel REIT and net lease sectors.

The diversified infrastructure sector was the leading contributor to the Fund’s relative returns, driven almost exclusively by our lack of exposure to two large index constituents, Colony Capital Inc. (formerly called Colony NorthStar until June 25, 2018) and Brookfield Property REIT Inc. Although diversified infrastructure is a small overall weight within the benchmark, the sector was by far its worst performer, falling almost 24% during the reporting period. Colony Capital suffered a significant share price decline after announcing 2017 fourth-quarter earnings. The company cut its quarterly dividend by 59% and acknowledged ongoing weakness in its health care and hospitality segments, which may likely result in a business shift to other areas. Colony Capital also faced a class action lawsuit that claimed the company misrepresented actual earnings in its March 2018 release. Also during the reporting period, Brookfield Property Partners finalized its previously announced acquisition of General Growth Properties, the nation’s second largest regional mall owner. In connection with the deal, the company created a new U.S. REIT, Brookfield Property REIT. We had previously owned General Growth Properties as a pure-play mall company in our portfolio, but opted not to wait to convert to the Brookfield Property REIT shares due to differences in the underlying businesses and assets. This proved beneficial because Brookfield Property’s shares sold off fairly significantly after completion of the transaction with some of the weakness coming from technical pressure as the newly formed REIT was given a smaller weighting in several REIT indexes.

Another leading area of contribution during the reporting period resulted from favorable stock selection in the technology infrastructure group. The index has significant exposure to data centers, but it does not include cell phone tower companies, while we include those companies in our investable universe. During the reporting period, our underweight position in Equinix Inc. was a positive contributor. Many investors favored Equinix for its higher growth profile. While we believed the company would continue to exhibit healthy growth, expectations were lowered slightly during the reporting period, which likely contributed to some of the stock’s underperformance. Also, the Fund’s out-of-index positions in American Tower Corporation and SBA Communications Corporation aided results. Both companies bucked fourth-quarter’s sell-off trend and posted positive absolute returns for the full 2018 calendar year, while the benchmark’s data center companies were down more than 14% over the same period. Tower companies typically demonstrate more defensive characteristics, while the ongoing secular trends remained in their favor. Additionally, the earnings outlook for these companies remained relatively strong due to the likelihood of backlogs in tower construction that are slated for completion in 2019. Together these factors led to significant outperformance for our holdings in absolute terms and allowed for the Fund’s relative outperformance versus the benchmark within technology infrastructure.

The outperformance in the manufactured housing segment resulted from the Fund’s overweight positions in Sun Communities Inc. and Equity LifeStyle Properties Inc. These names posted strong advances during the reporting period as most other REITs edged lower. The manufactured housing sector continued to exhibit some of the strongest fundamentals with little new supply and high occupancy levels, as well as stronger earnings growth potential. External growth is the biggest challenge in the space given the scarcity of assets and the relative difficulty of ground-up development. But fortunately for listed REITs, their cost of capital has been driven significantly lower over the past several years; therefore, they have become more active in expansion investment activity.

The leading detractor to the Fund’s performance relative to its benchmark came from the health care REIT sector, due to both stock selection issues and our underweight allocation to the group. The sector faced a mix of fundamental issues such as lower year-over-year senior housing earnings growth, tenant concerns in skilled nursing, slower external growth in medical office, and a fear of rising interest rates, which more adversely impacts this longer duration sector. Our portfolio’s underweight was primarily based on some ongoing challenges in the senior housing and skilled nursing areas. During the reporting period, however, companies with exposure to skilled nursing got a boost when a more favorable reimbursement system was announced with better-than-expected rates for 2019. Specifically, the Fund was hurt by its underweight position in Welltower, Inc. and lack of exposure to Omega Healthcare Investors, Inc. Welltower is a large benchmark holding that made an investment in a skilled nursing portfolio during the reporting period. The Fund had an underweight to Welltower because of its core senior housing business, which has pressure on it due to

 

15


Portfolio Managers’ Comments (continued)

 

concerns about short-term oversupply. However, the market appeared to reward Welltower for its investment because it will be accretive to earnings growth. Omega Healthcare is focused on skilled nursing and was helped by reimbursement ruling. More broadly speaking at the sector level, any investor concerns around occupancy and profitability were overshadowed during the late-year market sell-off by demand for the defensive characteristics that health care REITs typically exhibit. As a result, the Fund’s underweight positioning detracted from both relative and absolute returns as the health care REIT segment posted a positive total return during the reporting period.

The hotel REIT sector also detracted from the Fund’s relative performance, primarily as a result of our overweight position in Summit Hotel Properties Inc. Hotels are the most economically sensitive sector within real estate and often demonstrate less interest rate sensitivity than many other property types because revenues aren’t subject to long-term leases, given that hotels can price rooms daily. The segment sold off much more sharply during 2018 fourth quarter’s backdrop of equity market uncertainty and potentially slower economic growth. However, specific to Summit Hotel, the company’s underperformance was largely due to less-than-inspiring fundamentals, but was also likely the result of higher leverage versus some of its peers. We remain comfortable with Summit’s overall balance sheet position because management has executed on some asset sales, but the market seemingly wanted to see more deleveraging. Additionally, tougher comparisons weighed on Summit a little more than its peers because the company’s earnings growth has moderated versus the previous year’s strong rates. Summit’s operating margins have not been as strong during 2018 because of higher expense growth (true for all hotel REITs); however, the company’s margins remain above average and give us reason to remain positive on the shares.

Finally, our underweight position in the net lease sector detracted from relative returns. We positioned the Fund with an underweight because of many of the companies’ exposures to retail-oriented businesses and the longer-term leases that are usually prevalent in the group. However, the long-duration nature of the leases in the sector became a benefit during the reporting period and especially in the fourth quarter 2018 when investors sought out companies with more certain cash flows. The net lease sector posted positive overall returns when most other sectors and broader equities were down for the reporting period.

In terms of changes during the reporting period, we maintained our biases to large cap over small cap and high quality over lower quality, which were reflected in our core/high-conviction names, especially within the mall sector. In the final months of the reporting period, market dynamics reversed from earlier in the reporting period when investors had placed a premium on earnings growth over yield, especially given higher expected interest rates. The final quarter of 2018 may have marked a period of transition where stable earnings began to matter more in an environment of elevated market volatility. Therefore, we added to areas that display more defensive characteristics, have a higher certainty of cash flow and have less linkage to the global economic cycle. The net lease, self-storage, multi-family and health care REIT sectors were the primary areas where we added exposure. We used proceeds from a reduction in the office REIT sector as a source of funds for this rebalance.

 

16


Risk Considerations and Dividend Information

 

Risk Considerations

Nuveen Global Infrastructure Fund

Mutual fund investing involves risk; principal loss is possible. Concentration in infrastructure-related securities involves sector risk and concentration risk, particularly greater exposure to adverse economic, regulatory, political, legal, liquidity, and tax risks associated with master limited partnerships (MLPs) and real estate investment trusts (REITS). Foreign investments involve additional risks including currency fluctuations and economic and political instability. These risks are magnified in emerging markets. Common stocks are subject to market risk or the risk of decline. Small- and mid-cap stocks are subject to greater price volatility. The use of derivatives involves substantial financial risks and transaction costs. The Fund’s potential investment in other investment companies means shareholders bear their proportionate share of fund expenses and indirectly, the expenses of other investment companies. Fund investments in exchange trade funds (ETFs) may involve tracking error. Preferred securities may involve greater credit risk than other debt instruments.

Nuveen Global Real Estate Securities Fund

Mutual fund investing involves risk; principal loss is possible. There is no guarantee the Fund’s investment objectives will be achieved. The real estate industry is greatly affected by economic downturns or by changes in real estate values, rents, property taxes, interest rates, tax treatment, regulations, or the legal structure of the REIT. Prices of equity securities may decline significantly over short or extended periods of time. Non-U.S. investments involve risks such as currency fluctuation, political and economic instability, lack of liquidity and differing legal and accounting standards. These risks are magnified in emerging markets. These and other risk considerations, such as active management, derivatives, preferred security, and, small and mid-cap risks, are described in detail in the Fund’s prospectus.

Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund

Mutual fund investing involves risk; principal loss is possible. Equity investments such as those held by the Fund are subject to market risk, call risk, derivatives risk, other investment companies risk, common stock risk, and tax risks associated with master limited partnerships (MLPs). Concentration in specific sectors may involve greater risk and volatility than more diversified investments: real estate sector involves the risk of exposure to economic downturns and changes in real estate values, rents, property taxes, interest rates and tax laws; infrastructure-related securities may involve greater exposure to adverse economic, regulatory, political, legal, and other changes affecting such securities. Foreign investments involve additional risks, including currency fluctuation, political and economic instability, lack of liquidity, and differing legal and accounting standards. These risks are magnified in emerging markets. Investments in small- and mid-cap companies are subject to greater volatility. In addition, the Fund will bear its proportionate share of any fees and expenses paid by the exchange trade funds (ETFs) in which it invests.

Debt or fixed income securities such as those held by the Fund are subject to market risk, credit risk, interest rate risk and income risk. As interest rates rise, bond prices fall. Below investment grade or high yield debt securities are subject to liquidity risk and heightened credit risk. Preferred securities are subordinated to bonds and other debt instruments in a company’s capital structure and therefore are subject to greater credit risk. Asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities are subject to additional risks such as prepayment risk, liquidity risk, default risk and adverse economic developments.

Nuveen Real Estate Securities Fund

Mutual fund investing involves risk; principal loss is possible. Common stocks and REITs such as those held in the Fund involve market risk, concentration risk, sector risk, and non-diversification risk. The real estate industry is greatly affected by economic downturns that may persist as well as changes in property values, taxes, and regulatory developments. Foreign investments involve additional risks including currency fluctuations, and economic or political instability. These risks are magnified in emerging markets. The use of derivatives involves substantial financial risks and transaction costs. Small cap stocks may experience more volatility than large cap stocks.

 

17


Risk Considerations and Dividend Information (continued)

 

Dividend Information

Regular dividends are declared and distributed annually for Nuveen Global Infrastructure Fund, declared daily and distributed monthly for Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund and declared and distributed quarterly for Nuveen Global Real Estate Securities Fund and Nuveen Real Estate Securities Fund. To permit a Fund to maintain a more stable dividend, the Fund may pay dividends at a rate that may be more or less than the amount of net investment income it actually earned during the period.

In certain instances, a portion of each Fund’s distributions may be paid from sources or comprised of elements other than ordinary income, including capital gains and/or a return of capital. This is generally due to the fact that the tax character of Fund distributions for a fiscal year is dependent upon the amount and tax character of distributions received from securities held in the Fund’s portfolio. Distributions received from certain securities in which the Fund invests, most notably real estate investment trust (REIT) securities, may be characterized for tax purposes as ordinary income, long-term capital gain and/or a return of capital. The issuer of a security typically reports the tax character of its distributions only once per year, generally during the first two months of the following calendar year. The full amount of the distributions received from such securities is included in the Fund’s ordinary income during the course of the year until such time the Fund is notified by the issuer of the actual tax character. To the extent that at the time of a particular distribution the Fund estimates that a portion of that distribution is attributable to a source or sources other than ordinary income, the Fund would send shareholders a notice to that effect. The final determination of the sources and tax character of all distributions for the fiscal year is made after the end of the fiscal year.

Additional Dividend Information for Nuveen Global Real Estate Securities Fund, Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund and Nuveen Real Estate Securities Fund

Nuveen Global Real Estate Securities Fund, Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund and Nuveen Real Estate Securities Fund seek to pay regular dividends at a rate that reflects the cash flow received from each Fund’s investments in portfolio securities. Fund distributions are not intended to include expected portfolio appreciation; however, the Funds invest in securities that make payments which ultimately may be fully or partially characterized for tax purposes by the securities’ issuers as gains or return of capital. While the reported sources of distributions may include capital gains and/or return of capital for tax purposes, the Funds intend to distribute only the net cash flow received as opposed to a distribution rate based on long-term total return. This tax treatment will generally “flow through” to the Funds’ distributions, but the specific tax treatment is often not known with certainty until after the end of the Funds’ tax year. As a result, certain portions of the regular distributions by Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund and Nuveen Real Estate Securities Fund throughout the year were later re-characterized for tax purposes as either long-term gains (both realized and unrealized), or as a non-taxable return of capital, as set forth in each Fund’s table below. Nuveen Global Real Estate Securities Fund did not have any such distribution re-characterizations.

Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund – Data as of December 31, 2018

 

Calendar Year 2018  
        Percentage of the Distribution     Per Share Amounts  
Share Class   Ticker Symbol   Net
Investment
Income
       Realized
Gains
       Return of
Capital
    Distributions        Net
Investment
Income
       Realized
Gains
       Return of
Capital
 

Class A

 

NRIAX

    89.8%          0.0%          10.2%     $ 1.1880        $ 1.0667        $ 0.0000        $ 0.1213  

Class C

 

NRICX

    88.0%          0.0%          12.0%     $ 1.0120        $ 0.8907        $ 0.0000        $ 0.1213  

Class R6

 

NRIFX

    90.3%          0.0%          9.7%     $ 1.2540        $ 1.1327        $ 0.0000        $ 0.1213  

Class I

 

NRIIX

    90.3%          0.0%          9.7%     $ 1.2480        $ 1.1267        $ 0.0000        $ 0.1213  

 

18


Nuveen Real Estate Securities Fund – Data as of December 31, 2018(1)

 

Calendar Year 2018  
        Percentage of the Distribution     Per Share Amounts  
Share Class   Ticker Symbol   Net
Investment
Income
       Realized
Gains
       Return of
Capital
    Distributions        Net
Investment
Income
       Realized
Gains
       Return of
Capital
 

Class A

 

FREAX

    31.1%          68.9%          0.0%     $ 1.0778        $ 0.3357        $ 0.7421        $ 0.0000  

Class C

 

FRLCX

    19.7%          80.3%          0.0%     $ 0.9237        $ 0.1816        $ 0.7421        $ 0.0000  

Class R3

 

FRSSX

    28.4%          71.6%          0.0%     $ 1.0358        $ 0.2937        $ 0.7421        $ 0.0000  

Class R6

 

FREGX

    34.9%          65.1%          0.0%     $ 1.1393        $ 0.3972        $ 0.7421        $ 0.0000  

Class I

 

FARCX

    34.6%          65.4%          0.0%     $ 1.1343        $ 0.3922        $ 0.7421        $ 0.0000  

 

(1)

The Fund owns REIT securities which attribute their distributions to various sources, including net investment income, gains and return of capital.

The amount and sources of distributions reported in this notice are for financial reporting purposes and are not being provided for tax reporting purposes. The actual amounts and character of the distributions for tax reporting purposes will be reported to shareholders on Form 1099-DIV which will be sent to shareholders shortly after calendar year-end. More details about each Fund’s distributions and the basis for these estimates are available on www.nuveen.com.

 

19


THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK

 

20


Fund Performance and Expense Ratios

 

The Fund Performance and Expense Ratios for each Fund are shown within this section of the report.

Returns quoted represent past performance, which is no guarantee of future results. Investment returns and principal value will fluctuate so that when shares are redeemed, they may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be higher or lower than the performance shown. Total returns for a period of less than one year are not annualized. Returns at net asset value (NAV) would be lower if the sales charge were included. Returns assume reinvestment of dividends and capital gains. For performance current to the most recent month-end visit nuveen.com or call (800) 257-8787.

Returns do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on Fund distributions or the redemption of Fund shares.

Returns may reflect fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements by the investment adviser during the periods presented. If any such waivers and/or reimbursements had not been in place, returns would have been reduced. See Notes to Financial Statements, Note 7—Management Fees and Other Transactions with Affiliates for more information.

Returns reflect differences in sales charges and expenses, which are primarily differences in distribution and service fees, and assume reinvestment of dividends and capital gains.

Comparative index and Lipper return information is provided for Class A Shares at NAV only.

The expense ratios shown reflect total operating expenses (before fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, if any) as shown in the most recent prospectus. The expense ratios include management fees and other fees and expenses.

 

21


Fund Performance and Expense Ratios (continued)

Nuveen Global Infrastructure Fund

 

Refer to the first page of this Fund Performance and Expense Ratios section for further explanation of the information included within this section. Refer to the Glossary of Terms Used in this Report for definitions of terms used within this section.

Fund Performance

Average Annual Total Returns as of December 31, 2018

 

       Average Annual  
        1-Year        5-Year        10-Year  

Class A Shares at NAV

       (7.88)%          4.69%          9.44%  

Class A Shares at maximum Offering Price

       (13.20)%          3.46%          8.79%  

S&P Global Infrastructure Index TR (old benchmark)

       (9.50)%          4.10%          7.58%  

S&P Global Infrastructure Index NR (new benchmark)

       (10.37)%          3.21%          6.63%  

Lipper Global Infrastructure Funds Classification Average

       (8.73)%          3.31%          8.37%  

Class C Shares

       (8.60)%          3.91%          8.64%  

Class R3 Shares

       (8.14)%          4.43%          9.12%  

Class I Shares

       (7.67)%          4.95%          9.71%  
                Average Annual  
                  1-Year        Since
Inception
 

Class R6 Shares

                  (7.56)%          2.06%  

Since inception return for Class R6 Shares is from 6/30/16. Indexes and Lipper averages are not available for direct investment.

Class A Shares have a maximum 5.75% sales charge (Offering Price). Class A Share purchases of $1 million or more are sold at net asset value without an up-front sales charge but may be subject to a contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) of 1% if redeemed within eighteen months of purchase. Class C Shares have a 1% CDSC for redemptions within less than twelve months, which is not reflected in the total returns. Class R3 Shares have no sales charge and are only available for purchase by eligible retirement plans. Class R6 Shares have no sales charge and are available only to certain limited categories of investors as described in the prospectus. Class I Shares have no sales charge and may be purchased under limited circumstances or by specified classes of investors.

Expense Ratios as of Most Recent Prospectus

 

       Share Class  
        Class A        Class C        Class R3        Class R6        Class I  

Gross Expense Ratios

       1.42%          2.17%          1.67%          1.02%          1.17%  

Net Expense Ratios

       1.22%          1.97%          1.47%          0.80%          0.97%  

The Fund’s investment adviser has contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse other Fund expenses through July 31, 2020 so that total annual Fund operating expenses (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 1.00% 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 Fund operating expenses for Class R6 Shares will be less than the expense limitation. This expense limitation may be terminated or modified prior to that date only with the approval of the Board of Directors of the Fund.

 

22


Growth of an Assumed $10,000 Investment as of December 31, 2018 – Class A Shares

 

LOGO

The graphs do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder may pay on Fund distributions or the redemption of Fund shares.

 

23


Fund Performance and Expense Ratios (continued)

Nuveen Global Real Estate Securities Fund

 

Refer to the first page of this Fund Performance and Expense Ratios section for further explanation of the information included within this section. Refer to the Glossary of Terms Used in this Report for definitions of terms used within this section.

Fund Performance

Cumulative Total Returns as of December 31, 2018

 

       Cumulative  
        Since
Inception
 

Class A Shares at NAV

       (1.21)%  

Class A Shares at maximum Offering Price

       (6.89)%  

FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Index TR (old benchmark)

       (0.14)%  

FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Index NR (new benchmark)

       (0.94)%  

Lipper Global Real Estate Funds Classification Average

       (2.59)%  

Class C Shares

       (1.77)%  

Class R6 Shares

       (0.97)%  

Class I Shares

       (1.03)%  

Since inception returns are from 3/20/18. Indexes and Lipper averages are not available for direct investment.

Class A Shares have a maximum 5.75% sales charge (Offering Price). Class A Share purchases of $1 million or more are sold at net asset value without an up-front sales charge but may be subject to a contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) of 1% if redeemed within eighteen months of purchase. Class C Shares have a 1% CDSC for redemptions within less than twelve months, which is not reflected in the total returns. Class R6 Shares have no sales charge and are available only to certain limited categories of investors as described in the prospectus. Class I Shares have no sales charge and may be purchased under limited circumstances or by specified classes of investors.

Expense Ratios as of Most Recent Prospectus

 

       Share Class  
        Class A        Class C        Class R6        Class I  

Gross Expense Ratios

       1.74%          2.49%          1.43%          1.49%  

Net Expense Ratios

       1.34%          2.09%          1.03%          1.09%  

The Fund’s investment adviser has contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse other Fund expenses through July 31, 2021 so that total annual Fund operating expenses (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 1.09% 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 Fund operating expenses for Class R6 Shares will be less than the expense limitation. This expense limitation may be terminated or modified prior to that date only with the approval of the Board of Trustees of the Fund.

 

24


Growth of an Assumed $10,000 Investment as of December 31, 2018 – Class A Shares

LOGO

The graphs do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder may pay on Fund distributions or the redemption of Fund shares.

 

25


Fund Performance and Expense Ratios (continued)

Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund

 

Refer to the first page of this Fund Performance and Expense Ratios section for further explanation of the information included within this section. Refer to the Glossary of Terms Used in this Report for definitions of terms used within this section.

Fund Performance

Average Annual Total Returns as of December 31, 2018

 

       Average Annual  
        1-Year        5-Year        Since
Inception
 

Class A Shares at NAV

       (6.38)%          5.14%          7.08%  

Class A Shares at maximum Offering Price

       (11.76)%          3.90%          6.21%  

Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High Yield Bond Index

       (2.08)%          3.83%          6.26%  

Real Asset Income Blend (old benchmark)

       (6.15)%          4.62%          6.90%  

Real Asset Income Blend (new benchmark)

       (6.59)%          4.17%          6.45%  

Lipper Global Flexible Portfolio Funds Classification Average

       (7.23)%          2.02%          4.97%  

Class C Shares

       (7.09)%          4.35%          6.28%  

Class I Shares

       (6.13)%          5.41%          7.34%  

 

                Average Annual  
                  1-Year        Since
Inception
 

Class R6 Shares

                  (6.08)%          2.03%  

Since inception returns for Class A Shares, Class C Shares and Class I Shares, and the index and Lipper average, are from 9/13/11; since inception return for Class R6 Shares is from 6/30/16. Indexes and Lipper averages are not available for direct investment.

Class A Shares have a maximum 5.75% sales charge (Offering Price). Class A Share purchases of $1 million or more are sold at net asset value without an up-front sales charge but may be subject to a contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) of 1% if redeemed within eighteen months of purchase. Class C Shares have a 1% CDSC for redemptions within less than twelve months, which is not reflected in the total returns. Class R6 Shares have no sales charge and are available only to certain limited categories of investors as described in the prospectus. Class I Shares have no sales charge and may be purchased under limited circumstances or by specified classes of investors.

Expense Ratios as of Most Recent Prospectus

 

       Share Class  
        Class A        Class C        Class R6        Class I  

Expense Ratios

       1.15%          1.90%          0.81%          0.90%  

 

26


Growth of an Assumed $10,000 Investment as of December 31, 2018 – Class A Shares

 

LOGO

The graphs do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder may pay on Fund distributions or the redemption of Fund shares.

 

27


Fund Performance and Expense Ratios (continued)

Nuveen Real Estate Securities Fund

 

Refer to the first page of this Fund Performance and Expense Ratios section for further explanation of the information included within this section. Refer to the Glossary of Terms Used in this Report for definitions of terms used within this section.

Fund Performance

Average Annual Total Returns as of December 31, 2018

 

       Average Annual  
        1-Year        5-Year        10-Year  

Class A Shares at NAV

       (5.78)%          7.41%          12.03%  

Class A Shares at maximum Offering Price

       (11.18)%          6.15%          11.37%  

MSCI U.S. REIT Index

       (4.57)%          7.80%          12.17%  

Lipper Real Estate Funds Classification Average

       (6.16)%          6.77%          11.55%  

Class C Shares

       (6.46)%          6.62%          11.20%  

Class R3 Shares

       (5.98)%          7.16%          11.76%  

Class I Shares

       (5.51)%          7.68%          12.31%  
       Average Annual  
        1-Year        5-Year        Since
Inception
 

Class R6 Shares

       (5.39)%          7.86%          4.75%  

Since inception return for Class R6 Shares is from 4/30/13. Indexes and Lipper averages are not available for direct investment.

Class A Shares have a maximum 5.75% sales charge (Offering Price). Class A Share purchases of $1 million or more are sold at net asset value without an up-front sales charge but may be subject to a contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) of 1% if redeemed within eighteen months of purchase. Class C Shares have a 1% CDSC for redemptions within less than twelve months, which is not reflected in the total returns. Class R3 Shares have no sales charge and are only available for purchase by eligible retirement plans. Class R6 Shares have no sales charge and are available only to certain limited categories of investors as described in the prospectus. Class I Shares have no sales charge and may be purchased under limited circumstances or by specified classes of investors.

Expense Ratios as of Most Recent Prospectus

 

       Share Class  
        Class A        Class C        Class R3        Class R6        Class I  

Expense Ratios

       1.29%          2.04%          1.54%          0.87%          1.04%  

 

 

28


Growth of an Assumed $10,000 Investment as of December 31, 2018 – Class A Shares

 

LOGO

The graphs do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder may pay on Fund distributions or the redemption of Fund shares.

 

29


Holding Summaries    as of December 31, 2018

 

This data relates to the securities held in each Fund’s portfolio of investments as of the end of this reporting period. It should not be construed as a measure of performance for the Fund itself. Holdings are subject to change.

Nuveen Global Infrastructure Fund

 

Fund Allocation

(% of net assets)

 

   

Common Stocks

       93.6%  

Real Estate Investment Trust Common Stocks

       3.7%  

Investment Companies

       0.2%  

Repurchase Agreements

       2.0%  

Other Assets Less Liabilities

       0.5%  

Net Assets

       100%  

Top Five Common Stock & Real Estate Investment Trust

Common Stock Holdings

(% of net assets)

 

   

Transurban Group

       6.0%  

NextEra Energy Inc.

       4.2%  

Enbridge Inc.

       3.6%  

Waste Connections Inc.

       3.2%  

Aena SME SA

       2.7%  

Portfolio Composition

(% of net assets)

 

   

Transportation Infrastructure

       26.3%  

Electric Utilities

       20.3%  

Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels

       12.8%  

Multi-Utilities

       10.4%  

Construction & Engineering

       5.3%  

Gas Utilities

       4.4%  

Other

       17.8%  

Repurchase Agreements

       2.0%  

Investment Companies

       0.2%  

Other Assets Less Liabilities

       0.5%  

Net Assets

       100%  

Country Allocation1

(% of net assets)

 

   

United States

       40.8%  

Australia

       10.3%  

France

       8.9%  

Spain

       7.9%  

Canada

       7.7%  

Italy

       6.5%  

Japan

       3.0%  

New Zealand

       2.6%  

Singapore

       2.3%  

Mexico

       1.4%  

Hong Kong

       1.3%  

Other

       6.8%  

Other Assets Less Liabilities

       0.5%  

Net Assets

       100%  
 

 

1

Includes 2.6% (as a percentage of net assets) in emerging market countries.

 

30


Nuveen Global Real Estate Securities Fund

 

Fund Allocation

(% of net assets)

 

   

Real Estate Investment Trust Common Stocks

       77.8%  

Common Stocks

       19.7%  

Repurchase Agreements

       1.8%  

Other Assets Less Liabilities

       0.7%  

Net Assets

       100%  

Top Five Common Stock & Real Estate Investment Trust

Common Stock Holdings

(% of net assets)

 

   

Simon Property Group Inc.

       3.5%  

Public Storage

       2.5%  

Prologis Inc.

       2.3%  

Duke Realty Corp

       2.2%  

AvalonBay Communities Inc.

       2.1%  

Portfolio Composition

(% of net assets)

 

   

Real Estate Management & Development

       16.4%  

Residential

       13.8%  

Retail

       13.5%  

Office

       12.0%  

Specialized

       10.9%  

Industrial

       10.0%  

Diversified

       7.9%  

Other

       13.0%  

Repurchase Agreements

       1.8%  

Other Assets Less Liabilities

       0.7%  

Net Assets

       100%  

Country Allocation1

(% of net assets)

 

   

United States

       52.6%  

Japan

       11.4%  

Germany

       7.5%  

Hong Kong

       6.2%  

Canada

       3.5%  

United Kingdom

       3.5%  

Australia

       2.8%  

Singapore

       2.3%  

France

       2.2%  

Sweden

       1.4%  

Spain

       1.2%  

Other

       4.7%  

Other Assets Less Liabilities

       0.7%  

Net Assets

       100%  
 

 

1

Includes 0.4% (as a percentage of net assets) in emerging market countries.

 

31


Holding Summaries as of December 31, 2018 (continued)

 

Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund

 

Fund Allocation

(% of net assets)

 

   

Real Estate Investment Trust Common Stocks

       23.3%  

$1,000 Par (or similar) Institutional Preferred

       18.9%  

Common Stocks

       16.2%  

$25 Par (or similar) Retail Preferred

       16.1%  

Corporate Bonds

       13.8%  

Variable Rate Senior Loan Interests

       3.7%  

Convertible Preferred Securities

       3.6%  

Convertible Bonds

       0.8%  

Investment Companies

       0.4%  

Sovereign Debt

       0.0%  

Repurchase Agreements

       2.2%  

Other Assets Less Liabilities

       1.0%  

Net Assets

       100%  

Top Five Common Stock & Real Estate Investment Trust

Common Stock Holdings

(% of net assets)

 

   

Ventas Inc.

       1.2%  

STAG Industrial Inc.

       1.0%  

Snam SpA

       1.0%  

Naturgy Energy Group SA

       1.0%  

Summit Industrial Income REIT

       1.0%  

Portfolio Composition

(% of net assets)

 

   

Electric Utilities

       17.2%  

Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels

       15.1%  

Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts

       13.1%  

Multi-Utilities

       8.1%  

Industrial Conglomerates

       5.0%  

Health Care

       4.7%  

Retail

       4.5%  

Real Estate Management & Development

       4.4%  

Diversified

       3.3%  

Gas Utilities

       2.5%  

Other

       18.5%  

Repurchase Agreements

       2.2%  

Investment Companies

       0.4%  

Sovereign Debt

       0.0%  

Other Assets Less Liabilities

       1.0%  

Net Assets

       100%  

Country Allocation1

(% of net assets)

 

   

United States

       56.9%  

Canada

       12.8%  

Singapore

       5.1%  

Australia

       3.6%  

Italy

       2.8%  

France

       2.3%  

Hong Kong

       2.0%  

Germany

       1.9%  

Spain

       1.8%  

New Zealand

       1.7%  

United Kingdom

       1.4%  

Other

       6.7%  

Other Assets Less Liabilities

       1.0%  

Net Assets

       100%  
 

 

1

Includes 3.8% (as a percentage of net assets) in emerging market countries.

 

32


Nuveen Real Estate Securities Fund

 

Fund Allocation

(% of net assets)

 

   

Real Estate Investment Trust Common Stocks

       98.1%  

Money Market Funds

       1.9%  

Other Assets Less Liabilities

       (0.0)%  

Net Assets

       100%  

 

Portfolio Composition

(% of net assets)

 

   

Residential

       20.2%  

Retail

       17.1%  

Specialized

       16.9%  

Office

       14.4%  

Industrial

       11.2%  

Health Care

       9.5%  

Hotels & Resorts

       6.1%  

Other

       2.7%  

Money Market Funds

       1.9%  

Other Assets Less Liabilities

       (0.0)%  

Net Assets

       100%  

Top Five Common Stock and Real Estate Investment Trust Common Stock Holdings

(% of net assets)

 

   

Simon Property Group Inc.

       6.8%  

Public Storage

       4.9%  

Prologis Inc.

       4.4%  

Duke Realty Corp

       4.2%  

AvalonBay Communities Inc.

       4.1%  
 

 

33


Expense Examples

 

As a shareholder of one or more of the Funds, you incur two types of costs: (1) transaction costs, including up-front and back-end sales charges (loads) or redemption fees, where applicable; and (2) ongoing costs, including management fees; distribution and service (12b-1) fees, where applicable; and other Fund expenses. The Examples below are intended to help you understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the Funds and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds.

The Examples below are based on an investment of $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held through the period ended December 31, 2018.

The beginning of the period is July 1, 2018.

The information under “Actual Performance,” together with the amount you invested, allows you to estimate actual expenses incurred over the reporting period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000 = 8.60) and multiply the result by the cost shown for your share class, in the row entitled “Expenses Incurred During Period” to estimate the expenses incurred on your account during this period.

The information under “Hypothetical Performance,” provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on each Fund’s actual expense ratio and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses, which is not the Fund’s actual return. The hypothetical account values and expenses may not be used to estimate the actual ending account balance or expense you incurred for the period. You may use this information to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the Fund and other funds. To do so, compare this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of the other funds.

Please note that the expenses shown in the following tables are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only and do not reflect any transaction costs. Therefore, the hypothetical information is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds or share classes. In addition, if these transaction costs were included, your costs would have been higher.

Nuveen Global Infrastructure Fund

 

       Share Class  
        Class A        Class C        Class R3        Class R6        Class I  

Actual Performance

                                                      

Beginning Account Value

     $ 1,000.00        $ 1,000.00        $ 1,000.00        $ 1,000.00        $ 1,000.00  

Ending Account Value

     $ 943.60        $ 940.00        $ 942.30        $ 945.20        $ 944.10  

Expenses Incurred During the Period

     $ 5.58        $ 9.63        $ 7.20        $ 4.36        $ 4.75  

Hypothetical Performance

(5% annualized return before expenses)

                                                      

Beginning Account Value

     $ 1,000.00        $ 1,000.00        $ 1,000.00        $ 1,000.00        $ 1,000.00  

Ending Account Value

     $ 1,019.06        $ 1,015.27        $ 1,017.80        $ 1,020.72        $ 1,020.32  

Expenses Incurred During the Period

     $ 6.21        $ 10.01        $ 7.48        $ 4.53        $ 4.94  

For each class of the Fund, expenses are equal to the Fund’s annualized net expense ratio of 1.22%, 1.97%, 1.47%, 0.89%, and 0.97% for Classes A, C, R3, R6, and I respectively, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 184/365 (to reflect the one-half year period).

 

34


Nuveen Global Real Estate Securities Fund

 

       Share Class  
        Class A        Class C        Class R6        Class I  

Actual Performance

                                           

Beginning Account Value

     $ 1,000.00        $ 1,000.00        $ 1,000.00        $ 1,000.00  

Ending Account Value

     $ 949.10        $ 945.90        $ 950.80        $ 950.30  

Expenses Incurred During the Period

     $ 6.39        $ 10.05        $ 4.92        $ 5.16  

Hypothetical Performance

(5% annualized return before expenses)

                                           

Beginning Account Value

     $ 1,000.00        $ 1,000.00        $ 1,000.00        $ 1,000.00  

Ending Account Value

     $ 1,018.65        $ 1,014.87        $ 1,020.16        $ 1,019.91  

Expenses Incurred During the Period

     $ 6.61        $ 10.41        $ 5.09        $ 5.35  

For each class of the Fund, expenses are equal to the Fund’s annualized net expense ratio of 1.30%, 2.05%, 1.00%, and 1.05% for Classes A, C, R6, and I respectively, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 184/365 (to reflect the one-half year period).

Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund

 

       Share Class  
        Class A        Class C        Class R6        Class I  

Actual Performance

                                           

Beginning Account Value

     $ 1,000.00        $ 1,000.00        $ 1,000.00        $ 1,000.00  

Ending Account Value

     $ 954.20        $ 950.50        $ 956.20        $ 955.40  

Expenses Incurred During the Period

     $ 5.66        $ 9.34        $ 3.99        $ 4.44  

Hypothetical Performance

(5% annualized return before expenses)

                                           

Beginning Account Value

     $ 1,000.00        $ 1,000.00        $ 1,000.00        $ 1,000.00  

Ending Account Value

     $ 1,019.41        $ 1,015.63        $ 1,021.12        $ 1,020.67  

Expenses Incurred During the Period

     $ 5.85        $ 9.65        $ 4.13        $ 4.58  

For each class of the Fund, expenses are equal to the Fund’s annualized net expense ratio of 1.15%, 1.90%, 0.81%, and 0.90% for Classes A, C, R6, and I respectively, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 184/365 (to reflect the one-half year period).

Nuveen Real Estate Securities Fund

 

       Share Class  
        Class A        Class C        Class R3        Class R6        Class I  

Actual Performance

                                                      

Beginning Account Value

     $ 1,000.00        $ 1,000.00        $ 1,000.00        $ 1,000.00        $ 1,000.00  

Ending Account Value

     $ 939.40        $ 935.70        $ 938.30        $ 941.00        $ 940.30  

Expenses Incurred During the Period

     $ 6.06        $ 9.71        $ 7.28        $ 4.31        $ 4.84  

Hypothetical Performance

(5% annualized return before expenses)

                                                      

Beginning Account Value

     $ 1,000.00        $ 1,000.00        $ 1,000.00        $ 1,000.00        $ 1,000.00  

Ending Account Value

     $ 1,018.95        $ 1,015.17        $ 1,017.69        $ 1,020.77        $ 1,020.21  

Expenses Incurred During the Period

     $ 6.31        $ 10.11        $ 7.58        $ 4.48        $ 5.04  

For each class of the Fund, expenses are equal to the Fund’s annualized net expense ratio of 1.24%, 1.99%, 1.49%, 0.88%, and 0.99% for Classes A, C, R3, R6, and I respectively, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 184/365 (to reflect the one-half year period).

 

35


Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

 

To the Board of Directors of Nuveen Investment Funds, Inc., Board of Trustees of Nuveen Investment Trust V and Shareholders of Nuveen Global Infrastructure Fund, Nuveen Global Real Estate Securities Fund, Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund, and Nuveen Real Estate Securities Fund

Opinions on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying statements of assets and liabilities, including the portfolios of investments, of Nuveen Global Infrastructure Fund, Nuveen Global Real Estate Securities Fund, Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund, and Nuveen Real Estate Securities Fund (hereafter collectively referred to as the “Funds”) as of December 31, 2018, the related statements of operations for the year ended December 31, 2018 (for Nuveen Global Real Estate Securities Fund, for the period March 20, 2018 (commencement of operations) through December 31, 2018), the statements of changes in net assets for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2018 (for Nuveen Global Real Estate Securities Fund, for the period March 20, 2018 (commencement of operations) through December 31, 2018), including the related notes, and the financial highlights for each of the periods indicated therein (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of each of the Funds as of December 31, 2018, the results of each of their operations for the year then ended (for Nuveen Global Real Estate Securities Fund, for the period March 20, 2018 (commencement of operations) through December 31, 2018), the changes in each of their net assets for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2018 (for Nuveen Global Real Estate Securities Fund, for the period March 20, 2018 (commencement of operations) through December 31, 2018) and each of the financial highlights for each of the periods indicated therein in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Basis for Opinions

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Funds’ management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Funds’ financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Funds in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits of these financial statements in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. Our procedures included confirmation of securities owned as of December 31, 2018 by correspondence with the custodian and brokers; when replies were not received from brokers, we performed other auditing procedures. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Chicago, Illinois

February 28, 2019

We have served as the auditor of one or more investment companies in Nuveen Funds since 2002.

 

36


Nuveen Global Infrastructure Fund

Portfolio of Investments    December 31, 2018

 

Shares     Description (1)                 Value  
 

LONG-TERM INVESTMENTS – 97.5%

     
      COMMON STOCKS – 93.6%                  
      Air Freight & Logistics – 0.1%                  
  14,662    

Oesterreichische Post AG, (2)

                  $ 503,835  
      Commercial Services & Supplies – 3.5%                  
  304    

Advanced Disposal Services Inc., (3)

        7,278  
  1,567,954    

China Everbright International Ltd, (2)

        1,405,087  
  187,817    

Waste Connections Inc.

                    13,945,412  
 

Total Commercial Services & Supplies

                    15,357,777  
      Construction & Engineering – 5.3%                  
  92,405    

Eiffage SA, (2)

        7,725,722  
  226,460    

Ferrovial SA, (2)

        4,586,425  
  130,822    

Vinci SA, (2)

                    10,757,749  
 

Total Construction & Engineering

                    23,069,896  
      Diversified Telecommunication Services – 2.4%                  
  144,359    

ARTERIA Networks Corp, (3)

        1,535,720  
  132,641    

Cellnex Telecom SA, (2), (3)

        3,392,091  
  246,569    

HKBN Ltd, (2)

        373,809  
  4,275    

HKT Trust & HKT Ltd, (2)

        6,158  
  471,706    

Infrastrutture Wireless Italiane SpA, (2)

        3,228,990  
  3,552,014    

NetLink NBN Trust, (2)

                    1,993,683  
 

Total Diversified Telecommunication Services

                    10,530,451  
      Electric Utilities – 20.3%                  
  192,026    

Alliant Energy Corp

        8,113,099  
  104,959    

Alupar Investimento SA, (2)

        495,861  
  24,337    

American Electric Power Co Inc.

        1,818,947  
  1,765,482    

AusNet Services, (2)

        1,934,824  
  227,883    

CK Infrastructure Holdings Ltd, (2)

        1,724,551  
  9,019    

CLP Holdings Ltd, (2)

        101,923  
  96,146    

Duke Energy Corp

        8,297,400  
  45,460    

Edison International

        2,580,764  
  6,668    

Elia System Operator SA/NV

        445,404  
  98,734    

Enel Chile SA, ADR

        488,733  
  406,961    

Enel SpA, (2)

        2,359,252  
  34,923    

Entergy Corp

        3,005,823  
  33,711    

Evergy Inc.

        1,913,773  
  35,734    

Eversource Energy

        2,324,139  
  1,050,714    

Iberdrola SA, (2)

        8,437,106  
  554,911    

Infratil Ltd, (2)

        1,360,455  

 

37


Nuveen Global Infrastructure Fund (continued)

Portfolio of Investments    December 31, 2018

 

Shares     Description (1)                 Value  
      Electric Utilities (continued)                  
  107,023    

NextEra Energy Inc.

      $ 18,602,738  
  92,031    

PG&E Corp

        2,185,736  
  14,377    

Portland General Electric Co

        659,185  
  96,340    

Power Assets Holdings Ltd, (2)

        669,312  
  449,284    

Power Grid Corp of India Ltd, (2)

        1,267,907  
  36,491    

Red Electrica Corp SA, (2), (3)

        813,757  
  112,934    

Southern Co/The

        4,960,061  
  1,631,667    

Spark Infrastructure Group, (2)

        2,542,028  
  553,445    

Terna Rete Elettrica Nazionale SpA, (2)

        3,143,090  
  56,051    

Transmissora Alianca de Energia Eletrica SA, (2)

        340,783  
  170,770    

Xcel Energy Inc.

                    8,413,838  
 

Total Electric Utilities

                    89,000,489  
      Energy Equipment & Services – 2.4%                  
  126,419    

TransCanada Corp

        4,513,158  
  168,551    

TransCanada Corp

                    6,018,797  
 

Total Energy Equipment & Services

                    10,531,955  
      Gas Utilities – 4.5%                  
  254,092    

APA Group, (2)

        1,522,047  
  66,579    

Atmos Energy Corp

        6,173,205  
  1,356,068    

Hong Kong & China Gas Co Ltd, (2)

        2,801,702  
  48,921    

Italgas SpA, (2)

        280,539  
  219,300    

Naturgy Energy Group SA, (2), (3)

        5,594,499  
  39,012    

ONE Gas Inc.

        3,105,355  
  561    

Southwest Gas Holdings Inc.

                    42,917  
 

Total Gas Utilities

                    19,520,264  
      IT Services – 0.9%                  
  55,675    

InterXion Holding NV, (3)

        3,015,358  
  226,207    

NEXTDC Ltd, (2), (3)

                    974,631  
 

Total IT Services

                    3,989,989  
      Media – 0.2%                  
  41,772    

Eutelsat Communications SA, (2)

                    822,956  
      Multi-Utilities – 10.4%                  
  114,425    

Ameren Corp

        7,463,943  
  39,674    

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP

        1,369,943  
  26,085    

CenterPoint Energy Inc.

        736,380  
  142,293    

CMS Energy Corp

        7,064,847  
  25,751    

Consolidated Edison Inc.

        1,968,921  
  123,904    

Dominion Energy Inc.

        8,854,180  
  57,748    

DTE Energy Co

        6,369,604  
  51,457    

Engie SA, (2)

        739,330  

 

38


Shares     Description (1)                 Value  
      Multi-Utilities (continued)                  
  316,808    

Hera SpA, (2)

      $ 966,511  
  167,933    

Iren SpA, (2)

        403,306  
  52,791    

National Grid PLC, Sponsored ADR

        2,532,912  
  40,653    

REN – Redes Energeticas Nacionais SGPS SA, (2)

        113,560  
  35,748    

Sempra Energy

        3,867,576  
  195,356    

Suez

        2,580,749  
  6,994    

Unitil Corp

                    354,176  
 

Total Multi-Utilities

                    45,385,938  
      Oil, Gas, & Consumable Fuels – 12.8%                  
  61,805    

Cheniere Energy Inc., (3)

        3,658,238  
  509,937    

Enbridge Inc.

        15,848,842  
  140,732    

Enterprise Products Partners LP

        3,460,600  
  44    

Inter Pipeline Ltd

        623  
  681,816    

Kinder Morgan Inc./DE

        10,486,330  
  21,199    

Koninklijke Vopak NV, (2)

        961,339  
  103,888    

ONEOK Inc.

        5,604,758  
  130,733    

Pembina Pipeline Corp

        3,879,281  
  53,399    

Petronet LNG Ltd, (2)

        170,939  
  843,991    

Snam SpA, (2)

        3,695,297  
  56,344    

Targa Resources Corp

        2,029,511  
  284,835    

Williams Cos Inc./The

                    6,280,612  
 

Total Oil, Gas, & Consumable Fuels

                    56,076,370  
      Road & Rail – 3.6%                  
  328,858    

Aurizon Holdings Ltd, (2)

        992,164  
  18,096    

Canadian National Railway Co

        1,341,095  
  1,630    

Central Japan Railway Co, (2)

        343,909  
  1,406,407    

ComfortDelGro Corp Ltd, (2)

        2,221,482  
  93,200    

East Japan Railway Co, (2)

        8,230,499  
  1,414    

MTR Corp Ltd, (2)

        7,442  
  170,618    

Rumo SA, (2), (3)

        747,046  
  12,539    

Union Pacific Corp

                    1,733,266  
 

Total Road & Rail

                    15,616,903  
      Transportation Infrastructure – 26.3%                  
  76,024    

Aena SME SA, (2), (3)

        11,811,969  
  38,950    

Aeroports de Paris, (2)

        7,385,974  
  518,077    

Atlantia SpA, (2)

        10,721,668  
  807,266    

Atlas Arteria Ltd, (2)

        3,560,920  
  1,586,652    

Auckland International Airport Ltd, (2)

        7,657,888  
  393,207    

China Merchants Port Holdings Co Ltd, (2)

        706,991  
  4,104    

COSCO SHIPPING Ports Ltd, (2)

        4,035  

 

39


Nuveen Global Infrastructure Fund (continued)

Portfolio of Investments    December 31, 2018

 

Shares     Description (1)                 Value  
      Transportation Infrastructure (continued)                  
  533,722    

Enav SpA, (2)

      $ 2,597,703  
  82,980    

Flughafen Wien AG

        3,280,064  
  29,091    

Flughafen Zurich AG, (2)

        4,814,085  
  61,545    

Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide, (2)

        4,404,655  
  609,748    

Getlink SE, (2)

        8,193,394  
  32,668    

Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte SAB de CV, ADR

        1,242,037  
  35,169    

Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico SAB de CV, ADR

        2,868,032  
  8,811    

Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste SAB de CV, ADR

        1,326,937  
  33,188    

Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG, (2)

        658,039  
  611,993    

International Container Terminal Services Inc.

        1,163,817  
  34,728    

Japan Airport Terminal Co Ltd, (2)

        1,200,529  
  79,506    

Kamigumi Co Ltd, (2)

        1,626,593  
  24,552    

Macquarie Infrastructure Corp

        897,621  
  663,158    

Port of Tauranga Ltd, (2)

        2,227,065  
  39,537    

Promotora y Operadora de Infraestructura SAB de CV

        377,912  
  69,889    

Promotora y Operadora de Infraestructura SAB de CV

        439,212  
  106,598    

SATS Ltd, (2)

        365,105  
  25,829    

Societa Iniziative Autostradali e Servizi SpA, (2)

        357,650  
  1,528,049    

Sydney Airport, (2)

        7,245,747  
  3,198,897    

Transurban Group, (2)

        26,255,042  
  952,889    

Westports Holdings Bhd, (2)

        833,576  
  61,993    

Westshore Terminals Investment Corp

                    934,527  
 

Total Transportation Infrastructure

                    115,158,787  
      Water Utilities – 0.9%                  
  1,740,178    

Aguas Andinas SA

        954,064  
  15,880    

American Water Works Co Inc.

        1,441,428  
  12,541    

AquaVenture Holdings Ltd, (3)

        236,900  
  220,038    

China Everbright Water Ltd, (2)

        48,537  
  16,328    

Cia de Saneamento do Parana, (2)

        258,835  
  290,520    

Guangdong Investment Ltd, (2)

        561,337  
  19,168    

Severn Trent PLC, (2)

        444,327  
  2,103    

SJW Group

                    116,969  
 

Total Water Utilities

                    4,062,397  
 

Total Common Stocks (cost $365,889,467)

                    409,628,007  
Shares     Description (1)                 Value  
 

REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST COMMON STOCKS – 3.7%

     
      Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts – 3.7%                  
      Health Care – 0.5%                  
  1,284,280    

Parkway Life Real Estate Investment Trust, (2)

                  $ 2,477,355  

 

40


Shares     Description (1)                 Value  
      Specialized – 3.2%                  
  12,478    

CoreSite Realty Corp

      $ 1,088,456  
  21,755    

Crown Castle International Corp

        2,363,245  
  2,483    

Digital Realty Trust Inc.

        264,564  
  11,666    

Equinix Inc.

        4,112,965  
  2,671,772    

Keppel DC REIT, (2)

        2,648,376  
  21,188    

SBA Communications Corp, (3)

                    3,430,125  
 

Total Specialized

                    13,907,731  
 

Total Real Estate Investment Trust Common Stocks (cost $15,283,410)

                    16,385,086  
Shares     Description (1), (4)                 Value  
 

INVESTMENT COMPANIES – 0.2%

     
  152,984    

3l Infrastructure PLC

      $ 503,880  
  872,506    

Keppel Infrastructure Trust

                    310,364  
 

Total Investment Companies (cost $712,603)

                    814,244  
 

Total Long-Term Investments (cost $381,885,480)

                    426,827,337  
Principal
Amount (000)
    Description (1)   Coupon     Maturity     Value  
 

SHORT-TERM INVESTMENTS – 2.0%

     
      REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS – 2.0%                  
$ 8,739    

Repurchase Agreement with Fixed Income Clearing Corporation, dated 12/31/18, repurchase price
$8,740,215, collateralized by $7,980,000 U.S. Treasury Bonds, 3.625%, due 2/15/44,
value $8,917,698

    1.200%       1/02/19     $ 8,739,362  
 

Total Short-Term Investments (cost $8,739,362)

                    8,739,362  
 

Total Investments (cost $390,624,842) – 99.5%

                    435,566,699  
 

Other Assets Less Liabilities – 0.5%

                    2,386,543  
 

Net Assets – 100%

                  $ 437,953,242  

 

For Fund portfolio compliance purposes, the Fund’s industry classifications refer to any one or more of the industry sub-classifications used by one or more widely recognized market indexes or ratings group indexes, and/or as defined by Fund management. This definition may not apply for purposes of this report, which may combine industry sub-classifications into sectors for reporting ease.

 

(1)

All percentages shown in the Portfolio of Investments are based on net assets.

 

(2)

For fair value measurement disclosure purposes, investment classified as Level 2. See Notes to Financial Statements, Note 2 – Investment Valuation and Fair Value Measurements for more information.

 

(3)

Non-income producing; issuer has not declared a dividend within the past twelve months.

 

(4)

A copy of the most recent financial statements for these investment companies can be obtained directly from the Securities and Exchange Commission on its website at http://www.sec.gov.

 

ADR

American Depositary Receipt

 

REIT

Real Estate Investment Trust

 

See accompanying notes to financial statements.

 

41


Nuveen Global Real Estate Securities Fund

Portfolio of Investments    December 31, 2018

 

Shares     Description (1)                 Value  
 

LONG-TERM INVESTMENTS – 97.5%

     
 

REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST COMMON STOCKS – 77.8%

     
      Diversified – 7.9%                  
  40,956    

Abacus Property Group, (2)

      $ 94,398  
  66    

Activia Properties Inc., (2)

        268,150  
  2,201    

Alexander & Baldwin Inc.

        40,454  
  699    

Cofinimmo SA, (2)

        86,915  
  3,877    

Dream Global Real Estate Investment Trust

        33,795  
  211    

Gecina SA, (2)

        27,314  
  26,326    

Goodman Property Trust, (2)

        27,049  
  3,826    

GPT Group/The, (2)

        14,397  
  56    

Hulic Reit Inc., (2)

        86,955  
  1,262    

ICADE, (2)

        96,180  
  9,059    

Lar Espana Real Estate Socimi SA, (2)

        77,251  
  1,702    

Liberty Property Trust

        71,280  
  7,115    

LondonMetric Property PLC, (2)

        15,774  
  692    

Merlin Properties Socimi SA, (2), (3)

        8,549  
  17,496    

Nexus Real Estate Investment Trust

        24,222  
  8,184    

Secure Income REIT Plc, (2)

        39,352  
  192    

Star Asia Investment Corp, (2)

        183,784  
  3,233    

Stockland, (2)

        8,020  
  3,779    

STORE Capital Corp

        106,984  
  36,357    

Stride Property Group, (2)

        47,142  
  122,458    

Sunlight Real Estate Investment Trust, (2)

        78,541  
  3,482    

Terreis

        143,622  
  109    

Tokyu REIT Inc., (2)

        163,447  
  26,873    

Tritax EuroBox PLC, (2), (3)

        31,702  
  12,320    

VEREIT Inc.

        88,088  
  723    

Washington Real Estate Investment Trust

        16,629  
  86    

WP Carey Inc.

                    5,619  
 

Total Diversified

                    1,885,613  
      Health Care – 5.6%                  
  1,275    

Assura PLC, (2)

        859  
  9,934    

HCP Inc.

        277,457  
  6,736    

Healthcare Realty Trust Inc.

        191,572  
  1,714    

Healthcare Trust of America Inc.

        43,381  
  272    

LTC Properties Inc.

        11,337  
  1,128    

MedEquities Realty Trust Inc.

        7,716  
  463    

Medical Properties Trust Inc.

        7,445  

 

42


Shares     Description (1)                 Value  
      Health Care (continued)                  
  41    

National Health Investors Inc.

      $ 3,097  
  1,325    

NorthWest Healthcare Properties Real Estate Investment Trust

        9,201  
  69,832    

Parkway Life Real Estate Investment Trust, (2)

        134,705  
  4,871    

Physicians Realty Trust

        78,082  
  33,650    

Target Healthcare REIT Ltd

        46,322  
  7,371    

Ventas Inc.

        431,867  
  1,454    

Welltower Inc.

                    100,922  
 

Total Health Care

                    1,343,963  
      Hotels & Resorts – 4.0%                  
  17,467    

Host Hotels & Resorts Inc.

        291,175  
  101    

Ichigo Hotel REIT Investment Corp, (2)

        125,122  
  525    

MGM Growth Properties LLC

        13,865  
  78    

Mori Trust Hotel Reit Inc., (2)

        90,859  
  2,540    

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust

        71,907  
  72    

Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc.

        4,802  
  10,647    

Summit Hotel Properties Inc.

        103,595  
  20,067    

Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc.

        261,072  
  32    

Xenia Hotels & Resorts Inc.

                    550  
 

Total Hotels & Resorts

                    962,947  
      Industrial – 10.0%                  
  656    

Americold Realty Trust

        16,754  
  20,077    

Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust, (2)

        37,889  
  2,731    

Dream Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust

        19,044  
  19,957    

Duke Realty Corp

        516,886  
  5,819    

First Industrial Realty Trust Inc.

        167,936  
  86,574    

Frasers Logistics & Industrial Trust, (2)

        65,495  
  175    

GLP J-Reit, (2)

        178,178  
  14,082    

Goodman Group, (2)

        105,486  
  446    

Granite Real Estate Investment Trust

        17,383  
  310    

Macquarie Mexico Real Estate Management SA de CV

        278  
  110,507    

Mapletree Logistics Trust, (2)

        102,217  
  17    

Mitsui Fudosan Logistics Park Inc., (2)

        48,102  
  667    

Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corp

        8,271  
  21,547    

PLA Administradora Industrial S de RL de CV

        25,635  
  9,256    

Prologis Inc.

        543,512  
  1,579    

Rexford Industrial Realty Inc.

        46,533  
  25,461    

Segro PLC, (2)

        191,139  
  22,908    

Summit Industrial Income REIT

        160,416  
  2,199    

Terreno Realty Corp

        77,339  
  4,292    

WPT Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust

                    55,152  
 

Total Industrial

                    2,383,645  

 

43


Nuveen Global Real Estate Securities Fund (continued)

Portfolio of Investments    December 31, 2018

 

Shares     Description (1)                 Value  
      Mortgage – 0.1%                  
  190    

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Inc.

      $ 6,053  
  965    

TPG RE Finance Trust Inc.

                    17,640  
 

Total Mortgage

                    23,693  
      Office – 12.0%                  
  3,455    

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc.

        398,154  
  2,523    

alstria office REIT-AG, (2)

        35,324  
  3,638    

Arima Real Estate SOCIMI SA, (3)

        37,514  
  3,276    

Boston Properties Inc.

        368,714  
  42,968    

Centuria Metropolitan REIT

        71,727  
  374,027    

Champion REIT, (2)

        255,906  
  2,772    

Corporate Office Properties Trust

        58,295  
  18,985    

Cousins Properties Inc.

        149,982  
  4,362    

Dexus, (2)

        32,648  
  2,951    

Douglas Emmett Inc.

        100,718  
  3,769    

Easterly Government Properties Inc.

        59,098  
  129,695    

GDI Property Group, (2)

        123,330  
  82,494    

Green REIT plc

        127,599  
  3,223    

Highwoods Properties Inc.

        124,698  
  7,674    

Hudson Pacific Properties Inc.

        223,006  
  15,284    

Inmobiliaria Colonial Socimi SA, (2), (3)

        142,477  
  3    

Intervest Offices & Warehouses NV, (2)

        71  
  76    

JBG SMITH Properties

        2,646  
  1,886    

Kilroy Realty Corp

        118,592  
  318    

Mack-Cali Realty Corp

        6,230  
  96    

Mori Hills REIT Investment Corp, (2)

        120,854  
  1,963    

Paramount Group Inc.

        24,655  
  1,331    

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Inc.

        22,680  
  302    

SL Green Realty Corp

        23,882  
  1,726    

Vornado Realty Trust

        107,064  
  11,889    

Workspace Group PLC, (2)

                    120,176  
 

Total Office

                    2,856,040  
      Residential – 13.8%                  
  4,966    

American Campus Communities Inc.

        205,543  
  5,740    

American Homes 4 Rent

        113,939  
  49    

Apartment Investment & Management Co

        2,150  
  2,904    

AvalonBay Communities Inc.

        505,441  
  2,958    

Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust

        81,924  
  4,582    

Camden Property Trust

        403,445  
  7,357    

Canadian Apartment Properties REIT, (WI/DD)

        238,731  
  1,218    

Equity LifeStyle Properties Inc.

        118,304  

 

44


Shares     Description (1)                 Value  
      Residential (continued)                  
  2,385    

Equity Residential

      $ 157,434  
  892    

Essex Property Trust Inc.

        218,727  
  557    

Investors Real Estate Trust

        27,352  
  8,105    

Invitation Homes Inc.

        162,748  
  93    

Japan Rental Housing Investments Inc., (2)

        69,730  
  136    

Kenedix Residential Next Investment Corp, (2)

        207,351  
  1,856    

Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc.

        177,619  
  820    

NexPoint Residential Trust Inc.

        28,741  
  1    

Nippon Accommodations Fund Inc., (2)

        4,830  
  370    

Northview Apartment Real Estate Investment Trust

        6,635  
  2,122    

Sun Communities Inc.

        215,829  
  3,849    

UDR Inc.

        152,497  
  17,587    

UNITE Group PLC/The, (2)

                    180,822  
 

Total Residential

                    3,279,792  
      Retail – 13.5%                  
  42    

Acadia Realty Trust

        998  
  12    

AEON REIT Investment Corp, (2)

        13,814  
  1,326    

Agree Realty Corp

        78,393  
  11    

Alexander’s Inc.

        3,352  
  394    

Altarea SCA

        74,846  
  7,302    

Brixmor Property Group Inc.

        107,266  
  1,457    

Brookfield Property REIT Inc.

        23,458  
  3,155    

CT Real Estate Investment Trust

        26,646  
  2,590    

Federal Realty Investment Trust

        305,724  
  26,677    

Fortune Real Estate Investment Trust, (2), (WI/DD)

        30,623  
  61,902    

Frasers Centrepoint Trust, (2)

        98,510  
  63    

Fukuoka REIT Corp, (2)

        95,631  
  96,515    

IGB Real Estate Investment Trust, (2)

        40,422  
  17    

Kenedix Retail REIT Corp, (2)

        38,541  
  34,357    

Link REIT, (2)

        348,302  
  716    

Macerich Co/The

        30,988  
  2,954    

National Retail Properties Inc.

        143,299  
  320    

NewRiver REIT PLC, (2)

        863  
  3,269    

Realty Income Corp

        206,078  
  4,360    

Regency Centers Corp

        255,845  
  744    

Retail Properties of America Inc.

        8,072  
  33,689    

Scentre Group, (2)

        92,617  
  4,983    

Simon Property Group Inc.

        837,094  
  1,565    

SITE Centers Corp

        17,325  
  207    

Spirit Realty Capital Inc.

        7,297  
  462    

Taubman Centers Inc.

        21,016  

 

45


Nuveen Global Real Estate Securities Fund (continued)

Portfolio of Investments    December 31, 2018

 

Shares     Description (1)                 Value  
      Retail (continued)                  
  881    

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, (2)

      $ 136,330  
  5,732    

Urban Edge Properties

        95,266  
  49,746    

Viva Energy REIT, (2)

                    78,852  
 

Total Retail

                    3,217,468  
      Specialized – 10.9%                  
  3,614    

ARGAN SA

        181,778  
  6,853    

Automotive Properties Real Estate Investment Trust

        45,027  
  103    

Big Yellow Group PLC, (2)

        1,146  
  2,449    

CatchMark Timber Trust Inc.

        17,388  
  575    

CoreSite Realty Corp

        50,157  
  558    

Crown Castle International Corp

        60,616  
  5,492    

CubeSmart

        157,566  
  185    

CyrusOne Inc.

        9,783  
  2,688    

Digital Realty Trust Inc.

        286,406  
  1,315    

Equinix Inc.

        463,616  
  980    

Extra Space Storage Inc.

        88,670  
  4,354    

Four Corners Property Trust Inc.

        114,075  
  1,343    

Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc.

        43,392  
  122,535    

Keppel DC REIT, (2)

        121,462  
  583    

Life Storage Inc.

        54,213  
  2,977    

Public Storage

        602,575  
  27,462    

Safestore Holdings PLC

        177,290  
  381    

SBA Communications Corp, (3)

        61,680  
  3,318    

VICI Properties Inc.

                    62,312  
 

Total Specialized

                    2,599,152  
 

Total Real Estate Investment Trust Common Stocks (cost $18,988,802)

                    18,552,313  
Shares     Description (1)                 Value  
 

COMMON STOCKS – 19.7%

     
      Diversified Telecommunication Services – 0.6%                  
  883    

Cellnex Telecom SA, (2), (3)

      $ 22,581  
  16,112    

Infrastrutture Wireless Italiane SpA, (2)

                    110,292  
 

Total Diversified Telecommunication Services

                    132,873  
      Health Care Providers & Services – 0.5%                  
  7,718    

Chartwell Retirement Residences

        77,282  
  3,584    

Sienna Senior Living Inc.

                    41,322  
 

Total Health Care Providers & Services

                    118,604  
      Household Durables – 0.3%                  
  31,034    

Cairn Homes PLC, (3)

        38,331  
  51,631    

Glenveagh Properties PLC, (3)

                    41,764  
 

Total Household Durables

                    80,095  

 

46


Shares     Description (1)                 Value  
      Industrial Conglomerates – 0.8%                  
  11,160    

Hopewell Holdings Ltd, (2)

      $ 49,076  
  8,179    

Seibu Holdings Inc., (2)

                    142,261  
 

Total Industrial Conglomerates

                    191,337  
      IT Services – 0.7%                  
  2,277    

InterXion Holding NV, (3)

        123,322  
  12,621    

NEXTDC Ltd, (2), (3)

                    54,379  
 

Total IT Services

                    177,701  
      Real Estate Management & Development – 16.4%                  
  22,222    

ADLER Real Estate AG

        331,500  
  4,611    

ADO Group Ltd, (2), (3)

        87,633  
  20,097    

Aroundtown SA, (2)

        166,724  
  27    

City Developments Ltd, (2)

        161  
  11,980    

CK Asset Holdings Ltd, (2)

        87,653  
  6,789    

CLS Holdings PLC

        18,258  
  9,110    

Deutsche Industrie REIT AG, (3)

        116,903  
  468    

Dios Fastigheter AB, (2), (WI/DD)

        2,979  
  5,061    

Entra ASA, (2)

        67,403  
  4,884    

Fabege AB, (2)

        65,280  
  480    

Fastighets AB Balder, (2), (3)

        13,684  
  9,643    

Keihanshin Building Co Ltd, (2), (WI/DD)

        72,444  
  24,267    

Kenedix Inc., (2)

        104,090  
  8,011    

Kungsleden AB, (2)

        56,979  
  2,490    

LEG Immobilien AG, (2)

        259,781  
  4,810    

Mitsubishi Estate Co Ltd, (2)

        75,678  
  8,431    

Mitsui Fudosan Co Ltd, (2), (WI/DD)

        187,269  
  81,297    

New World Development Co Ltd, (2), (WI/DD)

        107,375  
  16,450    

Parque Arauco SA

        36,529  
  15,407    

Platzer Fastigheter Holding AB, (2)

        103,901  
  78,571    

Samhallsbyggnadsbolaget i Norden AB, (2), (3)

        94,643  
  1,677    

Shurgard Self Storage SA, (3)

        46,594  
  224,484    

Sirius Real Estate Ltd

        171,676  
  7,295    

Sumitomo Realty & Development Co Ltd, (2)

        267,060  
  18,977    

Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd, (2)

        270,832  
  5,399    

Suomen Hoivatilat Oyj, (2)

        48,644  
  36,968    

Swire Properties Ltd, (2)

        129,892  
  10,876    

TAG Immobilien AG, (2)

        247,720  
  17,000    

Tokyu Fudosan Holdings Corp, (2)

        83,793  
  6,055    

VIB Vermoegen AG

        147,075  
  6,991    

Vonovia SE, (2)

        315,147  
  20,403    

Wharf Real Estate Investment Co Ltd, (2)

                    122,029  
 

Total Real Estate Management & Development

                    3,907,329  

 

47


Nuveen Global Real Estate Securities Fund (continued)

Portfolio of Investments    December 31, 2018

 

Shares     Description (1)                 Value  
      Road & Rail – 0.4%                  
  78    

MTR Corp Ltd, (2)

      $ 411  
  6,031    

Tokyu Corp, (2)

                    98,552  
 

Total Road & Rail

                    98,963  
 

Total Common Stocks (cost $4,926,615)

                    4,706,902  
 

Total Long-Term Investments (cost $23,915,417)

                    23,259,215  
Principal
Amount (000)
    Description (1)   Coupon     Maturity     Value  
 

SHORT-TERM INVESTMENTS – 1.8%

     
      REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS – 1.8%                  
$ 419    

Repurchase Agreement with Fixed Income Clearing Corporation, dated 12/31/18, repurchase price $418,878, collateralized by $405,000 U.S. Treasury Bonds, 3.375%, due 5/15/44, value $431,342

    1.200%       1/02/19     $ 418,850  
 

Total Short-Term Investments (cost $418,850)

                    418,850  
 

Total Investments (cost $24,334,267) – 99.3%

                    23,678,065  
 

Other Assets Less Liabilities – 0.7%

                    165,763  
 

Net Assets – 100%

                  $ 23,843,828  

 

For Fund portfolio compliance purposes, the Fund’s industry classifications refer to any one or more of the industry sub-classifications used by one or more widely recognized market indexes or ratings group indexes, and/or as defined by Fund management. This definition may not apply for purposes of this report, which may combine industry sub-classifications into sectors for reporting ease.

 

(1)

All percentages shown in the Portfolio of Investments are based on net assets.

 

(2)

For fair value measurement disclosure purposes, investment classified as Level 2. See Notes to Financial Statements, Note 2 – Investment Valuation and Fair Value Measurements for more information.

 

(3)

Non-income producing; issuer has not declared a dividend within the past twelve months.

 

REIT

Real Estate Investment Trust

 

WI/DD

Purchased on a when-issued or delayed delivery basis.

 

See accompanying notes to financial statements.

 

48


Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund

Portfolio of Investments    December 31, 2018

 

Shares     Description (1)                                           Value  
 

LONG-TERM INVESTMENTS – 96.8%

                
 

REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST COMMON STOCKS – 23.3%

 

     
      Diversified – 3.3%                                         
  42,489    

Abacus Property Group, (2)

                 $ 97,931  
  176,117    

AEW UK REIT PLC

                   201,357  
  215,037    

Armada Hoffler Properties Inc.

                   3,023,420  
  100,411    

Artis Real Estate Investment Trust

                   679,606  
  38,347    

Cofinimmo SA, (2)

                   4,768,159  
  1,683    

Covivio, (2)

                   162,381  
  496,490    

Dream Global Real Estate Investment Trust

                   4,327,740  
  41    

Essential Properties Realty Trust Inc.

                   568  
  441,615    

Growthpoint Properties Australia Ltd, (2)

                   1,163,843  
  65,246    

Hamborner REIT AG, (2)

                   629,694  
  157,730    

ICADE, (2)

                   12,021,017  
  297,655    

Lar Espana Real Estate Socimi SA, (2)

                   2,538,277  
  74,403    

Lexington Realty Trust

                   610,849  
  99,515    

LondonMetric Property PLC, (2)

                   220,626  
  2,011,076    

Nexus Real Estate Investment Trust

                   2,784,159  
  6,237    

Star Asia Investment Corp, (2)

                   5,970,116  
  289,780    

Stockland, (2)

                   718,884  
  1,419,820    

Stride Property Group, (2)

                   1,840,988  
  1,108,292    

Sunlight Real Estate Investment Trust, (2)

                   710,828  
  806,233    

Tritax EuroBox PLC, (2), (3)

                   951,104  
  1,684,741    

VEREIT Inc.

                   12,045,898  
  11,681    

WP Carey Inc.

                                                 763,237  
 

Total Diversified

                                                 56,230,682  
      Health Care – 4.7%                                         
  113,923    

Assura PLC, (2)

                   76,736  
  515,651    

HCP Inc.

                   14,402,132  
  27,770    

LTC Properties Inc.

                   1,157,454  
  415,746    

MedEquities Realty Trust Inc.

                   2,843,703  
  794,135    

Medical Properties Trust Inc.

                   12,769,691  
  16,758    

National Health Investors Inc.

                   1,265,899  
  344,905    

NorthWest Healthcare Properties Real Estate Investment Trust

                   2,395,033  
  3,593,077    

Parkway Life Real Estate Investment Trust, (2)

                   6,930,986  
  38,014    

Physicians Realty Trust

                   609,364  
  20,729    

Sabra Health Care REIT Inc.

                   341,614  
  4,396,774    

Target Healthcare REIT Ltd

                   6,052,457  
  351,131    

Ventas Inc.

                   20,572,765  

 

49


Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund (continued)

Portfolio of Investments    December 31, 2018

 

Shares     Description (1)                                           Value  
      Health Care (continued)                                         
  145,261    

Welltower Inc.

                                               $ 10,082,566  
 

Total Health Care

                                                 79,500,400  
      Hotels & Resorts – 1.0%                                         
  56,617    

American Hotel Income Properties REIT LP

                   262,930  
  3,822,139    

Concentradora Fibra Hotelera Mexicana SA de CV, 144A

                   1,939,101  
  246,601    

MGM Growth Properties LLC

                   6,512,732  
  66,197    

Park Hotels & Resorts Inc.

                   1,719,798  
  3,181    

Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc.

                   212,141  
  73,763    

Summit Hotel Properties Inc.

                   717,714  
  464,248    

Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc.

                   6,039,867  
  18,442    

Xenia Hotels & Resorts Inc.

                                                 317,202  
 

Total Hotels & Resorts

                                                 17,721,485  
      Industrial – 4.6%                                         
  869,743    

Centuria Industrial REIT, (2)

                   1,677,427  
  136,922    

Dream Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust

                   954,803  
  16,859,107    

Frasers Logistics & Industrial Trust, (2)

                   12,754,265  
  19,162    

Granite Real Estate Investment Trust

                   746,858  
  635,567    

Macquarie Mexico Real Estate Management SA de CV, 144A

                   570,827  
  1,478,448    

Mapletree Industrial Trust, (2)

                   2,073,496  
  14,888,837    

Mapletree Logistics Trust, (2)

                   13,771,860  
  2,544,946    

PLA Administradora Industrial S de RL de CV

                   3,027,763  
  1,741,819    

Propertylink Group, (2)

                   1,405,284  
  704,706    

STAG Industrial Inc.

                   17,533,085  
  2,315,671    

Summit Industrial Income REIT

                   16,215,803  
  576,387    

WPT Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust

                                                 7,406,573  
 

Total Industrial

                                                 78,138,044  
      Mortgage – 1.5%                                         
  188,656    

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Inc.

                   6,010,580  
  290,015    

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc.

                   5,553,787  
  294,128    

Starwood Property Trust Inc.

                   5,797,263  
  456,372    

TPG RE Finance Trust Inc.

                                                 8,342,480  
 

Total Mortgage

                                                 25,704,110  
      Office – 1.4%                                         
  980,168    

CapitaLand Commercial Trust, (2)

                   1,258,954  
  1,476,838    

Centuria Metropolitan REIT

                   2,465,299  
  414,544    

City Office REIT Inc.

                   4,249,076  
  441,897    

Easterly Government Properties Inc.

                   6,928,945  
  606,586    

GDI Property Group, (2)

                   576,818  
  75,479    

Intervest Offices & Warehouses NV, (2)

                   1,781,227  
  57,281    

NSI NV

                   2,237,972  

 

50


Shares     Description (1)                                           Value  
      Office (continued)                                         
  423,130    

Slate Office REIT

                 $ 1,850,341  
  441,451    

True North Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust

                                                 1,830,217  
 

Total Office

                                                 23,178,849  
      Residential – 0.6%                                         
  510,492    

Independence Realty Trust Inc.

                   4,686,317  
  27,419    

Investors Real Estate Trust

                   1,345,441  
  214,783    

Northview Apartment Real Estate Investment Trust

                                                 3,851,368  
 

Total Residential

                                                 9,883,126  
      Retail – 4.5%                                         
  10,652    

Altarea SCA

                   2,023,510  
  452,391    

Brixmor Property Group Inc.

                   6,645,624  
  449,643    

Brookfield Property REIT Inc.

                   7,239,252  
  174,295    

CT Real Estate Investment Trust

                   1,472,034  
  9,495,651    

Fortune Real Estate Investment Trust, (2)

                   10,900,082  
  6,563,680    

Frasers Centrepoint Trust, (2)

                   10,445,298  
  10,647,055    

IGB Real Estate Investment Trust, (2)

                   4,459,162  
  134,075    

Immobiliare Grande Distribuzione SIIQ SpA

                   826,763  
  435    

Kenedix Retail REIT Corp, (2)

                   986,196  
  166,681    

Macerich Co/The

                   7,213,954  
  3,493,267    

Mapletree Commercial Trust, (2)

                   4,226,849  
  1,347,009    

NewRiver REIT PLC, (2)

                   3,634,414  
  72,535    

Retail Properties of America Inc.

                   787,005  
  903,629    

Scentre Group, (2)

                   2,484,230  
  349,187    

SITE Centers Corp

                   3,865,500  
  13,580    

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, (2)

                   2,101,430  
  4,382,647    

Viva Energy REIT, (2)

                   6,946,881  
  44,917    

Weingarten Realty Investors

                                                 1,114,391  
 

Total Retail

                                                 77,372,575  
      Specialized – 1.7%                                         
  546,566    

Automotive Properties Real Estate Investment Trust

                   3,591,193  
  2,942    

CoreSite Realty Corp

                   256,631  
  233,310    

Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc.

                   7,538,246  
  8,924,438    

Keppel DC REIT, (2)

                   8,846,289  
  1,421,197    

National Storage REIT, (2)

                   1,757,074  
  357,892    

VICI Properties Inc.

                                                 6,721,212  
 

Total Specialized

                                                 28,710,645  
 

Total Real Estate Investment Trust Common Stocks (cost $403,221,073)

 

                                         396,439,916  

 

51


Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund (continued)

Portfolio of Investments    December 31, 2018

 

Principal
Amount (000) (4)
    Description (1)                   Coupon      Maturity      Ratings (5)      Value  
 

$1,000 PAR (OR SIMILAR) INSTITUTIONAL PREFERRED – 18.9%

 

           
      Diversified Financial Services – 1.0%                                         
$ 2,485    

National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corp

          5.250%        4/20/46        A3      $ 2,460,051  
  3,310    

RKP Overseas Finance 2016 A Ltd, Reg S

          7.950%        N/A (6)        B1        2,517,473  
  12,437    

Transcanada Trust

                      5.625%        5/20/75        Baa2        11,208,846  
 

Total Diversified Financial Services

                                                 16,186,370  
      Electric Utilities – 6.3%                                         
  5,420    

AES Gener SA, 144A

          8.375%        12/18/73        BB        5,402,006  
  5,850    

AusNet Services Holdings Pty Ltd, Reg S

          5.750%        3/17/76        BBB        5,884,948  
  2,640    

ComEd Financing III

          6.350%        3/15/33        Baa2        2,732,506  
  3,500  GBP   

Electricite de France SA, Reg S

          5.875%       
N/A (6)
 
     BBB        4,170,753  
  20,935    

Emera Inc.

          6.750%        6/15/76        BBB–        20,975,195  
  9,096    

EnBW Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg AG, Reg S

          5.125%        4/05/77        Baa2        8,941,368  
  10,125    

Enel SpA, 144A

          8.750%        9/24/73        BBB–        10,327,500  
  18,145    

NextEra Energy Capital Holdings Inc. (3-Month LIBOR reference rate + 2.125% spread), (7)

          4.913%        6/15/67        BBB        14,918,202  
  11,490    

NextEra Energy Capital Holdings Inc.

          4.800%        12/01/77        BBB        9,679,311  
  10,824    

NextEra Energy Inc. (3-Month LIBOR reference rate + 2.068% spread), (7)

          4.464%        10/01/66        BBB        8,929,800  
  11,904    

PPL Capital Funding Inc. (3-Month LIBOR reference rate + 2.665% spread), (7)

          5.468%        3/30/67        BBB        10,296,960  
  3,145    

Southern Co/The

          5.500%        3/15/57        BBB        3,020,544  
  2,810    

SSE PLC, Reg S

                      4.750%        9/16/77        BBB–        2,585,487  
 

Total Electric Utilities

                                                 107,864,580  
      Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts – 0.1%                              
  3,500  SGD   

Cache Logistics Trust, Reg S

                      5.500%       
N/A (6)
 
     N/R        2,526,333  
      Gas Utilities – 0.1%                                         
  2,507    

SK E&S Co Ltd, 144A

                      4.875%       
N/A (6)
 
     BB+        2,456,860  
      Marine – 0.2%                                         
  3,295    

Royal Capital BV, Reg S

                      5.500%       
N/A (6)
 
     N/R        3,256,168  
      Multi-Utilities – 2.4%                                         
  12,060    

CenterPoint Energy Inc.

          6.125%       
N/A (6)
 
     BBB        11,743,425  
  4,785    

Dominion Energy Inc. (3-Month LIBOR reference rate + 2.825% spread), (7)

          5.628%        6/30/66        BBB–        4,450,050  
  2,210    

Dominion Energy Inc. (3-Month LIBOR reference rate + 2.300% spread), (7)

          5.103%        9/30/66        BBB–        1,966,900  
  2,340    

NiSource Inc., 144A

          5.650%       
N/A (6)
 
     BBB–        2,176,200  
  6,700    

RWE AG, Reg S

          6.625%        7/30/75        BB+        6,643,485  
  16,910    

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (3-Month LIBOR reference rate + 2.113% spread), (7)

                      4.729%        5/15/67        BBB        13,797,038  
 

Total Multi-Utilities

                                                 40,777,098  

 

52


Principal
Amount (000) (4)
    Description (1)                   Coupon      Maturity      Ratings (5)      Value  
      Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels – 7.7%                                         
$ 5,585    

Buckeye Partners LP

          6.375%        1/22/78        Ba1      $ 4,542,566  
  2,244    

DCP Midstream LP

          7.375%       
N/A (6)
 
     BB–        1,997,160  
  9,691    

Enbridge Energy Partners LP (3-Month LIBOR reference rate + 3.798% spread), (7)

          6.194%        10/01/77        BBB–        9,497,180  
  6,192    

Enbridge Inc.

          6.250%        3/01/78        BBB–        5,570,494  
  21,187    

Enbridge Inc.

          6.000%        1/15/77        BBB–        19,048,096  
  23,489    

Enbridge Inc.

          5.500%        7/15/77        BBB–        19,912,280  
  16,066    

Energy Transfer Operating LP (3-Month LIBOR reference rate + 3.018% spread), (7)

          5.559%        11/01/66        Ba1        11,406,860  
  2,209    

Energy Transfer Operating LP

          6.250%       
N/A (6)
 
     BB        1,848,657  
  14,115    

Enterprise Products Operating LLC (3-Month LIBOR reference rate + 2.778% spread), (7)

          5.516%        6/01/67        Baa2        12,562,350  
  9,660    

Enterprise Products Operating LLC

          5.250%        8/16/77        Baa2        8,049,336  
  4,906    

Enterprise Products Operating LLC

          4.875%        8/16/77        Baa2        4,066,764  
  11,525    

Plains All American Pipeline LP

          6.125%       
N/A (6)
 
     BB        9,681,000  
  15,470    

TransCanada PipeLines Ltd (3-Month LIBOR reference rate + 2.210% spread), (7)

          4.826%        5/15/67        Baa1        12,455,307  
  8,345    

Transcanada Trust

          5.875%        8/15/76        Baa2        7,849,307  
  2,870    

Transcanada Trust

                      5.300%        3/15/77        Baa2        2,477,169  
 

Total Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels – %

                                                 130,964,526  
      Real Estate Management & Development – 1.1%                              
  13,500    

AT Securities BV, Reg S

          5.250%       
N/A (6)
 
     BBB–        12,014,622  
  3,000  EUR   

CPI Property Group SA, Reg S

          4.375%       
N/A (6)
 
     BB+        3,196,642  
  4,750  SGD   

Frasers Property Treasury Pte Ltd, Reg S

                      3.950%        N/A (6)        N/R        3,233,516  
 

Total Real Estate Management & Development

                                                 18,444,780  
 

Total $1,000 Par (or similar) Institutional Preferred (cost $362,994,591)

 

                                322,476,715  
Shares     Description (1)                                           Value  
 

COMMON STOCKS – 16.2%

                
      Air Freight & Logistics – 0.5%                                         
  226,936    

bpost SA, (2)

                 $ 2,080,706  
  192,026    

Oesterreichische Post AG, (2)

                                                 6,598,656  
 

Total Air Freight & Logistics

                                                 8,679,362  
      Commercial Services & Supplies – 0.2%                                     
  257,048    

Covanta Holding Corp

                                                 3,449,584  
      Diversified Telecommunication Services – 1.1%                                         
  2,672,124    

HKBN Ltd, (2)

                   4,051,051  
  2,642,100    

HKT Trust & HKT Ltd, (2)

                   3,806,023  
  18,166,480    

NetLink NBN Trust, (2)

                                                 10,196,526  
 

Total Diversified Telecommunication Services

                                                 18,053,600  

 

53


Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund (continued)

Portfolio of Investments    December 31, 2018

 

Shares     Description (1)                                           Value  
      Electric Utilities – 4.7%                                         
  7,477,015    

AusNet Services, (2)

                 $ 8,194,198  
  2,286,696    

Contact Energy Ltd, (2)

                   9,065,205  
  75,092    

Endesa SA, (2), (3)

                   1,731,672  
  494,564    

Enel Chile SA

                   2,448,092  
  1,747,506    

Enel SpA, (2)

                   10,130,718  
  2,319,558    

Infratil Ltd, (2)

                   5,686,775  
  693,014    

Mercury NZ Ltd, (2)

                   1,696,864  
  651,877    

Power Assets Holdings Ltd, (2)

                   4,528,847  
  49,624    

PPL Corp

                   1,405,848  
  121,809    

Red Electrica Corp SA, (2), (3)

                   2,716,366  
  291,489    

Southern Co/The

                   12,802,197  
  8,895,488    

Spark Infrastructure Group, (2)

                   13,858,575  
  95,116    

SSE PLC, (2)

                   1,313,512  
  333,888    

Terna Rete Elettrica Nazionale SpA, (2)

                   1,896,195  
  543,329    

Transmissora Alianca de Energia Eletrica SA, (2)

                                                 3,303,373  
 

Total Electric Utilities

                                                 80,778,437  
      Gas Utilities – 1.1%                                         
  172,083    

APA Group, (2)

                   1,030,801  
  62,218    

Italgas SpA, (2)

                   356,791  
  651,980    

Naturgy Energy Group SA, (2), (3)

                                                 16,632,474  
 

Total Gas Utilities

                                                 18,020,066  
      Health Care Providers & Services – 0.1%                                         
  186,030    

Sienna Senior Living Inc.

                                                 2,144,823  
      Independent Power & Renewable Electricity Producers – 0.5%                                     
  107,862    

Brookfield Renewable Partners LP

                   2,792,940  
  2,061,863    

Meridian Energy Ltd, (2)

                                                 4,717,877  
 

Total Independent Power & Renewable Electricity Producers

                                                 7,510,817  
      Industrial Conglomerates – 0.4%                                         
  1,469,000    

Hopewell Holdings Ltd, (2)

                                                 6,459,866  
      Media – 0.2%                                         
  207,351    

Eutelsat Communications SA, (2)

                                                 4,085,053  
      Multi-Utilities – 1.7%                                         
  38,995    

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP

                   1,346,532  
  476,262    

Engie SA, (2)

                   6,842,895  
  105,667    

National Grid PLC

                   5,069,903  
  2,564,974    

REN – Redes Energeticas Nacionais SGPS SA, (2)

                   7,165,006  
  119,864    

Suez

                   1,583,463  
  2,923,179    

Vector Ltd, (2)

                                                 6,540,562  
 

Total Multi-Utilities

                                                 28,548,361  

 

54


Shares     Description (1)                                           Value  
      Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels – 3.2%                                         
  303,565    

Enagas SA, (2)

                 $ 8,205,976  
  452,927    

Enbridge Inc.

                   14,076,971  
  367,407    

Enterprise Products Partners LP

                   9,034,538  
  201,392    

Inter Pipeline Ltd

                   2,853,004  
  15,862    

ONEOK Inc.

                   855,755  
  3,984,490    

Snam SpA, (2)

                   17,445,535  
  60,698    

Targa Resources Corp

                   2,186,342  
  2,189    

TransCanada Corp

                   78,147  
  6,533    

Williams Cos Inc./The

                                                 144,053  
 

Total Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels

                                                 54,880,321  
      Real Estate Management & Development – 0.5%                                         
  381,463    

Atrium European Real Estate Ltd

                   1,411,707  
  550,664    

Dios Fastigheter AB, (2), (WI/DD)

                   3,504,716  
  4,876,883    

Sirius Real Estate Ltd

                                                 3,729,644  
 

Total Real Estate Management & Development

                                                 8,646,067  
      Road & Rail – 0.5%                                         
  1,654,443    

Aurizon Holdings Ltd, (2)

                   4,991,453  
  2,641,228    

ComfortDelGro Corp Ltd, (2)

                                                 4,171,937  
 

Total Road & Rail

                                                 9,163,390  
      Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment – 0.2%                                         
  3,278    

Canadian Solar Infrastructure Fund Inc., (2)

                                                 2,838,271  
      Trading Companies & Distributors – 0.0%                                         
  24,786    

Fortress Transportation & Infrastructure Investors LLC

                                                 355,431  
      Transportation Infrastructure – 0.8%                                         
  142,748    

Atlantia SpA, (2)

                   2,954,188  
  51,773    

Macquarie Infrastructure Corp

                   1,892,821  
  969,993    

Sydney Airport, (2)

                   4,599,541  
  562,015    

Transurban Group, (2)

                                                 4,612,755  
 

Total Transportation Infrastructure

                                                 14,059,305  
      Water Utilities – 0.5%                                         
  1,451,992    

Aguas Andinas SA

                   796,065  
  19,039    

Cia de Saneamento do Parana, (2)

                   301,810  
  3,002,177    

Inversiones Aguas Metropolitanas SA, (2)

                   4,375,476  
  294,628    

United Utilities Group PLC, (2)

                                                 2,770,237  
 

Total Water Utilities

                                                 8,243,588  
 

Total Common Stocks (cost $277,825,420)

                                                 275,916,342  

 

55


Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund (continued)

Portfolio of Investments    December 31, 2018

 

Shares     Description (1)                   Coupon              Ratings (5)      Value  
 

$25 PAR (OR SIMILAR) RETAIL PREFERRED – 16.1%

                
      Electric Utilities – 2.4%                                         
  190,531    

Entergy Arkansas LLC

          4.875%           A      $ 4,326,959  
  75,632    

Entergy Louisiana LLC

          4.875%           A        1,744,074  
  26,500    

Entergy Texas Inc.

          5.625%           A        652,165  
  298,099    

Georgia Power Co

          4.600%           BBB        6,322,680  
  343,355    

Integrys Holding Inc., (2)

          6.000%           BBB        8,120,346  
  229,362    

NextEra Energy Capital Holdings Inc.

          5.250%           BBB        5,252,390  
  120,067    

NextEra Energy Capital Holdings Inc.

          5.000%           BBB        2,652,280  
  334,097    

Southern Co/The

          5.250%           BBB        7,286,656  
  253,244    

Southern Co/The

                      5.250%                 BBB        5,528,317  
 

Total Electric Utilities

                                                 41,885,867  
      Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts – 10.0%                                         
  236,748    

American Homes 4 Rent

          6.350%           BB        5,243,968  
  203,307    

American Homes 4 Rent

          5.875%           BB        4,188,124  
  84,719    

American Homes 4 Rent

          6.500%           BB        1,907,872  
  195,880    

American Homes 4 Rent

          5.875%           BB        4,017,499  
  153,288    

Brookfield Property REIT Inc.

          6.375%           N/R        3,318,685  
  274,495    

CBL & Associates Properties Inc.

          7.375%           B        2,904,157  
  66,158    

Cedar Realty Trust Inc.

          7.250%           N/R        1,532,881  
  254,188    

Cedar Realty Trust Inc.

          6.500%           N/R        4,824,488  
  426,473    

City Office REIT Inc.

          6.625%           N/R        9,616,966  
  52,151    

Colony Capital Inc.

          7.500%           N/R        1,043,020  
  10,192    

Colony Capital Inc.

          7.150%           N/R        188,042  
  135,294    

Colony Capital Inc.

          7.125%           N/R        2,496,174  
  276,722    

Colony Capital Inc.

          7.125%           N/R        5,108,288  
  154,437    

Digital Realty Trust Inc.

          5.250%           Baa3        3,235,455  
  197,011    

EPR Properties

          5.750%           Baa3        4,117,530  
  53,387    

Gladstone Commercial Corp

          7.000%           N/R        1,241,248  
  144,163    

Hersha Hospitality Trust

          6.875%           N/R        3,132,662  
  278,026    

Hersha Hospitality Trust

          6.500%           N/R        5,771,820  
  425,274    

Hersha Hospitality Trust

          6.500%           N/R        8,590,535  
  350,534    

Investors Real Estate Trust

          6.625%           N/R        8,069,293  
  151,453    

Kimco Realty Corp

          5.250%           Baa2        3,097,214  
  4,655    

Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc.

          8.500%           BBB–        292,893  
  381,222    

Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corp

          6.125%           N/R        8,668,988  
  84,557    

National Retail Properties Inc.

          5.200%           Baa2        1,767,241  
  296,510    

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust

          6.500%           N/R        6,929,439  
  228,694    

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust

          6.375%           N/R        5,305,701  
  36    

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust

          6.375%           N/R        866  
  220,016    

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust

          6.300%           N/R        5,185,777  

 

56


Shares     Description (1)                   Coupon              Ratings (5)      Value  
      Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (continued)                                         
  113,992    

Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust

          6.875%           N/R      $ 1,771,436  
  128,611    

PS Business Parks Inc.

          5.250%           BBB        2,662,248  
  170,012    

PS Business Parks Inc.

          5.200%           Baa2        3,493,747  
  830    

Rexford Industrial Realty Inc.

          5.875%           BB+        18,559  
  83,192    

Saul Centers Inc.

          6.125%           N/R        1,737,881  
  10,320    

Senior Housing Properties Trust

          6.250%           BBB–        234,264  
  198,150    

SITE Centers Corp

          6.375%           BB+        4,280,040  
  101,777    

STAG Industrial Inc.

          6.875%           BB+        2,615,669  
  101,872    

Summit Hotel Properties Inc.

          6.450%           N/R        2,200,435  
  310,945    

Summit Hotel Properties Inc.

          6.250%           N/R        6,380,591  
  49,664    

Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc.

          6.950%           N/R        1,234,150  
  231,498    

Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc.

          6.450%           N/R        5,296,674  
  141,182    

UMH Properties Inc.

          8.000%           N/R        3,601,553  
  284,400    

UMH Properties Inc.

          6.750%           N/R        6,546,888  
  100,469    

Urstadt Biddle Properties Inc.

          6.750%           N/R        2,471,537  
  148,418    

Urstadt Biddle Properties Inc.

          6.250%           N/R        3,480,402  
  84,050    

Ventas Realty LP / Ventas Capital Corp

          5.450%           BBB+        2,034,010  
  364,392    

Vornado Realty Trust

          5.250%           BBB–        7,488,256  
  37,096    

Washington Prime Group Inc.

                      6.875%                 Ba1        584,633  
 

Total Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts

                                                 169,929,799  
      Independent Power & Renewable Electricity Producers – 0.2%                                         
  146,449    

Brookfield Renewable Partners LP

                      5.750%                 BBB–        2,677,532  
      Multi-Utilities – 2.3%                                         
  283,740    

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP

          5.350%           BBB–        5,195,942  
  512,223    

Dominion Energy Inc.

          5.250%           BBB–        11,822,107  
  227,479    

DTE Energy Co

          6.000%           Baa2        5,864,409  
  297,055    

DTE Energy Co

          5.375%           Baa2        6,763,942  
  63,759    

DTE Energy Co

          5.250%           Baa2        1,441,591  
  148,730    

DTE Energy Co

          5.250%           Baa2        3,309,242  
  203,654    

NiSource Inc., (2)

                      6.500%                 BBB–        5,101,533  
 

Total Multi-Utilities

                                                 39,498,766  
      Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels – 0.9%                                         
  166,569    

NGL Energy Partners LP

          9.000%           N/R        3,522,934  
  354,128    

NuStar Energy LP

          8.500%           B1        6,873,623  
  115,071    

NuStar Energy LP

          7.625%           B1        2,072,429  
  132,540    

Pembina Pipeline Corp

                      5.750%                 BB+        2,453,330  
 

Total Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels

                                                 14,922,316  
      Real Estate Management & Development – 0.3%                                         
  250,110    

Landmark Infrastructure Partners LP

                      8.000%                 N/R        5,202,288  
 

Total $25 Par (or similar) Retail Preferred (cost $312,994,080)

 

                                274,116,568  

 

57


Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund (continued)

Portfolio of Investments    December 31, 2018

 

Principal
Amount (000) (4)
    Description (1)                   Coupon      Maturity      Ratings (5)      Value  
      CORPORATE BONDS – 13.8%                                         
 

Commercial Services & Supplies – 1.8%

 

              
$ 4,025    

Advanced Disposal Services Inc., 144A

          5.625%        11/15/24        B      $ 3,934,437  
  6,716    

Covanta Holding Corp

          5.875%        7/01/25        B1        6,178,720  
  2,500  SEK   

DSV Miljoe Group AS, Reg S

          5.900%        5/10/21        N/R        2,878,564  
  5,970    

Hulk Finance Corp, 144A

          7.000%        6/01/26        CCC+        5,208,825  
  9,359    

Tervita Escrow Corp, 144A

          7.625%        12/01/21        B+        8,914,448  
  3,525    

Waste Pro USA Inc., 144A

                      5.500%        2/15/26        B+        3,243,000  
  32,095    

Total Commercial Services & Supplies

                                                 30,357,994  
      Communications Equipment – 0.3%                                         
  5,115    

ViaSat Inc., 144A

                      5.625%        9/15/25        BB–        4,705,800  
      Construction & Engineering – 0.3%                                         
  15,078,705  COP   

Fideicomiso PA Concesion Ruta al Mar, 144A

                      6.750%        2/15/44        BBB–        4,585,273  
      Diversified Financial Services – 0.3%                                     
  301    

Cometa Energia SA de CV, 144A

          6.375%        4/24/35        BBB        278,457  
  17,405  BRL   

Swiss Insured Brazil Power Finance Sarl, 144A

                      9.850%        7/16/32        AAA        4,490,744  
  17,706    

Total Diversified Financial Services

                                                 4,769,201  
      Diversified Telecommunication Services – 0.2%                                         
  3,140    

Zayo Group LLC / Zayo Capital Inc., 144A

                      5.750%        1/15/27        B        2,802,450  
      Electric Utilities – 2.9%                                         
  1,810    

Acwa Power Management And Investments One Ltd, 144A

          5.950%        12/15/39        BBB–        1,700,169  
  2,506    

Brooklyn Navy Yard Cogeneration Partners LP, 144A

          7.420%        10/01/20        B+        2,374,659  
  970    

Clearway Energy Operating LLC, 144A

          5.750%        10/15/25        BB        926,350  
  690    

Clearway Energy Operating LLC

          5.000%        9/15/26        BB        619,275  
  10,843    

Crockett Cogeneration LP, 144A

          5.869%        3/30/25        BB–        9,848,209  
  4,755    

Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad, 144A

          6.950%        11/10/21        BB        4,529,137  
  8,962    

Panoche Energy Center LLC, 144A

          6.885%        7/31/29        Baa3        9,251,442  
  11,925    

Red Oak Power LLC

          9.200%        11/30/29        BB–        14,906,250  
  5,094    

Terraform Global Operating LLC, 144A

                      6.125%        3/01/26        BB        4,737,420  
  47,555    

Total Electric Utilities

                                                 48,892,911  
      Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts – 1.2%                                         
  4,835    

CoreCivic Inc.

          4.750%        10/15/27        Ba1        4,000,963  
  2,110    

CyrusOne LP / CyrusOne Finance Corp

          5.375%        3/15/27        BBB–        2,046,700  
  5,955    

GEO Group Inc./The

          6.000%        4/15/26        B+        5,225,513  
  1,735    

Iron Mountain Inc., 144A

          5.250%        3/15/28        BB–        1,531,137  
  3,165    

iStar Inc.

          4.625%        9/15/20        BB        3,085,875  
  2,615    

Sabra Health Care LP

          5.125%        8/15/26        BBB–        2,424,670  
  2,490    

SBA Communications Corp

                      4.875%        9/01/24        BB–        2,340,600  
  22,905    

Total Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts

                                                 20,655,458  

 

58


Principal
Amount (000) (4)
    Description (1)                   Coupon      Maturity      Ratings (5)      Value  
      Gas Utilities – 1.2%                                         
$ 4,015    

AmeriGas Partners LP / AmeriGas Finance Corp

          5.750%        5/20/27        BB      $ 3,553,275  
  54,265    

MXN Infraestructura Energetica Nova SAB de CV

          6.300%        2/02/23        Baa1        2,527,723  
  2,100    

LBC Tank Terminals Holding Netherlands BV, 144A

          6.875%        5/15/23        B        1,869,000  
  4,570    

National Gas Co of Trinidad & Tobago Ltd, 144A

          6.050%        1/15/36        BBB        4,364,396  
  4,510    

NGL Energy Partners LP / NGL Energy Finance Corp

          6.125%        3/01/25        B+        3,878,600  
  2,795    

Rockpoint Gas Storage Canada Ltd, 144A

          7.000%        3/31/23        BB–        2,627,300  
  2,915    

Suburban Propane Partners LP/Suburban Energy Finance Corp

                      5.875%        3/01/27        BB–        2,579,775  
  75,170    

Total Gas Utilities

                                                 21,400,069  
      Health Care Providers & Services – 0.4%                                         
  8,165    

CHS/Community Health Systems Inc.

                      6.250%        3/31/23        B        7,420,352  
      Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure – 0.2%                                         
  1,788    

Grupo Posadas SAB de CV, 144A

          7.875%        6/30/22        B+        1,721,941  
  1,695    

MGM Growth Properties Operating Partnership LP / MGP Finance Co-Issuer Inc.

                      4.500%        1/15/28        BB+        1,483,125  
  3,483    

Total Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure

                                                 3,205,066  
      Independent Power & Renewable Electricity Producers – 0.4%                                         
  1,685    

Azure Power Energy Ltd, 144A

          5.500%        11/03/22        Ba3        1,580,024  
  3,000    

Calpine Corp, 144A

          5.250%        6/01/26        BB+        2,737,500  
  1,815    

Cemig Geracao e Transmissao SA, 144A

                      9.250%        12/05/24        B+        1,931,614  
  6,500    

Total Independent Power & Renewable Electricity Producers

                                                 6,249,138  
      Marine – 0.1%                                         
  1,825    

HIDROVIAS INT FIN SARL, 144A

                      5.950%        1/24/25        BB        1,660,768  
      Mortgage Real Estate Investment Trusts – 0.0%                                         
  940    

Starwood Property Trust Inc.

                      4.750%        3/15/25        BB–        846,000  
      Multi-Utilities – 0.2%                                         
  3,510    

Dominion Energy Inc.

                      5.750%        10/01/54        BBB–        3,505,674  
      Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels – 1.9%                                         
  670    

Calumet Specialty Products Partners LP / Calumet Finance Corp

          6.500%        4/15/21        B–        559,450  
  1,334    

Calumet Specialty Products Partners LP / Calumet Finance Corp

          7.625%        1/15/22        B–        1,077,205  
  6,465    

DCP Midstream Operating LP, 144A

          5.850%        5/21/43        BB–        5,172,000  
  4,415    

Enterprise Products Operating LLC

          5.375%        2/15/78        Baa2        3,655,392  
  4,460    

Genesis Energy LP / Genesis Energy Finance Corp

          5.625%        6/15/24        B+        3,824,450  
  1,620    

Global Partners LP / GLP Finance Corp

          7.000%        6/15/23        B+        1,539,000  
  3,010    

Martin Midstream Partners LP / Martin Midstream Finance Corp

          7.250%        2/15/21        B–        2,859,500  
  5,890    

Par Petroleum LLC / Par Petroleum Finance Corp, 144A

          7.750%        12/15/25        BB–        5,242,100  
  3,280    

PBF Holding Co LLC / PBF Finance Corp

          7.250%        6/15/25        BB        3,083,200  
  3,000    

Sunoco LP / Sunoco Finance Corp

          5.875%        3/15/28        BB        2,806,140  
  3,015    

TransMontaigne Partners LP / TLP Finance Corp

                      6.125%        2/15/26        BB        2,698,425  
  37,159    

Total Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels

                                                 32,516,862  

 

59


Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund (continued)

Portfolio of Investments    December 31, 2018

 

Principal
Amount (000) (4)
    Description (1)                   Coupon      Maturity      Ratings (5)      Value  
      Real Estate Management & Development – 1.1%                       
$ 6,015    

APL Realty Holdings Pte Ltd, Reg S

          5.950%        6/02/24        B1      $ 4,144,497  
  2,400  SEK   

Cibus Nordic Real Estate AB

          4.184%        5/26/21        N/R        2,784,381  
  500    

Dar Al-Arkan Sukuk Co Ltd, Reg S

          6.875%        3/21/23        B1        464,033  
  8,685    

Hunt Cos Inc., 144A

          6.250%        2/15/26        BB–        7,420,464  
  3,968    

Kennedy-Wilson Inc.

          5.875%        4/01/24        BB        3,710,080  
  600    

RKI Overseas Finance 2016 B Ltd, Reg S

                      4.700%        9/06/21        BB–        560,801  
  22,168    

Total Real Estate Management & Development

 

              19,084,256  
      Road & Rail – 0.1%                                         
  2,067    

Panama Canal Railway Co, 144A

                      7.000%        11/01/26        Ba1        2,121,337  
      Thrifts & Mortgage Finance – 0.2%                                         
  4,580    

Ladder Capital Finance Holdings LLLP / Ladder Capital Finance Corp, 144A

                      5.250%        10/01/25        BB        4,087,650  
      Trading Companies & Distributors – 0.1%                
  2,430    

Fortress Transportation & Infrastructure Investors LLC, 144A

                      6.500%        10/01/25        B+        2,272,050  
      Transportation Infrastructure – 0.5%                              
  1,650    

Aeropuerto Internacional de Tocumen SA, 144A

          6.000%        11/18/48        BBB        1,639,605  
  2,810    

Aeropuertos Dominicanos Siglo XXI SA, 144A

          6.750%        3/30/29        BB–        2,699,356  
  10,691  MXN   

Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte SAB de CV

          6.850%        6/07/21        N/R        513,849  
  2,970  EUR   

Swissport Financing Sarl, 144A

                      9.750%        12/15/22        CCC        3,564,513  
  18,121    

Total Transportation Infrastructure

                                                 8,417,323  
      Water Utilities – 0.1%                              
  1,803    

Aegea Finance Sarl, 144A

                      5.750%        10/10/24        Ba2        1,717,376  
      Wireless Telecommunication Services – 0.3%                
  2,770    

Hughes Satellite Systems Corp

          6.625%        8/01/26        BB–        2,538,012  
  2,031    

Inmarsat Finance PLC, 144A

                      6.500%        10/01/24        BB        1,898,985  
$ 4,801    

Total Wireless Telecommunication Services

 

              4,436,997  
 

Total Corporate Bonds (cost $253,987,954)

 

              235,710,005  
Principal
Amount (000)
    Description (1)   Coupon (8)      Reference
Rate (8)
     Spread (8)      Maturity (9)      Ratings (5)      Value  
 

VARIABLE RATE SENIOR LOAN INTERESTS – 3.7% (8)

 

     
      Capital Markets – 0.2%                                     
$ 2,925    

Hummel Station LLC, Construction Term Loan

    8.522%        1-Month LIBOR        6.000%        10/27/22        BB–      $ 2,782,871  
      Commercial Services & Supplies – 0.1%                
  2,229    

EnergySolutions, LLC, Term Loan B

    6.553%        3-Month LIBOR        3.750%        5/09/25        B        2,072,784  
      Diversified Telecommunication Services – 0.1%                                     
  1,592    

SBA Senior Finance II LLC, Term Loan B

    4.530%        1-Month LIBOR        2.000%        4/11/25        BB+        1,530,811  

 

60


Principal
Amount (000)
    Description (1)   Coupon (8)      Reference
Rate (8)
     Spread (8)      Maturity (9)      Ratings (5)      Value  
      Electric Utilities – 0.3%                                         
$ 3,258    

Homer City Generation, L.P., Term Loan

    13.530%        1-Month LIBOR        11.000%        4/05/23        N/R      $ 3,132,914  
  2,899    

Panda Liberty LLC, Term Loan B1

    9.303%        3-Month LIBOR        6.500%        8/21/20        B+        2,613,865  
  6,157    

Total Electric Utilities

                                                 5,746,779  
      Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts – 0.2%                                     
  2,860    

VICI Properties 1 LLC, Term Loan B

    4.504%        1-Month LIBOR        2.000%        12/20/24        BBB–        2,740,695  
      Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure – 0.2%                
  2,977    

CityCenter Holdings, LLC, Term Loan B

    4.772%        1-Month LIBOR        2.250%        4/18/24        BB–        2,829,520  
      Independent Power & Renewable Electricity Producers – 0.2%                              
  3,535    

Terra-Gen Finance Company, LLC, Term Loan B

    6.770%        1-Month LIBOR        4.250%        12/9/21        B+        2,881,110  
      Machinery – 0.2%                                         
  3,660    

Brookfield WEC Holdings Inc., 2nd Lien Term Loan

    9.272%        1-Month LIBOR        6.750%        8/03/26        B–        3,593,663  
      Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels – 0.8%                                         
  5,473    

BCP Renaissance Parent LLC

    6.027%        3-Month LIBOR        3.500%        10/31/24        BB–        5,340,476  
  2,915    

Brazos Delaware II, LLC, Term Loan B

    6.470%        1-Month LIBOR        4.000%        5/21/25        BB–        2,684,556  
  3,399    

Limetree Bay Terminals, LLC, Term Loan B

    6.522%        1-Month LIBOR        4.000%        2/15/24        BB–        3,179,495  
  2,184    

Navitas Midstream Midland Basin, LLC

    7.004%        1-Month LIBOR        4.500%        12/13/24        BB        2,096,611  
  13,971    

Total Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels

                                                 13,301,138  
      Real Estate Management & Development – 1.1%                
  12,500    

Brookfield Retail Hold, Term Loan B

    5.022%        1-Month LIBOR        2.500%        8/27/25        BB+        11,814,438  
  8,110    

Invitation Homes Operating Partnership LP, Term Loan A

    4.204%        1-Month LIBOR        1.700%        1/24/19        N/R        7,826,150  
  20,610    

Total Real Estate Management & Development

 

              19,640,588  
      Water Utilities – 0.3%                                         
  5,875    

GIP III Stetson I LP, Term Loan B

    6.695%        3-Month LIBOR        4.250%        1/18/19        Ba3        5,676,719  
$ 66,391    

Total Variable Rate Senior Loan Interests (cost $65,410,532)

 

                       62,796,678  
Shares     Description (1)                   Coupon              Ratings (5)      Value  
      CONVERTIBLE PREFERRED SECURITIES – 3.6%                
 

Electric Utilities – 0.4%

                
  128,955    

NextEra Energy Inc.

                      6.123%                 BBB      $ 7,432,966  
      Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts – 1.7%                
  186,318    

Braemar Hotels & Resorts Inc.

          5.500%           N/R        3,196,285  
  7,719    

Crown Castle International Corp, (2)

          6.875%           N/R        8,092,567  
  74,486    

EPR Properties

          9.000%           BB        2,532,524  
  25,936    

Equity Commonwealth

          6.500%           Baa3        654,884  
  25,720    

Lexington Realty Trust

          6.500%           N/R        1,267,481  
  41,488    

QTS Realty Trust Inc.

          6.500%           B–        3,911,489  
  65,579    

RLJ Lodging Trust

          1.950%           B–        1,625,048  

 

61


Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund (continued)

Portfolio of Investments    December 31, 2018

 

Shares     Description (1)                   Coupon              Ratings (5)      Value  
      Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (continued)                
  141,202    

RPT Realty

                      7.250%                 N/R      $ 6,982,439  
 

Total Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts

                                                 28,262,717  
      Multi-Utilities – 1.5%                                         
  163,178    

CenterPoint Energy Inc.

          7.000%           N/R        8,219,276  
  200,123    

Dominion Energy Inc.

          6.750%           BBB–        9,579,888  
  29,643    

DTE Energy Co

          5.000%           BBB+        1,531,357  
  54,163    

Sempra Energy

          6.000%           N/R        5,151,443  
  14,547    

Sempra Energy

                      6.000%                 N/R        1,402,913  
 

Total Multi-Utilities

                                                 25,884,877  
 

Total Convertible Preferred Securities (cost $61,768,654)

 

              61,580,560  
Principal
Amount (000)
    Description (1)                   Coupon      Maturity      Ratings (5)      Value  
 

CONVERTIBLE BONDS – 0.8%

                
      Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels – 0.6%                                         
$ 15,050    

Cheniere Energy Inc.

                      4.250%        3/15/45        N/R      $ 10,468,780  
      Real Estate Management & Development – 0.2%                                         
  3,545    

Tricon Capital Group Inc., 144A

                      5.750%        3/31/22        N/R        3,553,862  
$ 18,595    

Total Convertible Bonds (cost $14,132,817)

                                                 14,022,642  
Shares     Description (1), (10)                                           Value  
 

INVESTMENT COMPANIES – 0.4%

                
  15,738,440    

Keppel Infrastructure Trust

                 $ 5,598,400  
  1,015,144    

Starwood European Real Estate Finance Limited

                                                 1,319,781  
 

Total Investment Companies (cost $7,391,625)

                                                 6,918,181  
Principal
Amount (000) (4)
    Description (1)                   Coupon      Maturity      Ratings (5)      Value  
 

SOVEREIGN DEBT – 0.0%

                
      India – 0.0%                                         
  30,000,000  INR   

National Highways Authority of India, Reg S

                      7.300%        5/18/22        N/R      $ 406,023  
 

Total Sovereign Debt (cost $470,529)

                                                 406,023  
 

Total Long-Term Investments (cost $1,760,197,275)

 

              1,650,383,630  
Principal
Amount (000)
    Description (1)                   Coupon      Maturity              Value  
 

SHORT-TERM INVESTMENTS – 2.2%

                
 

REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS – 2.2%

                
$ 37,839    

Repurchase Agreement with Fixed Income Clearing Corporation, dated 12/31/18, repurchase price $37,841,068, collateralized by $36,580,000 U.S. Treasury Notes, 0.125%, due 4/15/20, value $38,600,313

                      1.200%        1/02/19               $ 37,838,545  
 

Total Short-Term Investments (cost $37,838,545)

                                                 37,838,545  
 

Total Investments (cost $1,798,035,820) – 99.0%

                                                 1,688,222,175  
 

Other Assets Less Liabilities – 1.0%

                                                 16,405,661  
 

Net Assets – 100%

                                               $ 1,704,627,836  

 

62


 

For Fund portfolio compliance purposes, the Fund’s industry classifications refer to any one or more of the industry sub-classifications used by one or more widely recognized market indexes or ratings group indexes, and/or as defined by Fund management. This definition may not apply for purposes of this report, which may combine industry sub-classifications into sectors for reporting ease.

 

(1)

All percentages shown in the Portfolio of Investments are based on net assets.

 

(2)

For fair value measurement disclosure purposes, investment classified as Level 2. See Notes to Financial Statements, Note 2 – Investment Valuation and Fair Value Measurements for more information.

 

(3)

Non-income producing; issuer has not declared a dividend within the past twelve months.

 

(4)

Principal Amount (000) denominated in U.S. Dollars, unless otherwise noted.

 

(5)

For financial reporting purposes, the ratings disclosed are the highest of Standard & Poor’s Group (“Standard & Poor’s”), Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”) or Fitch, Inc. (“Fitch”) rating. This treatment of split-rated securities may differ from that used for other purposes, such as for Fund investment policies. Ratings below BBB by Standard & Poor’s, Baa by Moody’s or BBB by Fitch are considered to be below investment grade. Holdings designated N/R are not rated by any of these national rating agencies. Ratings are not covered by the report of independent registered public accounting firm.

 

(6)

Perpetual security. Maturity date is not applicable.

 

(7)

Variable rate security. The rate shown is the coupon as of the end of the reporting period.

 

(8)

Senior loans generally pay interest at rates which are periodically adjusted by reference to a base short-term, floating lending rate (Reference Rate) plus an assigned fixed rate (Spread). These floating lending rates are generally (i) the lending rate referenced by the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”), or (ii) the prime rate offered by one or more major United States banks. Senior loans may be considered restricted in that the Fund ordinarily is contractually obligated to receive approval from the agent bank and/or borrower prior to the disposition of a senior loan. The rate shown is the coupon as of the end of the reporting period.

 

(9)

Senior loans generally are subject to mandatory and/or optional prepayment. Because of these mandatory prepayment conditions and because there may be significant economic incentives for a borrower to prepay, prepayments of senior loans may occur. As a result, the actual remaining maturity of senior loans held may be substantially less than the stated maturities shown.

 

(10)

A copy of the most recent financial statements for these investment companies can be obtained directly from the Securities and Exchange Commission on its website at http://www.sec.gov.

 

144A

Investment is exempt from registration under Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. These investments may only be resold in transactions exempt from registration, which are normally those transactions with qualified institutional buyers.

 

BRL

Brazilian Real

 

COP

Colombian Peso

 

EUR

Euro

 

GBP

Pound Sterling

 

INR

Indian Rupee

 

LIBOR

London Inter-Bank Offered Rate

 

MXN

Mexican Peso

 

REIT

Real Estate Investment Trust

 

Reg S

Regulation S allows U.S. companies to sell securities to persons or entities located outside of the United States without registering those securities with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Specifically, Regulation S provides a safe harbor from the registration requirements of the Securities Act for the offers and sales of securities by both foreign and domestic issuers that are made outside the United States.

 

SEK

Swedish Krona

 

SGD

Singapore Dollar

 

TBD

Senior loan purchased on a when-issued or delayed-delivery basis. Certain details associated with this purchase are not known prior to the settlement date of the transaction. In addition, senior loans typically trade without accrued interest and therefore a coupon rate is not available prior to settlement. At settlement, if still unknown, the borrower or counterparty will provide the Fund with the final coupon rate and maturity date.

 

WI/DD

Purchased on a when-issued or delayed delivery basis.

 

See accompanying notes to financial statements.

 

63


Nuveen Real Estate Securities Fund

Portfolio of Investments    December 31, 2018

 

Shares     Description (1)          Value  
 

LONG-TERM INVESTMENTS – 98.1%

   
 

REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST COMMON STOCKS – 98.1%

   
      Diversified – 2.6%            
  543,449    

Alexander & Baldwin Inc.

    $ 9,988,593  
  408,678    

Liberty Property Trust

      17,115,435  
  899,037    

STORE Capital Corp

      25,451,738  
  2,956,573    

VEREIT Inc.

      21,139,497  
  180,224    

Washington Real Estate Investment Trust

      4,145,152  
  20,905    

WP Carey Inc.

            1,365,933  
 

Total Diversified

            79,206,348  
      Health Care – 9.5%            
  2,384,922    

HCP Inc.

      66,610,872  
  1,615,597    

Healthcare Realty Trust Inc.

      45,947,579  
  413,501    

Healthcare Trust of America Inc.

      10,465,710  
  64,988    

LTC Properties Inc.

      2,708,700  
  285,693    

MedEquities Realty Trust Inc.

      1,954,140  
  112,105    

Medical Properties Trust Inc.

      1,802,648  
  9,686    

National Health Investors Inc.

      731,680  
  2,464,453    

Parkway Life Real Estate Investment Trust, (2)

      4,753,893  
  1,179,500    

Physicians Realty Trust

      18,907,385  
  1,780,373    

Ventas Inc.

      104,312,054  
  351,471    

Welltower Inc.

            24,395,602  
 

Total Health Care

            282,590,263  
      Hotels & Resorts – 6.1%            
  4,214,202    

Host Hotels & Resorts Inc.

      70,250,747  
  124,125    

MGM Growth Properties LLC

      3,278,141  
  609,800    

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust

      17,263,438  
  17,505    

Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc.

      1,167,408  
  2,585,306    

Summit Hotel Properties Inc.

      25,155,027  
  4,886,867    

Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc.

      63,578,140  
  8,084    

Xenia Hotels & Resorts Inc.

            139,045  
 

Total Hotels & Resorts

            180,831,946  
      Industrial – 11.2%            
  158,267    

Americold Realty Trust

      4,042,139  
  4,815,400    

Duke Realty Corp

      124,718,860  
  1,406,009    

First Industrial Realty Trust Inc.

      40,577,420  
  164,830    

Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corp

      2,043,892  
  2,245,815    

Prologis Inc.

      131,874,257  

 

64


Shares     Description (1)          Value  
      Industrial (continued)            
  386,173    

Rexford Industrial Realty Inc.

    $ 11,380,518  
  537,577    

Terreno Realty Corp

            18,906,583  
 

Total Industrial

            333,543,669  
      Mortgage – 0.2%            
  45,104    

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Inc.

      1,437,013  
  236,201    

TPG RE Finance Trust Inc.

            4,317,754  
 

Total Mortgage

            5,754,767  
      Office – 14.4%            
  825,368    

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc.

      95,115,408  
  797,055    

Boston Properties Inc.

      89,708,540  
  670,420    

Corporate Office Properties Trust

      14,098,933  
  4,504,946    

Cousins Properties Inc.

      35,589,073  
  703,875    

Douglas Emmett Inc.

      24,023,254  
  922,533    

Easterly Government Properties Inc.

      14,465,317  
  763,276    

Highwoods Properties Inc.

      29,531,148  
  1,817,378    

Hudson Pacific Properties Inc.

      52,813,005  
  18,540    

JBG SMITH Properties

      645,377  
  459,882    

Kilroy Realty Corp

      28,917,380  
  79,424    

Mack-Cali Realty Corp

      1,555,916  
  483,173    

Paramount Group Inc.

      6,068,653  
  323,131    

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Inc.

      5,506,152  
  73,951    

SL Green Realty Corp

      5,848,045  
  426,229    

Vornado Realty Trust

            26,438,985  
 

Total Office

            430,325,186  
      Residential – 20.2%            
  1,204,117    

American Campus Communities Inc.

      49,838,403  
  1,394,780    

American Homes 4 Rent

      27,686,383  
  11,884    

Apartment Investment & Management Co

      521,470  
  698,949    

AvalonBay Communities Inc.

      121,652,073  
  1,109,829    

Camden Property Trust

      97,720,443  
  291,254    

Equity LifeStyle Properties Inc.

      28,289,501  
  578,769    

Equity Residential

      38,204,542  
  215,926    

Essex Property Trust Inc.

      52,947,215  
  137,163    

Investors Real Estate Trust

      6,730,584  
  1,943,906    

Invitation Homes Inc.

      39,033,633  
  448,578    

Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc.

      42,928,915  
  200,839    

NexPoint Residential Trust Inc.

      7,039,407  
  502,664    

Sun Communities Inc.

      51,125,955  
  927,086    

UDR Inc.

            36,731,147  
 

Total Residential

            600,449,671  

 

65


Nuveen Real Estate Securities Fund (continued)

Portfolio of Investments    December 31, 2018

 

Shares     Description (1)          Value  
      Retail – 17.1%            
  10,599    

Acadia Realty Trust

    $ 251,832  
  318,641    

Agree Realty Corp

      18,838,056  
  3,032    

Alexander’s Inc.

      923,972  
  1,775,670    

Brixmor Property Group Inc.

      26,084,592  
  622,851    

Federal Realty Investment Trust

      73,521,332  
  166,915    

Macerich Co/The

      7,224,081  
  712,823    

National Retail Properties Inc.

      34,579,044  
  799,349    

Realty Income Corp

      50,390,961  
  1,045,449    

Regency Centers Corp

      61,346,947  
  182,458    

Retail Properties of America Inc.

      1,979,669  
  1,197,508    

Simon Property Group Inc.

      201,169,369  
  377,468    

SITE Centers Corp

      4,178,571  
  113,099    

Taubman Centers Inc.

      5,144,874  
  1,395,422    

Urban Edge Properties

            23,191,914  
 

Total Retail

            508,825,214  
      Specialized – 16.8%            
  622,298    

CatchMark Timber Trust Inc.

      4,418,316  
  138,629    

CoreSite Realty Corp

      12,092,608  
  135,105    

Crown Castle International Corp

      14,676,456  
  1,321,859    

CubeSmart

      37,924,135  
  44,386    

CyrusOne Inc.

      2,347,132  
  652,833    

Digital Realty Trust Inc.

      69,559,356  
  322,895    

Equinix Inc.

      113,839,861  
  234,727    

Extra Space Storage Inc.

      21,238,099  
  1,035,306    

Four Corners Property Trust Inc.

      27,125,017  
  329,358    

Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc.

      10,641,557  
  141,361    

Life Storage Inc.

      13,145,159  
  716,994    

Public Storage

      145,126,756  
  91,972    

SBA Communications Corp, (3)

      14,889,347  
  812,745    

VICI Properties Inc.

            15,263,351  
 

Total Specialized

            502,287,150  
 

Total Long-Term Investments (cost $2,527,623,201)

            2,923,814,214  
Shares     Description (1)   Coupon     Value  
 

SHORT-TERM INVESTMENTS – 1.9%

   
      Money Market Funds – 1.9%            
  55,165,433    

First American Treasury Obligations Fund, Class Z

    2.358% (4)     $ 55,165,433  
 

Total Short-Term Investments (cost $55,165,433)

            55,165,433  
 

Total Investments (cost $2,582,788,634) – 100.0%

            2,978,979,647  
 

Other Assets Less Liabilities – (0.0)%

            (619,313
 

Net Assets – 100%

          $ 2,978,360,334  

 

66


For Fund portfolio compliance purposes, the Fund’s industry classifications refer to any one or more of the industry sub-classifications used by one or more widely recognized market indexes or ratings group indexes, and/or as defined by Fund management. This definition may not apply for purposes of this report, which may combine industry sub-classifications into sectors for reporting ease.

 

(1)

All percentages shown in the Portfolio of Investments are based on net assets.

 

(2)

For fair value measurement disclosure purposes, investment classified as Level 2. See Notes to Financial Statements, Note 2 – Investment Valuation and Fair Value Measurements for more information.

 

(3)

Non-income producing; issuer has not declared a dividend within the past twelve months.

 

(4)

The rate shown is the annualized seven-day subsidized yield as of the end of the reporting period.

 

See accompanying notes to financial statements.

 

67


Statement of Assets and Liabilities

December 31, 2018

 

      Global
Infrastructure
       Global
Real Estate
Securities
       Real
Asset Income
       Real Estate
Securities
 

Assets

                 

Long-term investments, at value (cost $381,885,480, $23,915,417, $1,760,197,275 and $2,527,623,201, respectively)

   $ 426,827,337        $ 23,259,215        $ 1,650,383,630        $ 2,923,814,214  

Short-term investments, at value (cost approximates value)

     8,739,362          418,850          37,838,545          55,165,433  

Cash

     15,500                   477,873           

Cash denominated in foreign currencies (cost $48,795, $8,179, $1,073,301 and $—, respectively)

     48,749          8,188          1,074,334           

Receivable for:

                 

Dividends

     923,888          98,419          5,868,208          15,659,757  

Due from broker

                                210  

From Adviser

              48,665                    

Interest

     291          14          9,371,204          63,471  

Investments sold

     9,545,814          621,011          17,529,246          38,886,914  

Reclaims

     389,661          11,295          222,680          45,641  

Shares sold

     1,313,915                   6,575,212          10,296,742  

Other assets

     75,279          12,107          98,767          338,945  

Total assets

     447,879,796          24,477,764          1,729,439,699          3,044,271,327  

Liabilities

                 

Payable for:

                 

Dividends

     673                   800,531          357  

Investments purchased

     2,599,804          547,633          8,511,422          39,829,964  

Shares redeemed

     6,708,478                   13,430,117          21,650,406  

Accrued expenses:

                 

Custodian fees

     94,568          75,685          161,720          57,778  

Directors/Trustees fees

     35,762          162          61,910          301,286  

Management fees

     280,030                   1,026,645          2,287,695  

12b-1 distribution and service fees

     35,368          26          202,469          110,045  

Other

     171,871          10,430          617,049          1,673,462  

Total liabilities

     9,926,554          633,936          24,811,863          65,910,993  

Net assets

   $ 437,953,242        $ 23,843,828        $ 1,704,627,836        $ 2,978,360,334  

Class A Shares

                 

Net assets

   $ 55,855,840        $ 23,834        $ 178,650,715        $ 264,413,547  

Shares outstanding

     5,891,871          1,250          8,324,874          14,662,818  

Net asset value (“NAV”) per share

   $ 9.48        $ 19.07        $ 21.46        $ 18.03  

Offering price per share (NAV per share plus maximum sales charge of 5.75% of offering price)

   $ 10.06        $ 20.23        $ 22.77        $ 19.13  

Class C Shares

                 

Net assets

   $ 24,556,163        $ 23,828        $ 186,042,590        $ 43,151,828  

Shares outstanding

     2,610,023          1,250          8,664,713          2,467,381  

NAV and offering price per share

   $ 9.41        $ 19.06        $ 21.47        $ 17.49  

Class R3 Shares

                 

Net assets

   $ 239,269        $        $        $ 22,073,401  

Shares outstanding

     24,822                            1,203,761  

NAV and offering price per share

   $ 9.64        $        $        $ 18.34  

Class R6 Shares

                 

Net assets

   $ 11,519,723        $ 23,770,416        $ 27,654,422        $ 346,185,257  

Shares outstanding

     1,217,079          1,246,250          1,282,788          18,673,028  

NAV and offering price per share

   $ 9.47        $ 19.07        $ 21.56        $ 18.54  

Class I Shares

                 

Net assets

   $ 345,782,247        $ 25,750        $ 1,312,280,109        $ 2,302,536,301  

Shares outstanding

     36,620,835          1,350          61,159,442          125,580,919  

NAV and offering price per share

   $ 9.44        $ 19.07        $ 21.46        $ 18.34  

Fund level net assets consist of:

                                         

Capital paid-in

   $ 412,586,001        $ 25,001,985        $ 1,879,212,140        $ 2,665,112,371  

Total distributable earnings

     25,367,241          (1,158,157        (174,584,304        313,247,963  

Fund level net assets

   $ 437,953,242        $ 23,843,828        $ 1,704,627,836        $ 2,978,360,334  

Authorized shares – per class

     2 billion          Unlimited          2 billion          2 billion  

Par value per share

   $ 0.0001        $ 0.01        $ 0.0001        $ 0.0001  

 

See accompanying notes to financial statements.

 

68


Statement of Operations

Year Ended December 31, 2018

 

      Global
Infrastructure
       Global
Real Estate
Securities
       Real
Asset Income
       Real Estate
Securities
 

Investment Income

                 

Dividends

   $ 17,861,481        $ 710,227        $ 79,428,338        $ 102,275,292  

Interest

     85,671          4,458          43,168,107          899,119  

Foreign tax withheld on dividend income

     (1,288,664        (50,202        (3,486,626        (80,952

Securities lending income

                                10,749  

Total investment income

     16,658,488          664,483          119,109,819          103,104,208  

Expenses

                 

Management fees

     4,877,286          182,096          14,313,612          28,836,155  

12b-1 service fees – Class A Shares

     192,848          50          524,448          934,255  

12b-1 distribution and service fees – Class C Shares

     279,834          200          2,191,668          541,434  

12b-1 distribution and service fees – Class R3 Shares

     1,489                            147,677  

Shareholder servicing agent fees

     449,002          5,293          1,663,785          4,385,317  

Custodian fees

     370,381          215,213          706,776          349,164  

Directors/Trustees fees

     13,954          630          54,629          93,858  

Professional fees

     94,787          50,515          136,423          199,481  

Shareholder reporting expenses

     28,335          5,129          651,866          702,759  

Federal and state registration fees

     107,038          13,520          154,421          135,069  

Other

     17,961          4,164          42,807          54,301  

Total expenses before fee waiver/expense reimbursement

     6,432,915          476,810          20,440,435          36,379,470  

Fee waiver/expense reimbursement

     (725,781        (272,917        (56,016         

Net expenses

     5,707,134          203,893          20,384,419          36,379,470  

Net investment income (loss)

     10,951,354          460,590          98,725,400          66,724,738  

Realized and Unrealized Gain (Loss)

                 

Net realized gain (loss) from:

                 

Investments and foreign currency

     5,967,204          (32,490        (37,840,856        67,415,493  

Futures contracts

                       2,813,514           

Change in net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) of:

                 

Investments and foreign currency

     (61,292,713        (656,752        (187,951,172        (320,335,746

Futures contracts

                       (133,634         

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     (55,325,509        (689,242        (223,112,148        (252,920,253

Net increase (decrease) in net assets from operations

   $ (44,374,155      $ (228,652      $ (124,386,748      $ (186,195,515

 

See accompanying notes to financial statements.

 

69


Statement of Changes in Net Assets

 

     Global Infrastructure            Global Real Estate Securities  
      Year Ended
12/31/18
    

Year Ended(1)

12/31/17

            For the period
March 20, 2018
(commencement of
operations) through
December 31, 2018
 

Operations

          

Net investment income (loss)

   $ 10,951,354      $ 14,182,202        $ 460,590  

Net realized gain (loss) from:

          

Investments and foreign currency

     5,967,204        34,485,700          (32,490

Futures contracts

                      

Change in net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) of:

          

Investments and foreign currency

     (61,292,713      55,311,953          (656,752

Futures contracts

                            

Net increase (decrease) in net assets from operations

     (44,374,155      103,979,855                (228,652

Distributions to Shareholders(2)

          

Dividends(3)

          

Class A Shares

     (3,755,306      (4,930,339        (882

Class C Shares

     (1,273,099      (1,437,015        (738

Class R3 Shares

     (13,284      (17,755         

Class R6 Shares

     (726,034      (1,154,100        (926,961

Class I Shares

     (21,971,240      (27,868,681        (1,003

Class T Shares(4)

     (273      (1,462         

Return of Capital

          

Class A Shares

     (160,320                

Class C Shares

     (58,872                

Class R3 Shares

     (610                

Class R6 Shares

     (26,614                

Class I Shares

     (879,812                

Class T Shares(4)

     (50                      

Decrease in net assets from distributions to shareholders

     (28,865,514      (35,409,352              (929,584

Fund Share Transactions

          

Proceeds from sale of shares

     132,913,905        402,437,948          25,003,000  

Proceeds from shares issued to shareholders due to reinvestment of distributions

     21,919,163        24,729,268                73  
     154,833,068        427,167,216          25,003,073  

Cost of shares redeemed

     (253,244,145      (301,532,839              (1,009

Net increase (decrease) in net assets from Fund share transactions

     (98,411,077      125,634,377                25,002,064  

Net increase (decrease) in net assets

     (171,650,746      194,204,880          23,843,828  

Net assets at the beginning of period

     609,603,988        415,399,108                 

Net assets at the end of period

   $ 437,953,242      $ 609,603,988              $ 23,843,828  

 

(1)

Prior period amounts have been conformed to current year presentation. See Notes to Financial Statements, Note 9 – New Accounting Pronouncements for further details.

 

(2)

The composition and per share amounts of the Fund’s distributions are presented in the Financial Highlights. The distribution information for the Fund as of its most recent tax year end is presented within the Notes to Financial Statements, Note 6 – Income Tax Information.

 

(3)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, Real Asset Income’s distributions to shareholders were paid from net investment income, while Global Infrastructure’s and Real Estate Securities’s distributions were paid from net investment income and accumulated net realized gains.

 

(4)

Class T shares were not available for public offering.

 

See accompanying notes to financial statements.

 

70


     Real Asset Income            Real Estate Securities  
     

Year Ended
12/31/18

    

Year Ended(1)

12/31/17

           

Year Ended
12/31/18

    

Year Ended(1)

12/31/17

 

Operations

             

Net investment income (loss)

   $ 98,725,400      $ 82,735,064        $ 66,724,738      $ 71,702,973  

Net realized gain (loss) from:

             

Investments and foreign currency

     (37,840,856      22,133,762          67,415,493        509,608,165  

Futures contracts

     2,813,514        (1,474,938                

Change in net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) of:

             

Investments and foreign currency

     (187,951,172      81,496,437          (320,335,746      (357,541,933

Futures contracts

     (133,634      164,232                        

Net increase (decrease) in net assets from operations

     (124,386,748      185,054,557                (186,195,515      223,769,205  

Distributions to Shareholders(2)

             

Dividends(3)

             

Class A Shares

     (9,712,967      (11,889,954        (17,730,670      (57,433,285

Class C Shares

     (8,470,366      (10,520,728        (2,449,091      (8,234,883

Class R3 Shares

                     (1,414,187      (4,487,850

Class R6 Shares

     (1,478,458      (866,572        (20,227,182      (33,446,489

Class I Shares

     (74,646,020      (75,567,965        (149,246,103      (373,815,387

Class T Shares(4)

     (1,055      (868        (765      (2,929

Return of Capital

             

Class A Shares

     (1,105,163                       

Class C Shares

     (1,153,747                       

Class R3 Shares

                             

Class R6 Shares

     (158,482                       

Class I Shares

     (8,043,786                       

Class T Shares(4)

     (127                             

Decrease in net assets from distributions to shareholders

     (104,770,171      (98,846,087              (191,067,998      (477,420,823

Fund Share Transactions

             

Proceeds from sale of shares

     579,661,431        1,113,449,576          869,814,162        1,001,907,714  

Proceeds from shares issued to shareholders due to reinvestment of distributions

     95,025,457        91,668,223                154,000,537        379,758,213  
     674,686,888        1,205,117,799          1,023,814,699        1,381,665,927  

Cost of shares redeemed

     (844,651,713      (458,636,990              (1,454,944,075      (1,968,091,405

Net increase (decrease) in net assets from Fund share transactions

     (169,964,825      746,480,809                (431,129,376      (586,425,478

Net increase (decrease) in net assets

     (399,121,744      832,689,279          (808,392,889      (840,077,096

Net assets at the beginning of period

     2,103,749,580        1,271,060,301                3,786,753,223        4,626,830,319  

Net assets at the end of period

   $ 1,704,627,836      $ 2,103,749,580              $ 2,978,360,334      $ 3,786,753,223  

 

(1)

Prior period amounts have been conformed to current year presentation. See Notes to Financial Statements, Note 9 – New Accounting Pronouncements for further details.

 

(2)

The composition and per share amounts of the Fund’s distributions are presented in the Financial Highlights. The distribution information for the Fund as of its most recent tax year end is presented within the Notes to Financial Statements, Note 6 – Income Tax Information.

 

(3)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, Real Asset Income’s distributions to shareholders were paid from net investment income, while Global Infrastructure’s and Real Estate Securities’s distributions were paid from net investment income and accumulated net realized gains.

 

(4)

Class T shares were not available for public offering.

 

See accompanying notes to financial statements.

 

71


Financial Highlights

 

Global Infrastructure

Selected data for a share outstanding throughout each period:

 

      Investment Operations           Less Distributions           

Class (Commencement Date)

 

 

Year Ended December 31,

  Beginning
NAV
    Net
Investment
Income
(Loss)(a)
       Net
Realized/
Unrealized
Gain (Loss)
       Total           

From

Net
Investment
Income

      

From

Accumulated

Net Realized

Gains

       Return
of
Capital
       Total        Ending
NAV
 

Class A (12/07)

 

                                   

2018

  $ 10.93     $ 0.20        $ (1.05      $ (0.85     $ (0.22      $ (0.36      $ (0.02      $ (0.60      $ 9.48  

2017

    9.69       0.22          1.66          1.88         (0.23        (0.41                 (0.64        10.93  

2016

    9.75       0.25          0.49          0.74         (0.30        (0.50                 (0.80        9.69  

2015

    10.79       0.19          (0.93        (0.74       (0.20        (0.10                 (0.30        9.75  

2014

    10.35       0.20          1.24          1.44               (0.16        (0.84                 (1.00        10.79  

Class C (11/08)

 

                                   

2018

    10.85       0.12          (1.04        (0.92       (0.14        (0.36        (0.02        (0.52        9.41  

2017

    9.62       0.14          1.65          1.79         (0.15        (0.41                 (0.56        10.85  

2016

    9.69       0.16          0.49          0.65         (0.22        (0.50                 (0.72        9.62  

2015

    10.71       0.11          (0.91        (0.80       (0.12        (0.10                 (0.22        9.69  

2014

    10.27       0.11          1.23          1.34               (0.06        (0.84                 (0.90        10.71  

Class R3 (11/08)

 

                                   

2018

    11.11       0.18          (1.07        (0.89       (0.20        (0.36        (0.02        (0.58        9.64  

2017

    9.85       0.20          1.68          1.88         (0.21        (0.41                 (0.62        11.11  

2016

    9.90       0.22          0.51          0.73         (0.28        (0.50                 (0.78        9.85  

2015

    10.95       0.17          (0.95        (0.78       (0.17        (0.10                 (0.27        9.90  

2014

    10.48       0.18          1.25          1.43               (0.12        (0.84                 (0.96        10.95  

Class R6 (6/16)

                                     

2018

    10.91       0.22          (1.03        (0.81       (0.25        (0.36        (0.02        (0.63        9.47  

2017

    9.65       0.27          1.66          1.93         (0.26        (0.41                 (0.67        10.91  

2016(e)

    11.06       0.11          (0.67        (0.56             (0.35        (0.50                 (0.85        9.65  

Class I (12/07)

 

                                   

2018

    10.89       0.22          (1.04        (0.82       (0.25        (0.36        (0.02        (0.63        9.44  

2017

    9.66       0.26          1.64          1.90         (0.26        (0.41                 (0.67        10.89  

2016

    9.73       0.27          0.50          0.77         (0.34        (0.50                 (0.84        9.66  

2015

    10.77       0.22          (0.94        (0.72       (0.22        (0.10                 (0.32        9.73  

2014

    10.35       0.21          1.26          1.47               (0.21        (0.84                 (1.05        10.77  

 

72


 

      Ratios/Supplemental Data  
                  Ratios to Average
Net Assets Before
Waiver/Reimbursement
          Ratios to Average
Net Assets After
Waiver/Reimbursement(c)
          
Total
Return(b)
    Ending
Net
Assets
(000)
           Expenses        Net
Investment
Income
(Loss)
           Expenses        Net
Investment
Income
(Loss)
       Portfolio
Turnover
Rate(d)
 
                        
  (7.88 )%    $ 55,856         1.35        1.74       1.22        1.87        174
  19.38       87,876         1.42          1.85         1.22          2.05          161  
  7.61       70,173         1.45          2.20         1.22          2.42          149  
  (6.89     287,424         1.45          1.59         1.22          1.82          133  
  14.11       268,672               1.43          1.57               1.22          1.77          162  
                        
  (8.60     24,556         2.11          1.00         1.97          1.13          174  
  18.55       29,227         2.17          1.11         1.97          1.31          161  
  6.71       22,868         2.21          1.30         1.97          1.53          149  
  (7.50     22,307         2.20          0.83         1.97          1.05          133  
  13.28       24,820               2.18          0.74               1.97          0.95          162  
                        
  (8.14     239         1.60          1.54         1.47          1.68          174  
  19.03       337         1.67          1.63         1.47          1.83          161  
  7.37       730         1.71          1.81         1.47          2.04          149  
  (7.10     607         1.70          1.39         1.47          1.62          133  
  13.86       399               1.68          1.33               1.47          1.54          162  
                        
  (7.56     11,520         1.02          1.93         0.89          2.06          174  
  19.95       19,575         1.02          2.24         0.80          2.46          161  
  (5.08     7,627               1.09        1.78             0.86        2.02        149  
                        
  (7.67     345,782         1.10          1.98         0.97          2.11          174  
  19.61       472,564         1.17          2.14         0.97          2.34          161  
  7.91       314,001         1.20          2.30         0.97          2.54          149  
  (6.67     320,406         1.20          1.83         0.97          2.05          133  
  14.46       374,631               1.18          1.68               0.97          1.88          162  

 

(a)

Per share Net Investment Income (Loss) is calculated using the average daily shares method.

 
(b)

Total return is the combination of changes in NAV without any sales charge, reinvested dividend income at NAV and reinvested capital gains distributions at NAV, if any. Total returns are not annualized.

 
(c)

After fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement from the Adviser, where applicable. See Note 7 – Management Fees and Other Transactions with Affiliates, Management Fees for more information.

 
(d)

Portfolio Turnover Rate is calculated based on the lesser of long-term purchases or sales (as disclosed in Note 5 – Investment Transactions) divided by the average long-term market value during the period.

 
(e)

For the period June 30, 2016 (commencement of operations) through December 31, 2016.

 
*

Annualized.

 

 

See accompanying notes to financial statements.

 

73


Financial Highlights (continued)

 

Global Real Estate Securities

Selected data for a share outstanding throughout each period:

 

          Investment Operations           Less Distributions           

Class (Commencement Date)

 

 

Year Ended December 31,

  Beginning
NAV
    Net
Investment
Income
(Loss)(a)
       Net
Realized/
Unrealized
Gain (Loss)
       Total            From
Net
Investment
Income
       From
Accumulated
Net Realized
Gains
       Total        Ending
NAV
 

Class A (03/18)

                                

2018(e)

  $ 20.00     $ 0.32        $ (0.54      $ (0.22           $ (0.53      $ (0.18      $ (0.71      $ 19.07  

Class C (03/18)

                                

2018(e)

    20.00       0.20          (0.55        (0.35             (0.41        (0.18        (0.59        19.06  

Class R6 (03/18)

                                

2018(e)

    20.00       0.37          (0.55        (0.18             (0.57        (0.18        (0.75        19.07  

Class I (03/18)

                                

2018(e)

    20.00       0.36          (0.54        (0.18             (0.57        (0.18        (0.75        19.07  

 

74


 

      Ratios/Supplemental Data  
                  Ratios to Average
Net Assets Before
Waiver/Reimbursement
          Ratios to Average
Net Assets After
Waiver/Reimbursement(c)
          
Total
Return(b)
    Ending
Net
Assets
(000)
           Expenses        Net
Investment
Income
(Loss)
           Expenses       

Net

Investment
Income
(Loss)

       Portfolio
Turnover
Rate(d)
 
                        
  (1.21 )%    $ 24               2.65 %*         0.67 %*              1.30 %*         2.02 %*         161
                        
  (1.77     24               3.41        (0.09 )*              2.05        1.27        161  
                        
  (0.97     23,770               2.38        0.94             1.02        2.30        161  
                        
  (1.03)       26               2.42        0.86             1.05        2.24        161  

 

 

(a)

Per share Net Investment Income (Loss) is calculated using the average daily shares method.

 
(b)

Total return is the combination of changes in NAV without any sales charge, reinvested dividend income at NAV and reinvested capital gains distributions at NAV, if any. Total returns are not annualized.

 
(c)

After fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement from the Adviser, where applicable. See Note 7 – Management Fees and Other Transactions with Affiliates, Management Fees for more information.

 
(d)

Portfolio Turnover Rate is calculated based on the lesser of long-term purchases or sales (as disclosed in Note 5 – Investment Transactions) divided by the average long-term market value during the period.

 
(e)

For the period March 20, 2018 (commencement of operations) though December 31, 2018.

 
*

Annualized.

 

 

See accompanying notes to financial statements.

 

75


Financial Highlights (continued)

 

Real Asset Income

Selected data for a share outstanding throughout each period:

 

          Investment Operations           Less Distributions           

Class (Commencement Date)

 

 

Year Ended December 31,

  Beginning
NAV
    Net
Investment
Income
(Loss)(a)
       Net
Realized/
Unrealized
Gain (Loss)
       Total            From
Net
Investment
Income
       From
Accumulated
Net Realized
Gains
       Return
of
Capital
       Total        Ending
NAV
 

Class A (9/11)

 

                                   

2018

  $ 24.14     $ 1.12        $ (2.61      $ (1.49     $ (1.07      $        $ (0.12      $ (1.19      $ 21.46  

2017

    22.76       1.11          1.59          2.70         (1.32                          (1.32        24.14  

2016

    21.87       1.08          1.00          2.08         (1.12                 (0.07        (1.19        22.76  

2015

    23.78       1.08          (1.80        (0.72       (1.08        (0.01        (0.10        (1.19        21.87  

2014

    22.01       1.15          2.18          3.33               (1.16        (0.40                 (1.56        23.78  

Class C (9/11)

 

                                   

2018

    24.15       0.95          (2.62        (1.67       (0.89                 (0.12        (1.01        21.47  

2017

    22.77       0.94          1.59          2.53         (1.15                          (1.15        24.15  

2016

    21.89       0.91          0.99          1.90         (0.95                 (0.07        (1.02        22.77  

2015

    23.79       0.92          (1.81        (0.89       (0.90        (0.01        (0.10        (1.01        21.89  

2014

    22.01       0.98          2.18          3.16               (0.98        (0.40                 (1.38        23.79  

Class R6 (6/16)

                                     

2018

    24.24       1.20          (2.63        (1.43       (1.13                 (0.12        (1.25        21.56  

2017

    22.83       1.22          1.58          2.80         (1.39                          (1.39        24.24  

2016(e)

    23.49       0.48          (0.57        (0.09             (0.50                 (0.07        (0.57        22.83  

Class I (9/11)

 

                                   

2018

    24.14       1.18          (2.61        (1.43       (1.13                 (0.12        (1.25        21.46  

2017

    22.76       1.18          1.58          2.76         (1.38                          (1.38        24.14  

2016

    21.88       1.14          0.98          2.12         (1.17                 (0.07        (1.24        22.76  

2015

    23.78       1.14          (1.79        (0.65       (1.14        (0.01        (0.10        (1.25        21.88  

2014

    22.01       1.27          2.12          3.39               (1.22        (0.40                 (1.62        23.78  

 

76


 

      Ratios/Supplemental Data  
                  Ratios to Average
Net Assets Before
Waiver/Reimbursement
          Ratios to Average
Net Assets After
Waiver/Reimbursement(c)
          
Total
Return(b)
    Ending
Net
Assets
(000)
           Expenses        Net
Investment
Income
(Loss)
           Expenses        Net
Investment
Income
(Loss)
       Portfolio
Turnover
Rate(d)
 
                        
  (6.38 )%    $ 178,651         1.14        4.85       1.14        4.85        94
  12.07       225,282         1.15          4.64         1.15          4.64          84  
  9.60       234,495         1.18          4.72         1.16          4.74          89  
  (3.19     161,064         1.18          4.68         1.16          4.69          82  
  15.40       115,322               1.25          4.77               1.17          4.85          86  
                        
  (7.09     186,043         1.89          4.10         1.89          4.11          94  
  11.25       241,844         1.90          3.94         1.90          3.94          84  
  8.74       182,744         1.93          3.97         1.91          3.99          89  
  (3.88     129,301         1.92          3.99         1.91          4.01          82  
  14.54       65,928               2.00          4.07               1.92          4.14          86  
                        
  (6.08     27,654         0.81          5.18         0.81          5.19          94  
  12.47       29,332         0.81          5.10         0.81          5.10          84  
  (0.43     7,237               0.84        4.08             0.82        4.11        89  
                        
  (6.13     1,312,280         0.89          5.10         0.89          5.11          94  
  12.35       1,607,267         0.90          4.96         0.90          4.96          84  
  9.82       846,584         0.93          4.98         0.91          5.00          89  
  (2.90     555,149         0.93          4.97         0.91          4.98          82  
  15.69       345,747               0.99          5.29               0.92          5.37          86  

 

(a)

Per share Net Investment Income (Loss) is calculated using the average daily shares method.

 
(b)

Total return is the combination of changes in NAV without any sales charge, reinvested dividend income at NAV and reinvested capital gains distributions at NAV, if any. Total returns are not annualized.

 
(c)

After fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement from the Adviser, where applicable. See Note 7 – Management Fees and Other Transactions with Affiliates, Management Fees for more information.

 
(d)

Portfolio Turnover Rate is calculated based on the lesser of long-term purchases or sales (as disclosed in Note 5 – Investment Transactions) divided by the average long-term market value during the period.

 
(e)

For the period June 30, 2016 (commencement of operations) through December 31, 2016.

 
*

Annualized.

 

 

See accompanying notes to financial statements.

 

77


Financial Highlights (continued)

 

Real Estate Securities

Selected data for a share outstanding throughout each period:

 

      Investment Operations           Less Distributions         

Class (Commencement Date)

 

 

Year Ended December 31,

  Beginning
NAV
    Net
Investment
Income
(Loss)(a)
       Net
Realized/
Unrealized
Gain (Loss)
     Total           

From

Net
Investment
Income

    

From

Accumulated

Net Realized

Gains

     Total      Ending
NAV
 

Class A (9/95)

 

                      

2018

  $ 20.23     $ 0.31        $ (1.43    $ (1.12     $ (0.34    $ (0.74    $ (1.08    $ 18.03  

2017

    21.75       0.32          0.85        1.17         (0.37      (2.32      (2.69      20.23  

2016

    22.66       0.31          1.14        1.45         (0.31      (2.05      (2.36      21.75  

2015

    23.79       0.32          0.38        0.70         (0.37      (1.46      (1.83      22.66  

2014

    19.46       0.32          5.62        5.94               (0.33      (1.28      (1.61      23.79  

Class C (2/00)

 

                      

2018

    19.63       0.17          (1.39      (1.22       (0.18      (0.74      (0.92      17.49  

2017

    21.18       0.15          0.82        0.97         (0.20      (2.32      (2.52      19.63  

2016

    22.11       0.12          1.12        1.24         (0.12      (2.05      (2.17      21.18  

2015

    23.24       0.15          0.36        0.51         (0.18      (1.46      (1.64      22.11  

2014

    19.03       0.15          5.50        5.65               (0.16      (1.28      (1.44      23.24  

Class R3 (9/01)

 

                      

2018

    20.56       0.28          (1.46      (1.18       (0.30      (0.74      (1.04      18.34  

2017

    22.08       0.27          0.85        1.12         (0.32      (2.32      (2.64      20.56  

2016

    23.00       0.26          1.16        1.42         (0.29      (2.05      (2.34      22.08  

2015

    24.13       0.25          0.40        0.65         (0.32      (1.46      (1.78      23.00  

2014

    19.72       0.28          5.69        5.97               (0.28      (1.28      (1.56      24.13  

Class R6 (4/13)

 

                      

2018

    20.75       0.44          (1.51      (1.07       (0.40      (0.74      (1.14      18.54  

2017

    22.23       0.46          0.82        1.28         (0.44      (2.32      (2.76      20.75  

2016

    23.07       0.43          1.16        1.59         (0.38      (2.05      (2.43      22.23  

2015

    24.17       0.43          0.37        0.80         (0.44      (1.46      (1.90      23.07  

2014

    19.72       0.48          5.65        6.13               (0.40      (1.28      (1.68      24.17  

Class I (6/95)

 

                      

2018

    20.55       0.39          (1.47      (1.08       (0.39      (0.74      (1.13      18.34  

2017

    22.07       0.40          0.84        1.24         (0.44      (2.32      (2.76      20.55  

2016

    22.97       0.38          1.15        1.53         (0.38      (2.05      (2.43      22.07  

2015

    24.10       0.38          0.39        0.77         (0.44      (1.46      (1.90      22.97  

2014

    19.70       0.40          5.68        6.08               (0.40      (1.28      (1.68      24.10  

 

78


 

      Ratios/Supplemental Data  
                  Ratios to Average
Net Assets Before
Waiver/Reimbursement
                
Total
Return(b)
    Ending
Net
Assets
(000)
           Expenses        Net
Investment
Income
(Loss)
              Portfolio
Turnover
Rate(c)
 
                 
  (5.78 )%    $ 264,414         1.26          1.61            131
  5.34       459,034         1.29          1.47            131  
  6.58       679,318         1.30          1.32            139  
  3.22       690,025         1.30          1.37            104  
  30.94       751,098               1.30          1.44                  89  
                 
  (6.46     43,152         2.02          0.89            131  
  4.59       66,953         2.04          0.71            131  
  5.76       89,123         2.05          0.55            139  
  2.45       93,499         2.05          0.65            104  
  29.99       91,172               2.05          0.69                  89  
                 
  (5.98     22,073         1.52          1.42            131  
  5.08       36,829         1.54          1.23            131  
  6.31       53,413         1.55          1.11            139  
  2.95       57,416         1.55          1.06            104  
  30.66       68,569               1.55          1.22                  89  
                 
  (5.39     346,185         0.88          2.21            131  
  5.78       277,978         0.87          2.04            131  
  7.05       307,921         0.87          1.83            139  
  3.60       254,414         0.87          1.80            104  
  31.51       250,116               0.89          2.12                  89  
                 
  (5.51     2,302,536         1.02          1.96            131  
  5.61       2,945,935         1.04          1.78            131  
  6.79       3,497,055         1.05          1.61            139  
  3.48     3,666,093       1.05        1.58          104
  31.28       4,085,270               1.05          1.75                  89  

 

(a)

Per share Net Investment Income (Loss) is calculated using the average daily shares method.

 
(b)

Total return is the combination of changes in NAV without any sales charge, reinvested dividend income at NAV and reinvested capital gains distributions at NAV, if any. Total returns are not annualized.

 
(c)

Portfolio Turnover Rate is calculated based on the lesser of long-term purchases or sales (as disclosed in Note 5 – Investment Transactions) divided by the average long-term market value during the period.

 

 

See accompanying notes to financial statements.

 

79


Notes to Financial Statements

 

1. General Information and Significant Accounting Policies

General Information

Trust and Fund Information

Nuveen Investment Funds, Inc. and Nuveen Investment Trust V (each a “Trust” and collectively, the “Trusts”), are open-end management investment companies registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. Nuveen Investment Funds, Inc. is comprised of Nuveen Global Infrastructure Fund (“Global Infrastructure”), Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund (“Real Asset Income”) and Nuveen Real Estate Securities Fund (“Real Estate Securities”), among others, and Nuveen Investment Trust V is comprised of Nuveen Global Real Estate Securities Fund (“Global Real Estate Securities”), among others, (each a “Fund” and collectively, the “Funds”), as diversified funds. Nuveen Investment Funds, Inc. was incorporated in the State of Maryland on August 20, 1987 and Nuveen Investment Trust V was organized as a Massachusetts business trust on September 27, 2006.

The end of the reporting period for the Funds is December 31, 2018, and the period covered by these Notes to Financial Statements is the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018 (the “current fiscal period”).

Investment Adviser

The Funds’ investment adviser is Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC (the “Adviser”), a subsidiary of Nuveen, LLC (“Nuveen”). Nuveen is the investment management arm of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (“TIAA”). The Adviser has overall responsibility for management of the Funds, oversees the management of the Funds’ portfolios, manages the Funds’ business affairs and provides certain clerical, bookkeeping and other administrative services, and, if necessary, asset allocation decisions. The Adviser has entered into sub-advisory agreements with Nuveen Asset Management, LLC, (the “Sub-Adviser”), a subsidiary of the Adviser, under which the Sub-Adviser manages the investment portfolios of the Funds.

Investment Objectives

Global Infrastructure’s investment objective is to seek long-term growth of capital and income. Global Real Estate Securities’ investment objective is to seek long-term capital appreciation with a secondary objective to provide current income. Real Asset Income’s investment objective is to seek a high level of current income with a secondary objective to seek capital appreciation. Real Estate Securities’ investment objective is to provide above average current income and long-term capital appreciation.

The Funds’ most recent prospectus provides further descriptions of each Fund’s investment objective, principal investment strategies and principal risks.

Significant Accounting Policies

Each Fund is an investment company and follows accounting and reporting guidance under Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) Topic 946 “Financial Services – Investment Companies.” The following is a summary of significant accounting policies followed by the Funds in the preparation of their financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”).

Investment Transactions

Investment transactions are recorded on a trade date basis. Realized gains and losses from investment transactions are determined on the specific identification method, which is the same basis used for federal income tax purposes. Investments purchased on a when-issued/delayed delivery basis may have extended settlement periods. Any investments so purchased are subject to market fluctuation during this period. The Funds have earmarked securities in their portfolios with a current value at least equal to the amount of the when-issued/delayed delivery purchase commitments.

As of the end of the reporting period, the following Funds’ outstanding when-issued/delayed delivery purchase commitments were as follows:

 

    

Global
Real Estate
Securities

    Real Asset
Income
 
Outstanding when-issued/delayed delivery purchase commitments   $ 142,624     $ 21,596  

Investment Income

Dividend income is recorded on the ex-dividend date or, for foreign securities, when information is available. Non-cash dividends received in the form of stock, if any, are recognized on the ex-dividend date and recorded at fair value. Interest income, which reflects the amortization of premiums and includes accretion of discounts for financial reporting purposes, is recorded on an accrual basis. Interest income also reflects payment-in-kind (“PIK”) interest and paydown gains and losses, if any. PIK interest represents income received in the form of securities in lieu of cash. Securities lending income is comprised of fees earned from borrowers and income earned on cash collateral investments.

 

80


Professional Fees

Professional fees presented on the Statement of Operations consist of legal fees incurred in the normal course of operations, audit fees, tax consulting fees and, in some cases, workout expenditures. Workout expenditures are incurred in an attempt to protect or enhance an investment or to pursue other claims or legal actions on behalf of Fund shareholders. If a refund is received for workout expenditures paid in a prior reporting period, such amounts will be recognized as “Legal fee refund” on the Statement of Operations.

Dividends and Distributions to Shareholders

Dividends from net investment income, if any, are declared and distributed to shareholders annually for Global Infrastructure and quarterly for Global Real Estate Securities and Real Estate Securities. Real Asset Income’s dividends from net investment income are declared daily and distributed to shareholders monthly, and the Fund’s shares begin to accrue dividends on the business day after the day when the monies used to purchase Fund shares are collected by the transfer agent.

Net realized capital gains from investment transactions, if any, are declared and distributed to shareholders at least annually. Furthermore, capital gains are distributed only to the extent they exceed available capital loss carryforwards.

Distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. The amount and timing of distributions are determined in accordance with federal income tax regulations, which may differ from U.S. GAAP.

The tax character of Fund distributions for a fiscal year is dependent upon the amount and tax character of distributions received from securities held in the Funds’ portfolios. Distributions received from certain securities in which the Funds invest, most notably real estate investment trust (“REIT”) securities, may be characterized for tax purposes as ordinary income, long-term capital gain and/or a return of capital. The issuer of a security reports the tax character of its distributions only once per year, generally during the first two months of the calendar year. The distribution is included in the Funds’ ordinary income until such time the Fund is notified by the issuer of the actual tax character. Dividend income, net realized gain (loss) and unrealized appreciation (depreciation) recognized on the Statement of Operations reflect the amounts of ordinary income, capital gain, and/or return of capital as reported by the issuers of such securities for distributions during the current fiscal period.

Share Classes and Sales Charges

Class A Shares are generally sold with an up-front sales charge and incur a 0.25% annual 12b-1 service fee. Class A Share purchases of $1 million or more are sold at net asset value (“NAV”) without an up-front sales charge but may be subject to a contingent deferred sales charge (“CDSC”) of 1% if redeemed within eighteen months of purchase. Class C Shares are sold without an up-front sales charge but incur a 0.75% annual 12b-1 distribution fee and a 0.25% annual 12b-1 service fee. Class C Shares are subject to a CDSC of 1% if redeemed within twelve months of purchase. Class C Shares automatically convert to Class A Shares ten years after purchase. Class R3 Shares are sold without an up-front sales charge but incur a 0.25% annual 12b-1 distribution and a 0.25% annual 12b-1 service fee. Class R6 Shares and Class I Shares are not subject to any sales charge or 12b-1 distribution or service fees.

Multiclass Operations and Allocations

Income and expenses of Global Infrastructure, Global Real Estate Securities and Real Estate Securities that are not directly attributable to a specific class of shares are prorated among the classes of each Fund based on the relative net assets of each class. Income and expenses of Real Asset Income that are not directly attributable to a specific class of shares are prorated among the classes based on the relative settled shares of each class. Expenses directly attributable to a class of shares are recorded to the specific class. Currently, the only expenses that are allocated on a class-specific basis are 12b-1 distribution and service fees.

Sub-transfer agent fees, which are recognized as a component of “Shareholder servicing agent fees” on the Statement of Operations, are not charged to Class R6 Shares and are prorated among the other classes based on their relative net assets for Global Infrastructure, Global Real Estate Securities and Real Estate Securities and relative settled shares for Real Asset Income.

Realized and unrealized capital gains and losses of the Funds are prorated among the classes based on the relative net assets of each class.

Compensation

Neither Trust pays compensation directly to those of its directors/trustees who are affiliated with the Adviser or to its officers, all of whom receive remuneration for their services to each Trust from the Adviser or its affiliates. The Funds’ Board of Directors/Trustees (the “Board”) has adopted a deferred compensation plan for independent directors/trustees that enables directors/trustees to elect to defer receipt of all or a portion of the annual compensation they are entitled to receive from certain Nuveen-advised funds. Under the plan, deferred amounts are treated as though equal dollar amounts had been invested in shares of select Nuveen-advised funds.

Indemnifications

Under each Trust’s organizational documents, its officers and directors/trustees are indemnified against certain liabilities arising out of the performance of their duties to each Trust. In addition, in the normal course of business, each Trust enters into contracts that provide general indemnifications to other parties. Each Trust’s maximum exposure under these arrangements is unknown as this would involve future claims that may be made against each Trust that have not yet occurred. However, each Trust has not had prior claims or losses pursuant to these contracts and expects the risk of loss to be remote.

 

81


Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

Netting Agreements

In the ordinary course of business, the Funds may enter into transactions subject to enforceable master repurchase agreements, International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) master agreements or other similar arrangements (“netting agreements”). Generally, the right to offset in netting agreements allows each Fund to offset certain securities and derivatives, when applicable, with a specific counterparty as well as any collateral received or delivered to that counterparty based on the terms of the agreements. Generally, each Fund manages its cash collateral and securities collateral on a counterparty basis.

The Funds’ investments subject to netting agreements as of the end of the reporting period, if any, are further described in Note 3 – Portfolio Securities and Investments in Derivatives.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of increases and decreases in net assets from operations during the current fiscal period. Actual results may differ from those estimates.

2. Investment Valuation and Fair Value Measurements

The fair valuation input levels as described below are for fair value measurement purposes.

Fair value is defined as the price that would be received upon selling an investment or transferring a liability in an orderly transaction to an independent buyer in the principal or most advantageous market for the investment. A three-tier hierarchy is used to maximize the use of observable market data and minimize the use of unobservable inputs and to establish classification of fair value measurements for disclosure purposes. Observable inputs reflect the assumptions market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability. Observable inputs are based on market data obtained from sources independent of the reporting entity. Unobservable inputs reflect the reporting entity’s own assumptions about the assumptions market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability. Unobservable inputs are based on the best information available in the circumstances. The following is a summary of the three-tiered hierarchy of valuation input levels.

 

Level 1 –   Inputs are unadjusted and prices are determined using quoted prices in active markets for identical securities.
Level 2 –   Prices are determined using other significant observable inputs (including quoted prices for similar securities, interest rates, credit spreads, etc.).
Level 3 –   Prices are determined using significant unobservable inputs (including management’s assumptions in determining the fair value of investments).

Common stocks and other equity-type securities are valued at the last sales price on the securities exchange on which such securities are primarily traded and are generally classified as Level 1. Securities primarily traded on the Nasdaq National Market (“Nasdaq”) are valued at the Nasdaq Official Closing Price and are generally classified as Level 1. However, securities traded on a securities exchange or Nasdaq for which there were no transactions on a given day or securities not listed on a securities exchange or Nasdaq are valued at the quoted bid price and are generally classified as Level 2. Prices of certain American Depositary Receipts (“ADR”) held by the Funds that trade in the United States are valued based on the last traded price, official closing price, or the most recent bid price of the underlying non-U.S.-traded stock, adjusted as appropriate for the underlying-to-ADR conversion ratio and foreign exchange rate, and from time-to-time may also be adjusted further to take into account material events that may take place after the close of the local non-U.S. market but before the close of the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”), which may represent a transfer from a Level 1 to a Level 2 security.

Prices of fixed-income securities are provided by an independent pricing service (“pricing service”) approved by the Board. The pricing service establishes a security’s fair value using methods that may include consideration of the following: yields or prices of investments of comparable quality, type of issue, coupon, maturity and rating, market quotes or indications of value from security dealers, evaluations of anticipated cash flows or collateral, general market conditions and other information and analysis, including the obligor’s credit characteristics considered relevant. These securities are generally classified as Level 2. In pricing certain securities, particularly less liquid and lower quality securities, the pricing service may consider information about a security, its issuer or market activity, provided by the Adviser. These securities are generally classified as Level 2 or Level 3 depending on the observability of the significant inputs.

Like most fixed-income securities, the senior and subordinated loans in which the Fund invests are not listed on an organized exchange. The secondary market of such investments may be less liquid relative to markets for other fixed-income securities. Consequently, the value of senior and subordinated loans, determined as described above, may differ significantly from the value that would have been determined had there been an active market for that senior loan. These securities are generally classified as Level 2.

Investments in investment companies are valued at their respective NAVs on the valuation date and are generally classified as Level 1.

Futures contracts are valued using the closing settlement price or, in the absence of such a price, the last traded price and are generally classified as Level 1.

Repurchase agreements are valued at contract amount plus accrued interest, which approximates market value. These securities are generally classified as Level 2.

 

82


Investments initially valued in currencies other than the U.S. dollar are converted to the U.S. dollar using exchange rates obtained from pricing services. As a result, the NAV of the Funds’ shares may be affected by changes in the value of currencies in relation to the U.S. dollar. The value of securities traded in markets outside the United States or denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar may be affected significantly on a day that the NYSE is closed and an investor is not able to purchase, redeem or exchange shares. If significant market events occur between the time of determination of the closing price of a foreign security on an exchange and the time that the Funds’ NAV is determined, or if under the Funds’ procedures, the closing price of a foreign security is not deemed to be reliable, the security would be valued at fair value as determined in accordance with procedures established in good faith by the Board. These securities are generally classified as Level 2 or Level 3 depending on the observability of the significant inputs.

Certain securities may not be able to be priced by the pre-established pricing methods as described above. Such securities may be valued by the Board and/or its appointee at fair value. These securities generally include, but are not limited to, restricted securities (securities which may not be publicly sold without registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended) for which a pricing service is unable to provide a market price; securities whose trading has been formally suspended; debt securities that have gone into default and for which there is no current market quotation; a security whose market price is not available from a pre-established pricing source; a security with respect to which an event has occurred that is likely to materially affect the value of the security after the market has closed but before the calculation of a Fund’s NAV (as may be the case in non-U.S. markets on which the security is primarily traded) or make it difficult or impossible to obtain a reliable market quotation; and a security whose price, as provided by the pricing service, is not deemed to reflect the security’s fair value. As a general principle, the fair value of a security would appear to be the amount that the owner might reasonably expect to receive for it in a current sale. A variety of factors may be considered in determining the fair value of such securities, which may include consideration of the following: yields or prices of investments of comparable quality, type of issue, coupon, maturity and rating, market quotes or indications of value from security dealers, evaluations of anticipated cash flows or collateral, general market conditions and other information and analysis, including the obligor’s credit characteristics considered relevant. These securities are generally classified as Level 2 or Level 3 depending on the observability of the significant inputs. Regardless of the method employed to value a particular security, all valuations are subject to review by the Board and/or its appointee.

The inputs or methodologies used for valuing securities are not an indication of the risks associated with investing in those securities. The following is a summary of each Fund’s fair value measurements as of the end of the reporting period:

 

Global Infrastructure   Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  
Long-Term Investments*:           

Common Stocks

  $ 214,932,747      $ 194,695,260 **     $   —      $ 409,628,007  

Real Estate Investment Trust Common Stocks

    11,259,355        5,125,731 **              16,385,086  

Investment Companies

    814,244                      814,244  
Short-Term Investments:           

Repurchase Agreements

           8,739,362               8,739,362  
Total   $ 227,006,346      $ 208,560,353      $      $ 435,566,699  
Global Real Estate Securities   Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  
Long-Term Investments*:           

Real Estate Investment Trust Common Stocks

  $ 13,726,710      $ 4,825,603 **     $      $ 18,552,313  

Common Stocks

    1,190,556        3,516,346 **              4,706,902  
Short-Term Investments:           

Repurchase Agreements

           418,850               418,850  
Total   $ 14,917,266      $ 8,760,799      $      $ 23,678,065  
Real Asset Income   Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  
Long-Term Investments*:           

Real Estate Investment Trust Common Stocks

  $ 265,551,110      $ 130,888,806 **     $   —      $ 396,439,916  

$1,000 Par (or similar) Institutional Preferred

           322,476,715               322,476,715  

Common Stocks

    70,457,860        205,458,482 **              275,916,342  

$25 par (or similar) Retail Preferred

    260,894,689        13,221,879 **              274,116,568  

Corporate Bonds

           235,710,005               235,710,005  

Variable Rate Senior Loan Interests

           62,796,678               62,796,678  

Convertible Preferred Securities

    53,487,993        8,092,567 **              61,580,560  

Convertible Bonds

           14,022,642               14,022,642  

Investment Companies

    6,918,181                      6,918,181  

Sovereign Debt

           406,023               406,023  
Short-Term Investments:           

Repurchase Agreements

           37,838,545               37,838,545  
Total   $ 657,309,833      $ 1,030,912,342               $ 1,688,222,175  

 

83


Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

Real Estate Securities   Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  
Long-Term Investments*:           

Real Estate Investment Trust Common Stocks

  $ 2,919,060,321      $ 4,753,893 **     $   —      $ 2,923,814,214  
Short-Term Investments:           

Money Market Funds

    55,165,433                      55,165,433  
Total   $ 2,974,225,754      $ 4,753,893      $      $ 2,978,979,647  
*

Refer to the Fund’s Portfolio of Investments for industry, state and country classifications, where applicable.

**

Refer to the Fund’s Portfolio of Investments for securities classified as Level 2.

3. Portfolio Securities and Investments in Derivatives

Portfolio Securities

Foreign Currency Transactions

To the extent that the Funds invest in securities and/or contracts that are denominated in a currency other than U.S. dollars, the Funds will be subject to currency risk, which is the risk that an increase in the U.S. dollar relative to the foreign currency will reduce returns or portfolio value. Generally, when the U.S. dollar rises in value against a foreign currency, the Funds’ investments denominated in that currency will lose value because their currency is worth fewer U.S. dollars; the opposite effect occurs if the U.S. dollar falls in relative value. Investments and other assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are converted into U.S. dollars on a spot (i.e. cash) basis at the spot rate prevailing in the foreign currency exchange market at the time of valuation. Purchases and sales of investments and income denominated in foreign currencies are translated into U.S. dollars on the respective dates of such transactions.

As of the end of the end of the reporting period, the following Funds’ investments in non-U.S. securities were as follows:

 

Global Infrastructure      Value      % of
Net Assets
 
Country:        

Australia

     $ 45,027,403        10.3

France

       39,159,938        8.9

Spain

       34,635,847        7.9

Canada

       33,906,266        7.7

Italy

       28,242,739        6.5

Japan

       12,937,250        3.0

New Zealand

       11,245,408        2.6

Singapore

       10,016,365        2.3

Mexico

       6,254,130        1.4

Hong Kong

       5,684,897        1.3

Other

       29,682,209        6.8
Total non-U.S. securities      $ 256,792,452        58.7
Global Real Estate Securities                  
Country:        

Japan

     $ 2,726,495        11.4

Germany

       1,791,850        7.5

Hong Kong

       1,480,640        6.2

Canada

       836,780        3.5

United Kingdom

       823,703        3.5

Australia

       675,854        2.8

Singapore

       560,439        2.3

France

       523,740        2.2

Sweden

       337,466        1.4

Spain

       288,372        1.2

Other

       1,091,953        4.7
Total non-U.S. securities      $ 11,137,292        46.7

 

84


Real Asset Income     

Value

     % of
Net Assets
 
Country:        

Canada

     $ 218,340,866        12.8

Singapore

       87,354,490        5.1

Australia

       61,302,099        3.6

Italy

       48,117,454        2.8

France

       38,759,969        2.3

Hong Kong

       33,534,971        2.0

Germany

       31,958,813        1.9

Spain

       30,093,093        1.8

New Zealand

       29,548,271        1.7

United Kingdom

       24,774,818        1.4

Other

       114,065,412        6.7
Total non-U.S. securities      $ 717,850,256        42.1

The books and records of the Funds are maintained in U.S. dollars. Foreign currencies, assets and liabilities are translated into U.S. dollars at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Investment transactions, income and expenses are translated on the respective dates of such transactions. Net realized foreign currency gains and losses resulting from changes in exchange rates include foreign currency gains and losses between trade date and settlement date of the transactions, foreign currency transactions and the difference between the amounts of interest and dividends recorded on the books of a Fund and the amounts actually received.

The realized gains and losses resulting from changes in foreign currency exchange rates and changes in foreign exchange rates associated with (i) foreign currency, (ii) investments, (iii) investments in derivatives and (iv) other assets less liabilities are recognized as a component of “Net realized gain (loss) from investments and foreign currency,” on the Statement of Operations, when applicable.

The unrealized gains and losses resulting from changes in foreign currency exchange rates and changes in foreign exchange rates associated with (i) investments and (ii) other assets and liabilities are recognized as a component of “Change in net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) of investments and foreign currency,” on the Statement of Operations, when applicable. The unrealized gains and losses resulting from changes in foreign exchange rates associated with investments in derivatives are recognized as a component of the respective derivative’s related “Change in net unrealized appreciation (depreciation)” on the Statement of Operations, when applicable.

Securities Lending

In order to generate additional income, Real Estate Securities may lend securities representing up to one-third of the value of its total assets (which includes collateral for securities on loan) to broker-dealers, banks or other institutions. When loaning securities, the Fund retains the benefits of owning the securities, including the economic equivalent of dividends or interest generated by the security. The Fund also has the ability to recall the securities on loan at any time.

The Fund’s policy is to receive, at the inception of a loan, cash collateral equal to at least 102% of the value of securities loaned, which is recognized as “Payable for collateral from securities lending program” on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. Collateral for securities on loan is invested in a money market fund, which is recognized as “Investments purchased with collateral from securities lending, at value” on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. The market value of the securities loaned is determined at the close of each business day in order to determine the adequacy of the collateral. If the value of the securities on loan increases such that the level of collateralization falls below 100%, additional collateral is received from the borrower on the next business day, which is recognized as “Due from broker” on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities.

Securities out on loan are subject to termination at any time at the option of the borrower or the Fund. Upon termination, the borrower is required to return to the Fund securities identical to the securities loaned. Generally, in the event the borrower defaults on its obligation to return the loaned securities, the Fund has the right to use the collateral to acquire identical securities. In the event the Fund is delayed or prevented from exercising its right to dispose of the collateral, there may be a loss to the Fund. Under the Fund’s securities lending agreement, however, the securities lending agent has indemnified the Fund against losses resulting from borrower default, except to the extent that those losses result from a decrease in the value of the collateral due to its investment by the Fund. The Fund bears the risk of loss with respect to the investment of collateral.

The Fund’s custodian, U.S. Bank National Association, serves as its securities lending agent. Income earned from the securities lending program is paid to the Fund. Income from securities lending is recognized as “Securities lending income” on the Statement of Operations.

The Fund had no such securities out on loan as of the end of the reporting period.

Repurchase Agreements

In connection with transactions in repurchase agreements, it is each Fund’s policy that its custodian take possession of the underlying collateral securities, the fair value of which exceeds the principal amount of the repurchase transaction, including accrued interest, at all times. If the counterparty defaults, and the fair value of the collateral declines, realization of the collateral may be delayed or limited.

 

85


Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

The following table presents the repurchase agreements for the Funds that are subject to netting agreements as of the end of the reporting period, and the collateral delivered related to those repurchase agreements.

 

Fund   Counterparty  

Short-Term

Investments, at Value

   

Collateral

Pledged (From)
Counterparty*

    Net
Exposure
 
Global Infrastructure   Fixed Income Clearing Corporation   $ 8,739,362     $ (8,739,362   $   —  
Global Real Estate Securities   Fixed Income Clearing Corporation     418,850       (418,850       —  
Real Asset Income   Fixed Income Clearing Corporation     37,838,545       (37,838,545       —  
*

As of the end of the reporting period, the value of the collateral pledged from the counterparty exceeded the value of the repurchase agreements. Refer to the Fund’s Portfolio of Investments for details on the repurchase agreements.

Investments in Derivatives

Each Fund is authorized to invest in certain derivative instruments. The Funds record derivative instruments at fair value, with changes in fair value recognized on the Statement of Operations, when applicable. Even though the Funds’ investments in derivatives may represent economic hedges, they are not considered to be hedge transactions for financial reporting purposes.

Futures Contracts

Upon execution of a futures contract, a Fund is obligated to deposit cash or eligible securities, also known as “initial margin,” into an account at its clearing broker equal to a specified percentage of the contract amount. Cash held by the broker to cover initial margin requirements on open futures contracts, if any, is recognized as “Cash collateral at brokers for investments in futures contracts” on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. Investments in futures contracts obligate a Fund and the clearing broker to settle monies on a daily basis representing changes in the prior days “mark-to-market” of the open contracts. If a Fund has unrealized appreciation the clearing broker would credit the Fund’s account with an amount equal to appreciation and conversely if a Fund has unrealized depreciation the clearing broker would debit the Fund’s account with an amount equal to depreciation. These daily cash settlements are also known as “variation margin.” Variation margin is recognized as a receivable and/or payable for “Variation margin on futures contracts” on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities.

During the period the futures contract is open, changes in the value of the contract are recognized as an unrealized gain or loss by “marking-to-market” on a daily basis to reflect the changes in market value of the contract, which is recognized as a component of “Change in net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) of futures contracts” on the Statement of Operations. When the contract is closed or expired, a Fund records a realized gain or loss equal to the difference between the value of the contract on the closing date and value of the contract when originally entered into, which is recognized as a component of “Net realized gain (loss) from futures contracts” on the Statement of Operations.

Risks of investments in futures contracts include the possible adverse movement in the price of the securities or indices underlying the contracts, the possibility that there may not be a liquid secondary market for the contracts and/or that a change in the value of the contract may not correlate with a change in the value of the underlying securities or indices.

During the current fiscal period, Real Asset Income invested in long and short positions in U.S. Treasury futures contracts to hedge against potential changes in interest rates.

The average notional amount of futures contracts outstanding during the current fiscal period was as follows:

 

     Real Asset
Income
 
Average notional amount of futures contracts outstanding*   $ 29,387,290  
*

The average notional amount is calculated based on the absolute aggregate notional amount of contracts outstanding at the beginning of the current fiscal period and at the end of each fiscal quarter within the current fiscal period.    

The following table presents the amount of net realized gain (loss) and change in net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) recognized on futures contracts on the Statement of Operations during the current fiscal period, and the primary underlying risk exposure.

 

Fund   Underlying
Risk Exposure
  Derivative
Instrument
  Net Realized
Gain (Loss) from
Futures Contracts
    Change in Net
Unrealized Appreciation
(Depreciation) of
Futures Contracts
 
Real Asset Income   Interest rate   Futures contracts   $ 2,813,514     $ (133,634

Market and Counterparty Credit Risk

In the normal course of business each Fund may invest in financial instruments and enter into financial transactions where risk of potential loss exists due to changes in the market (market risk) or failure of the other party to the transaction to perform (counterparty credit risk). The potential loss could exceed the value of the financial assets recorded on the financial statements. Financial assets, which potentially expose each Fund to counterparty credit risk, consist principally of cash due from counterparties on forward, option and swap transactions, when applicable. The extent of each Fund’s exposure to counterparty credit risk in respect to these financial assets approximates their carrying value as recorded on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities.

 

86


Each Fund helps manage counterparty credit risk by entering into agreements only with counterparties the Adviser believes have the financial resources to honor their obligations and by having the Adviser monitor the financial stability of the counterparties. Additionally, counterparties may be required to pledge collateral daily (based on the daily valuation of the financial asset) on behalf of each Fund with a value approximately equal to the amount of any unrealized gain above a pre-determined threshold. Reciprocally, when each Fund has an unrealized loss, the Funds have instructed the custodian to pledge assets of the Funds as collateral with a value approximately equal to the amount of the unrealized loss above a pre-determined threshold. Collateral pledges are monitored and subsequently adjusted if and when the valuations fluctuate, either up or down, by at least the pre-determined threshold amount.

4. Fund Shares

On December 12, 2018, Class T Shares were liquidated.

Transactions in Fund shares during the current and prior fiscal period were as follows:

 

       Year Ended
12/31/18
       Year Ended
12/31/17
 
Global Infrastructure      Shares        Amount        Shares        Amount  
Shares sold:                    

Class A

       914,122        $ 9,675,613          3,595,000        $ 38,217,726  

Class C

       437,191          4,565,763          664,302          7,050,982  

Class R3

       5,279          56,286          9,860          108,340  

Class R6

       734,678          7,924,547          1,623,109          18,478,636  

Class I

       10,499,676          110,691,696          32,082,878          338,557,067  

Class T(1)

                         2,282          25,197  
Shares issued to shareholders due to reinvestment of distributions:                    

Class A

       390,426          3,846,492          438,813          4,859,812  

Class C

       129,745          1,269,665          125,183          1,371,545  

Class R3

       1,233          12,347          1,456          16,357  

Class R6

       72,844          715,551          50,077          553,639  

Class I

       1,641,064          16,075,108          1,622,904          17,927,915  

Class T(1)

                                   
        
14,826,258
 
       154,833,068          40,215,864          427,167,216  
Shares redeemed:                    

Class A

       (3,449,622        (35,564,244        (3,235,955        (34,311,779

Class C

       (650,997        (6,747,995        (471,470        (5,087,735

Class R3

       (12,032        (129,441        (55,111        (614,421

Class R6

       (1,385,111        (14,148,033        (668,553        (7,680,340

Class I

       (18,899,242        (196,631,176        (22,835,259        (253,838,367

Class T(1)

       (2,264        (23,256        (18        (197
         (24,399,268        (253,244,145        (27,266,366        (301,532,839
Net increase (decrease)        (9,573,010      $ (98,411,077        12,949,498        $ 125,634,377  

 

       For the Period 3/20/18
(commencement of operations)
through 12/31/18
 
Global Real Estate Securities      Shares        Amount  
Shares sold          

Class A

       1,250        $ 25,000  

Class C

       1,250          25,000  

Class R6

       1,246,250          24,925,000  

Class I

       1,395          28,000  
Shares issued to shareholders due to reinvestment of distributions:          

Class A

                 

Class C

                 

Class R6

                 

Class I

       4          73  
         1,250,149          25,003,073  
Shares redeemed:          

Class A

                 

Class C

                 

Class R6

                 

Class I

       (49        (1,009
         (49        (1,009
Net increase (decrease)        1,250,100          25,002,064  
(1) 

Class T Shares were not available for public offering. Class T Shares commenced operations on May 31, 2017.

 

87


Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

 

       Year Ended
12/31/18
       Year Ended
12/31/17
 
Real Asset Income      Shares        Amount        Shares        Amount  
Shares sold:                    

Class A

       2,308,123        $ 53,398,939          4,677,501        $ 111,327,706  

Class A – automatic conversion of Class C Shares

       33          756                    

Class C

       1,286,094          29,754,671          3,451,220          82,256,778  

Class R6

       455,552          10,521,822          932,501          22,734,475  

Class I

       21,070,549          485,985,243          37,739,689          897,105,617  

Class T(1)

                         1,048          25,000  
Shares issued to shareholders due to reinvestment of distributions:                    

Class A

       458,084          10,492,392          473,514          11,334,244  

Class C

       397,715          9,115,780          412,875          9,903,488  

Class R6

       71,249          1,636,924          35,003          845,591  

Class I

       3,220,695          73,780,361          2,898,758          69,584,900  

Class T(1)

                                   
         29,268,094          674,686,888          50,622,109          1,205,117,799  
Shares redeemed:                    

Class A

       (3,772,845        (86,148,974        (6,122,375        (143,220,328

Class C

       (3,032,882        (69,466,348        (1,874,744        (44,760,396

Class C – automatic conversion of Class A Shares

       (33        (756                  

Class R6

       (454,318        (10,291,330        (74,235        (1,790,849

Class I

       (29,707,203        (678,721,285        (11,255,741        (268,865,417

Class T(1)

       (1,048        (23,020                  
         (36,968,329        (844,651,713        (19,327,095        (458,636,990
Net increase (decrease)        (7,700,235      $ (169,964,825        31,295,014        $ 746,480,809  
       Year Ended
12/31/18
       Year Ended
12/31/17
 
Real Estate Securities      Shares        Amount        Shares        Amount  
Shares sold:                    

Class A

       4,023,254        $ 77,536,586          5,063,726        $ 111,156,037  

Class A – automatic conversion of Class C Shares

       7,246          146,917                    

Class C

       170,862          3,199,768          296,401          6,228,404  

Class R3

       256,017          4,986,275          345,421          7,659,454  

Class R6

       8,589,549          171,099,358          6,715,414          151,304,995  

Class I

       31,487,671          612,845,258          32,715,930          725,533,824  

Class T(1)

                         1,131          25,000  
Shares issued to shareholders due to reinvestment of distributions:                    

Class A

       888,013          17,118,013          2,688,307          55,710,371  

Class C

       104,841          1,961,282          324,131          6,492,768  

Class R3

       69,356          1,360,314          204,617          4,304,565  

Class R6

       956,296          18,917,387          1,450,973          30,795,964  

Class I

       5,855,866          114,643,541          13,410,267          282,454,545  

Class T(1)

                                   
         52,408,971          1,023,814,699          63,216,318          1,381,665,927  
Shares redeemed:                    

Class A

       (12,950,508        (253,478,814        (16,283,116        (357,528,372

Class C

       (1,210,755        (22,666,215        (1,418,459        (30,111,161

Class C – automatic conversion of Class A Shares

       (7,467        (146,917                  

Class R3

       (913,251        (17,938,934        (1,177,970        (26,240,078

Class R6

       (4,271,476        (84,946,053        (8,621,916        (192,533,611

Class I

       (55,091,024        (1,075,744,697        (61,224,634        (1,361,678,183

Class T(1)

       (1,131        (22,445                  
         (74,445,612        (1,454,944,075        (88,726,095        (1,968,091,405
Net increase (decrease)        (22,036,641      $ (431,129,376        (25,509,777      $ (586,425,478
(1) 

Class T Shares were not available for public offering. Class T Shares commenced operations on May 31, 2017.

 

88


5. Investment Transactions

Long-term purchases and sales (including maturities but excluding investments purchased with collateral from securities lending and derivative transactions, where applicable) during the current fiscal period were as follows:

 

     Global
Infrastructure
     Global
Real Estate
Securities
     Real Asset
Income
     Real Estate
Securities
 
Purchases   $ 917,381,037      $ 64,137,521      $ 1,831,038,968      $ 4,471,632,578  
Sales and maturities     1,030,536,614        40,129,487        2,014,076,455        4,982,501,964  

6. Income Tax Information

Each Fund is a separate taxpayer for federal income tax purposes. Each Fund intends to distribute substantially all of its net investment income and net capital gains to shareholders and to otherwise comply with the requirements of Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code applicable to regulated investment companies. Therefore, no federal income tax provision is required.

For all open tax years and all major taxing jurisdictions, management of the Funds has concluded that there are no significant uncertain tax positions that would require recognition in the financial statements. Open tax years are those that are open for examination by taxing authorities (i.e., generally the last four tax year ends and the interim tax period since then). Furthermore, management of the Funds is also not aware of any tax positions for which it is reasonably possible that the total amounts of unrecognized tax benefits will significantly change in the next twelve months.

The following information is presented on an income tax basis. Differences between amounts for financial statement and federal income tax purposes are primarily due to timing differences in recognizing certain gains and losses on investment transactions. To the extent that differences arise that are permanent in nature, such amounts are reclassified within the capital accounts as detailed below. Temporary differences do not require reclassification. Temporary and permanent differences do not impact the NAVs of the Funds.

The table below presents the cost and unrealized appreciation (depreciation) of each Fund’s investment portfolio, as determined on a federal income tax basis, as of December 31, 2018.

 

     Global
Infrastructure
     Global
Real Estate
Securities
     Real Asset
Income
     Real Estate
Securities
 
Tax cost of investments   $ 407,440,946      $ 24,674,136      $ 1,817,589,086      $ 2,671,012,096  
Gross unrealized:           

Appreciation

  $ 55,391,743      $ 491,972      $ 30,749,416      $ 477,373,261  

Depreciation

    (27,265,990      (1,488,043      (160,116,327      (169,405,710
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) of investments   $ 28,125,753      $ (996,071    $ (129,366,911    $ 307,967,551  

Permanent differences, primarily due to federal taxes paid, securities litigation settlements, foreign currency transactions, distribution reallocations, nondeductible stock issuance costs, bond premium amortization adjustments, investments in passive foreign investment companies, investments in partnerships, deemed dividend due to corporate actions, Sec. 305(c) adjustments, and complex securities character adjustments, resulted in reclassifications among the Funds’ components of net assets as of December 31, 2018, the Funds’ tax year end.

The tax components of undistributed net ordinary income and net long-term capital gains as of December 31, 2018, the Funds’ tax year end, were as follows:

 

     Global
Infrastructure
     Global
Real Estate
Securities
     Real Asset
Income
     Real Estate
Securities
 
Undistributed net ordinary income1   $   —      $ 131,835      $   —      $   —  
Undistributed net long-term capital gains       —        2,986          —        5,560,228  
1 

Net ordinary income consists of net taxable income derived from dividends, interest, and net short-term capital gains, if any.

The tax character of distributions paid during the Funds’ tax years ended December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 was designated for purposes of the dividends paid deduction as follows:

 

2018   Global
Infrastructure
     Global
Real Estate
Securities3
     Real Asset
Income
     Real Estate
Securities
 
Distributions from net ordinary income1   $ 17,050,993      $ 890,956      $ 94,308,866      $ 75,657,914  
Distributions from net long-term capital gains2     10,688,243        38,628               115,410,084  
Return of capital     1,126,278               10,461,305         

 

89


Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

 

2017      Global
Infrastructure
     Real Asset
Income
     Real Estate
Securities
 
Distributions from net ordinary income1      $ 30,170,112      $ 98,846,087      $ 192,423,771  
Distributions from net long-term capital gains        6,372,115          —        284,997,052  
Return of capital          —          —          —  
1 

Net ordinary income consists of net taxable income derived from dividends, interest, and net short-term capital gains, if any.

2 

The Funds designate as long-term capital gain dividend, pursuant to Internal Revenue Code Section 852(b)(3), the amount necessary to reduce earnings and profits of the Funds related to net capital gain to zero for the tax year ended December 31, 2018.

3 

For the period March 20, 2018 (commencement of operations) through December 31, 2018.

The Funds have elected to defer late-year losses in accordance with federal income tax rules. These losses are treated as having arisen on the first day of the following fiscal year. The following Funds have elected to defer losses as follows:

 

     

Global

Infrastructure

     Global
Real Estate
Securities
 
Post-October capital losses4    $ 2,712,646      $ 296,358  
Late-year ordinary losses5              
4 

Capital losses incurred from November 1, 2018 through December 31, 2018, the Funds’ tax year end.

5 

Specified losses incurred from November 1, 2018 through December 31, 2018.

As of December 31, 2018, the Funds’ tax year end, the following Fund had unused capital losses carrying forward available for federal income tax purposes to be applied against future capital gains, if any. The capital losses are not subject to expiration.

 

        Real Asset
Income
 
Not subject to expiration:     

Short-term

     $ 34,013,874  

Long-term

       10,681,224  
Total      $ 44,695,098  

7. Management Fees and Other Transactions with Affiliates

Management Fees

Each Fund’s management fee compensates the Adviser for the overall investment advisory and administrative services and general office facilities. The Sub-Adviser is compensated for its services to the Funds from the management fees paid to the Adviser.

Each Fund’s management fee consists of two components – a fund-level fee, based only on the amount of assets within each individual Fund, and a complex-level fee, based on the aggregate amount of all eligible fund assets managed by the Adviser. This pricing structure enables each Fund’s shareholders to benefit from growth in the assets within their respective Fund as well as from growth in the amount of complex-wide assets managed by the Adviser.

The annual fund-level fee, payable monthly, for each Fund is calculated according to the following schedules:

 

Average Daily Net Assets      Global
Infrastructure
and Global
Real Estate
Securities
       Real Estate
Securities
 
For the first $125 million        0.7500        0.7000
For the next $125 million        0.7375          0.6875  
For the next $250 million        0.7250          0.6750  
For the next $500 million        0.7125          0.6625  
For the next $1 billion        0.7000          0.6500  
For the next $3 billion        0.6750          0.6250  
For the next $2.5 billion        0.6500          0.6000  
For the next $2.5 billion        0.6375          0.5875  
For net assets over $10 billion        0.6250          0.5750  

 

Average Daily Net Assets      Real Asset
Income
 
For the first $125 million        0.6000
For the next $125 million        0.5875  
For the next $250 million        0.5750  
For the next $500 million        0.5625  
For the next $1 billion        0.5500  
For the next $3 billion        0.5250  
For the next $5 billion        0.5000  
For net assets over $10 billion        0.4875  

 

90


The annual complex-level fee, payable monthly, for each Fund is determined by taking the complex-level fee rate, which is based on the aggregate amount of “eligible assets” of all Nuveen funds as set forth in the schedule below, and (except for Global Real Estate Securities and Real Asset Income) making, as appropriate, an upward adjustment to that rate based upon the percentage of the particular fund’s assets that are not “eligible assets.” The complex level fee schedule for each Fund is as follows:

 

Complex-Level Eligible Asset Breakpoint Level*      Effective Complex-Level Fee
Rate at Breakpoint Level
 
$55 billion        0.2000
$56 billion        0.1996  
$57 billion        0.1989  
$60 billion        0.1961  
$63 billion        0.1931  
$66 billion        0.1900  
$71 billion        0.1851  
$76 billion        0.1806  
$80 billion        0.1773  
$91 billion        0.1691  
$125 billion        0.1599  
$200 billion        0.1505  
$250 billion        0.1469  
$300 billion        0.1445  
*

The complex-level fee is calculated based upon the aggregate daily “eligible assets” of all Nuveen open-end and closed-end funds. Eligible assets do not include assets attributable to investments in other Nuveen funds or assets in excess of a determined amount (originally $2 billion) added to the Nuveen fund complex in connection with the Adviser’s assumption of the management of the former First American Funds effective January 1, 2011. Eligible assets include closed-end fund assets managed by the Adviser that are attributable to certain types of leverage. For these purposes, leverage includes the closed-end funds’ use of preferred stock and borrowings and certain investments in the residual interest certificates (also called inverse floating rate securities) in tender option bond (TOB) trusts, including the portion of assets held by a TOB trust that has been effectively financed by the trust’s issuance of floating rate securities, subject to an agreement by the Adviser as to certain funds to limit the amount of such assets for determining eligible assets in certain circumstances. As of December 31, 2018, the complex-level fee for each Fund was as follows:

 

Fund      Complex-Level Fee  

Global Infrastructure

       0.1730

Global Real Estate Securities

       0.1602  

Real Asset Income

       0.1602  

Real Estate Securities

       0.1913  

The Adviser has agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses (“Expense Cap”) of the following Funds so that the total annual Fund operating expenses (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 the average daily net assets of any class of Fund shares in the amounts and for the time periods stated in the following table. However, because Class R6 Shares are not subject to sub-transfer agent and similar fees, the total annual Fund operating expenses for the Class R6 Shares will be less than the expense limitation. The expense limitations that expire may be terminated or modified prior to that date only with the approval of the Board.

 

Fund      Temporary
Expense Cap
       Temporary
Expense
Cap
Expiration
Date
 

Global Infrastructure

       1.00        July 31, 2020  

Global Real Estate Securities

       1.09          July 31, 2021  

Real Asset Income

       0.95        July 31, 2020  

Other Transactions with Affiliates

During the current fiscal period, Nuveen Securities, LLC (the “Distributor”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nuveen, collected sales charges on purchases of Class A Shares, the majority of which were paid out as concessions to financial intermediaries as follows:

 

     Global
Infrastructure
     Global
Real Estate
Securities
     Real Asset
Income
     Real Estate
Securities
 
Sales charges collected (Unaudited)   $ 158,993      $   —      $ 708,616      $ 66,599  
Paid to financial intermediaries (Unaudited)     139,272               633,511        58,477  

The Distributor also received 12b-1 service fees on Class A Shares, substantially all of which were paid to compensate financial intermediaries for providing services to shareholders relating to their investments.

 

91


Notes to Financial Statements (continued)

 

During the current fiscal period, the Distributor compensated financial intermediaries directly with commission advances at the time of purchase as follows:

 

     Global
Infrastructure
     Global
Real Estate
Securities
     Real Asset
Income
     Real Estate
Securities
 
Commission advances (Unaudited)   $ 38,578      $   —      $ 362,083      $ 26,011  

To compensate for commissions advanced to financial intermediaries, all 12b-1 service and distribution fees collected on C Shares during the first year following a purchase were retained by the Distributor. During the current fiscal period, the Distributor retained such 12b-1 fees as follows:

 

     Global
Infrastructure
     Global
Real Estate
Securities
     Real Asset
Income
     Real Estate
Securities
 
12b-1 fees retained (Unaudited)   $ 46,593      $ 200      $ 488,187      $ 29,059  

The remaining 12b-1 fees charged to each Fund were paid to compensate financial intermediaries for providing services to shareholders relating to their investments.

The Distributor also collected and retained CDSC on share redemptions during the current fiscal period, as follows:

 

     Global
Infrastructure
     Global
Real Estate
Securities
     Real Asset
Income
     Real Estate
Securities
 
CDSC retained (Unaudited)   $ 4,626      $   —      $ 43,609      $ 3,085  

As of the end of the reporting period, TIAA owned shares of the following Fund:

 

     Global
Real Estate
Securities
 
Class A Shares     1,250  
Class C Shares     1,250  
Class R6 Shares     1,246,250  
Class I Shares     1,250  

8. Borrowing Arrangements

Committed Line of Credit

The Funds, along with certain other funds managed by the Adviser (“Participating Funds”), have established a 364-day, approximately $2.65 billion standby credit facility with a group of lenders, under which the Participating Funds may borrow for various purposes other than leveraging for investment purposes. Each Participating Fund is allocated a designated proportion of the facility’s capacity (and its associated costs, as described below) based upon a multi-factor assessment of the likelihood and frequency of its need to draw on the facility, the size of the Fund and its anticipated draws, and the potential importance of such draws to the operations and well-being of the Fund, relative to those of the other Funds. A Fund may effect draws on the facility in excess of its designated capacity if and to the extent that other Participating Funds have undrawn capacity. The credit facility expires in July 2019 unless extended or renewed.

The credit facility has the following terms: a fee of 0.15% per annum on unused commitment amounts, and interest at a rate equal to the higher of (a) one-month LIBOR (London Inter-Bank Offered Rate) plus 1.00% per annum or (b) the Fed Funds rate plus 1.00% per annum on amounts borrowed. Participating Funds paid administration, legal and arrangement fees, which are recognized as a component of “Other expenses” on the Statement of Operations, and along with commitment fees, have been allocated among such Participating Funds based upon the relative proportions of the facility’s aggregate capacity reserved for them and other factors deemed relevant by the Adviser and the Board of each Participating Fund.

During the current fiscal period, none of the Funds utilized this facility.

9. New Accounting Pronouncements

Disclosure Update and Simplification

During August 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) issued Final Rule Release No. 33-10532, Disclosure Update and Simplification (“Final Rule Release No. 33-10532”). Final Rule Release No. 33-10532 amends certain financial statement disclosure requirements to conform to U.S. GAAP. The amendments to Rule 6-04.17 of Regulation S-X (balance sheet) remove the requirement to separately state the book basis components of net assets: undistributed (over-distribution of) net investment income (“UNII”), accumulated undistributed net realized gains (losses), and net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) at the balance sheet date. Instead, consistent with U.S. GAAP, funds will be required to disclose total distributable earnings. The amendments to Rule 6-09 of Regulation S-X (statement of changes in net assets) remove the requirement to separately state

 

92


the sources of distributions paid. Instead, consistent with U.S. GAAP, funds will be required to disclose the total amount of distributions paid, except that any tax return of capital must be separately disclosed. The amendments also remove the requirement to parenthetically state the book basis amount of UNII on the statement of changes in net assets.

The requirements of Final Rule Release No. 33-10532 are effective November 5, 2018, and the Funds’ Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Statement of Changes in Net Assets for the current reporting period have been modified accordingly. In addition, certain amounts within each Fund’s Statement of Changes in Net Assets for the prior fiscal period have been modified to conform to Final Rule Release No. 33-10532.

For the prior fiscal period, the total amount of distributions paid to shareholders from net investment income and from accumulated net realized gains, if any, are recognized as “Dividends” on the Statement of Changes in Net Assets.

As of December 31, 2017, the Funds’ Statement of Changes in Net Assets reflected the following balances.

 

        Global
Infrastructure
     Real Asset
Income
     Real Estate
Securities
 

Distributions to Shareholders

          
From net investment income:           

Class A Shares

       (1,786,862      (11,889,954      (8,821,795

Class C Shares

       (381,137      (10,520,728      (687,996

Class R3 Shares

       (5,403             (604,809

Class R6 Shares

       (465,059      (866,572      (5,200,299

Class I Shares

       (10,725,425      (75,567,965      (62,520,427

Class T Shares

       (530      (868      (302
From accumulated net realized gains:           

Class A Shares

       (3,143,477             (48,611,490

Class C Shares

       (1,055,878             (7,546,887

Class R3 Shares

       (12,352             (3,883,041

Class R6 Shares

       (689,041             (28,246,190

Class I Shares

       (17,143,256             (311,294,960

Class T Shares

       (932             (2,627
Decrease in net assets from distributions to shareholders      $ (35,409,352    $ (98,846,087    $ (477,420,823
UNII at the end of period      $ (1,559,143    $ (17,776,791    $ (9,279,223

FASB Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2017-08 (“ASU 2017-08”) Premium Amortization on Purchased Callable Debt Securities

The FASB has issued ASU 2017-08, which shortens the premium amortization period for purchased non-contingently callable debt securities. ASU 2017-08 specifies that the premium amortization period ends at the earliest call date, for purchased non-contingently callable debt securities. ASU 2017-08 is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2018. Management is currently evaluating the implications of ASU 2017-08, if any.

Fair Value Measurement: Disclosure Framework

During August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-13 (“ASU 2018-13”), Fair Value Measurement: Disclosure Framework – Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurements. ASU 2018-13 modifies the disclosures required by Topic 820, Fair Value Measurements. The amendments in ASU 2018-13 are effective for all entities for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2019. During the current reporting period, management early implemented this guidance. This implementation did not have a material impact on the Funds’ financial statements.

 

93


Additional Fund Information

(Unaudited)

 

 

Fund Manager

Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC

333 West Wacker Drive

Chicago, IL 60606

 

Sub-Adviser

Nuveen Asset Management, LLC

333 West Wacker Drive

Chicago, IL 60606

  

Independent Registered
Public Accounting Firm

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

One North Wacker Drive

Chicago, IL 60606

 

Custodians

State Street Bank & Trust
Company

One Lincoln Street

Boston, MA 02111

 

U.S. Bank National Association*

1555 North RiverCenter Drive Suite 302

Milwaukee, WI 53202

  

Legal Counsel

Chapman and Cutler LLP

Chicago, IL 60603

  

Transfer Agent and
Shareholder Services

DST Asset Manager

Solutions, Inc. (DST)

P.O. Box 219140

Kansas City, MO 64121-9140

(800) 257-8787

  
    

*  For Nuveen Real Estate Securities Fund only.

        

 

             
  Foreign Taxes: Global Infrastructure paid qualifying foreign taxes of $1,306,599 and earned $13,744,427 of foreign source income during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018. Pursuant to Section 853 of the Internal Revenue Code, Global Infrastructure hereby designates $0.03 per share as foreign taxes paid and $0.30 per share as income earned from foreign sources for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018. The actual foreign tax credit distribution will be reported to shareholders on Form 1099-DIV which will be sent to shareholders shortly after calendar year end.
  Distribution Information: The Funds hereby designate their percentages of dividends paid from net ordinary income as dividends qualifying for the dividends received deduction (“DRD”) for corporations, their percentages of qualified dividend income (“QDI”) for individuals under Section 1(h)(11) of the Internal Revenue Code, and their percentages of qualified business income (“QBI”) for individuals under Section 199A of the Internal Revenue Code as shown in the accompanying table. The actual qualified dividend and business income distributions will be reported to shareholders on Form 1099-DIV which will be sent to shareholders shortly after calendar year end.
    Fund          Global
Infrastructure
   Global
Real Estate
Securities
   Real Asset
Income
   Real Estate
Securities
   
  % DRD       24.5%    0.0%    16.0%    1.9%  
  % QDI       84.7%    8.7%    32.9%    1.9%  
  % QBI         1.1%    24.6%    22.3%    87.5%  
             

 

  Quarterly Portfolio of Investments Information: Each Fund is required to file its complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year as an exhibit to its report on Form N-PORT. You may obtain this information on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov.

 

        
  Nuveen Funds’ Proxy Voting Information: You may obtain (i) information regarding how each fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities held during the most recent twelve-month period ended June 30, without charge, upon request, by calling Nuveen toll-free at (800) 257-8787 or on Nuveen’s website at www.nuveen.com and (ii) a description of the policies and procedures that each fund used to determine how to vote proxies relating to portfolio securities without charge, upon request, by calling Nuveen toll-free at (800) 257-8787. You may also obtain this information directly from the SEC. Visit the SEC on-line at http://www.sec.gov.
             

 

  FINRA BrokerCheck: The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) provides information regarding the disciplinary history of FINRA member firms and associated investment professionals. This information as well as an investor brochure describing FINRA BrokerCheck is available to the public by calling the FINRA BrokerCheck Hotline number at (800) 289-9999 or by visiting www.FlNRA.org.

 

94


Glossary of Terms Used in this Report

(Unaudited)

 

Average Annual Total Return: This is a commonly used method to express an investment’s performance over a particular, usually multi-year time period. It expresses the return that would have been necessary each year to equal the investment’s actual cumulative performance (including change in NAV or offer price and reinvested dividends and capital gains distributions, if any) over the time period being considered.

Basis Point: One one-hundredth of one percentage point, or 0.01%. For example, 25 basis points equals 0.25%.

Beta: A measure of the volatility of a portfolio relative to the overall market. A beta less than 1.0 indicates lower risk than the market; a beta greater than 1.0 indicates higher risk than the market.

Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High Yield Bond Index: An index that covers the universe of fixed-rate, non-investment-grade corporate debt of issuers in non-emerging market countries. Eurobonds and debt issues from countries designated as emerging markets are excluded. Index returns assume reinvestment of distributions, but do not reflect any applicable sales charges or management fees.

FTSE EPRA/NAREIT (Financial Times Stock Exchange – European Public Real Estate Association/National Association of Real Estate Investments Trust) Developed Index TR (Total Return) (old benchmark): An index designed to track the performance of listed real estate companies and REITS worldwide. By making the index constituents free-float adjusted, liquidity, size and revenue screened, the series is suitable for use as the basis for investment products, such as derivatives and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). The index returns assume reinvestment of distributions, but do not reflect any applicable sales charges or management fees.

FTSE EPRA/NAREIT (Financial Times Stock Exchange – European Public Real Estate Association/National Association of Real Estate Investments Trust) Developed Index NR (Net Return) (new benchmark): An index designed to track the performance of listed real estate companies and REITS worldwide. By making the index constituents free-float adjusted, liquidity, size and revenue screened, the series is suitable for use as the basis for investment products, such as derivatives and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). The index returns assume reinvestment of distributions, but do not reflect any applicable sales charges or management fees.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP): The total market value of all final goods and services produced in a country/region in a given year, equal to total consumer, investment and government spending, plus the value of exports, minus the value of imports.

Lipper Global Flexible Portfolio Funds Classification Average: Represents the average annualized returns for all reporting funds in the Lipper Global Flexible Portfolio Funds Classification. Lipper returns account for the effects of management fees and assume reinvestment of distributions, but do not reflect any applicable sales charges.

Lipper Global Infrastructure Funds Classification Average: Represents the average annualized returns for all reporting funds in the Lipper Global Infrastructure Funds Classification. Lipper returns account for the effects of management fees and assume reinvestment of distributions, but do not reflect any applicable sales charge.

Lipper Global Real Estate Funds Classification Average: Represents the average annualized returns for all reporting funds in the Lipper Global Real Estate Funds Classification. Lipper returns account for the effects of management fees and assume reinvestment of distributions, but do not reflect any applicable sales charges.

Lipper Real Estate Funds Classification Average: Represents the average annualized returns for all reporting funds in the Lipper Real Estate Funds Classification. Lipper returns account for the effects of management fees and assume reinvestment of distributions, but do not reflect any applicable sales charges.

 

95


Glossary of Terms Used in this Report (Unaudited) (continued)

 

Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) All Country World Index (ACWI): A free-float adjusted market capitalization index that is designed to measure equity market performance in the global developed and emerging markets. Index returns assume reinvestment of distributions, but do not reflect any applicable sales charges or management fees.

Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) World Index: A free-float adjusted market capitalization-weighted index that is designed to measure equity market performance of developed markets. Index returns assume reinvestment of distributions, but do not include the effects of any applicable sales charges or management fees.

MSCI EAFE Index: The MSCI (Morgan Stanley Capital International) EAFE (Europe, Australasia, Far East) Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index designed to measure developed market equity performance, excluding the U.S. and Canada. The index returns assume reinvestment of distributions, but do not reflect any applicable sales charges or management fees.

MSCI Emerging Markets Index: An unmanaged index considered representative of stocks of developing countries. The index returns assume reinvestment of distributions, but do not reflect any applicable sales charges or management fees.

MSCI U.S. REIT Index: An unmanaged index that tracks the performance of real estate investment trusts (REITs). Index returns assume reinvestment of distributions, but do not reflect any applicable sales charges or management fees.

Net Asset Value (NAV) Per Share: A fund’s Net Assets is equal to its total assets (securities, cash and accrued earnings) less its total liabilities. For funds with multiple classes, Net Assets are determined separately for each share class. NAV per share is equal to the fund’s (or share class’) Net Assets divided by its number of shares outstanding.

Real Asset Income Blend (old benchmark): A five index blend comprised of weightings approximating the Fund’s proposed portfolio. The Fund’s proposed portfolio may differ significantly from the blended portfolio and actual returns may be substantially lower. Benchmark returns do not include the effects of any sales charges or management fees.

 

Weighting
Percentage
   Index    Definition
28%    S&P Global Infrastructure Index TR (Total Return)    An unmanaged index comprised of 75 of the largest publicly listed infrastructure companies that meet specific investability requirements.
21%    Financial Times Stock Exchange - European Public Real Estate Association/National Association of Real Estate Investments Trust
(FTSE EPRA/NAREIT) Developed Index TR (Total Return)
   An index designed to track the performance of listed real estate companies and REITs worldwide.
18%    Wells Fargo Hybrid & Preferred Securities REIT Index TR    An Index designed to track the performance of preferred securities issued in the U.S. market by real estate investment trusts (REITs). The index is composed exclusively of preferred shares and depositary shares.
18%    Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High Yield Bond Index TR    An index that covers the U.S. dollar-denominated, non-investment grade, fixed-rate, taxable corporate bond market.
15%    Bloomberg Barclays Global Capital Securities Index TR    An index that tracks fixed-rate, investment grade capital securities denominated in USD, EUR and GBP.

Real Asset Income Blend (new benchmark): A five index blend comprised of weightings approximating the Fund’s proposed portfolio. The Fund’s proposed portfolio may differ significantly from the blended portfolio and actual returns may be substantially lower. Benchmark returns do not include the effects of any sales charges or management fees.

 

Weighting
Percentage
   Index    Definition
28%    S&P Global Infrastructure Index NR (Net Return)    An unmanaged index comprised of 75 of the largest publicly listed infrastructure companies that meet specific investability requirements.
21%    Financial Times Stock Exchange - European Public Real Estate Association/National Association of Real Estate Investments Trust
(FTSE EPRA/NAREIT) Developed Index NR (Net Return)
   An index designed to track the performance of listed real estate companies and REITs worldwide.

 

96


Weighting
Percentage
   Index    Definition
18%    Wells Fargo Hybrid & Preferred Securities REIT Index TR    An Index designed to track the performance of preferred securities issued in the U.S. market by real estate investment trusts (REITs). The index is composed exclusively of preferred shares and depositary shares.
18%    Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High Yield Bond Index TR    An index that covers the U.S. dollar-denominated, non-investment grade, fixed-rate, taxable corporate bond market.
15%    Bloomberg Barclays Global Capital Securities Index TR    An index that tracks fixed-rate, investment grade capital securities denominated in USD, EUR and GBP.

Russell 1000® Growth Index: A market-capitalization weighted index of those firms in the Russell 1000® Index with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values. The index returns assume reinvestment of dividends and do not reflect any applicable sales charges. You cannot invest directly in an index.

Russell 1000® Value Index: A market-capitalization weighted index of those firms in the Russell 1000® Index with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values. The index returns assume reinvestment of dividends and do not reflect any applicable sales charges. You cannot invest directly in an index.

Russell 2000® Index: An index that measures the performance of the small-cap segment of the U.S. equity universe. The Russell 2000® Index is a subset of the Russell 3000® Index representing approximately 10% of the total market capitalization of that index. It includes approximately 2,000 of the smallest securities based on a combination of their market cap and current index membership. The index returns assume reinvestment of distributions, but do not reflect any applicable sales charges or management fees.

S&P 500®: An unmanaged Index generally considered representative of the U.S. stock market. Index returns assume reinvestment of distributions, but do not reflect of any applicable sales charges or management fees.

S&P Global Infrastructure Index TR (Total Return) (old benchmark): An index that provides liquid and tradable exposure to 75 companies from around the world that represent the listed infrastructure universe. To create diversified exposure across the global listed infrastructure market, the index has balanced weights across three distinct infrastructure clusters: utilities, transportation, and energy. Index returns assume reinvestment of distributions, but do not reflect any applicable sales charges or management fees.

S&P Global Infrastructure Index NR (Net Return) (new benchmark): An index that provides liquid and tradable exposure to 75 companies from around the world that represent the listed infrastructure universe. To create diversified exposure across the global listed infrastructure market, the index has balanced weights across three distinct infrastructure clusters: utilities, transportation, and energy. Index returns assume reinvestment of distributions, but do not reflect any applicable sales charges or management fees.

Tax Equalization: The practice of treating a portion of the distribution made to a redeeming shareholder, which represents his proportionate part of undistributed net investment income and capital gain as a distribution for tax purposes. Such amounts are referred to as the equalization debits (or payments) and will be considered a distribution to the shareholder of net investment income and capital gain for calculation of the fund’s dividends paid deduction.

 

97


Annual Investment Management Agreement Approval Process

(Unaudited)

 

The Board of Trustees or Directors (as applicable) of each Fund (the “Board,” and each Trustee or Director, a “Board Member”), including the Board Members who are not “interested persons” (as defined under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”)) (the “Independent Board Members”), is responsible for determining whether to initially approve or, after an initial term, to renew, that Fund’s advisory agreements. A discussion of the Board’s approval of the renewal of the advisory arrangements for the Nuveen Global Infrastructure Fund (the “Global Infrastructure Fund”), the Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund (the “Real Asset Income Fund”) and the Nuveen Real Estate Securities Fund (the “Real Estate Securities Fund”) is set forth in Part I below. The advisory arrangements for the Nuveen Global Real Estate Securities Fund (the “Global Real Estate Securities Fund”) have not yet been up for renewal. A discussion of the Board’s initial approval of the advisory arrangements for the Global Real Estate Securities Fund is set forth in Part II below.

I.

Nuveen Global Infrastructure Fund

Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund

Nuveen Real Estate Securities Fund

At a meeting held on May 22-24, 2018 (the “May Meeting”), the Board approved, for the Global Infrastructure Fund, the Real Asset Income Fund and the Real Estate Securities Fund (for purposes of this Part I, each, a “Fund”), the renewal of the management agreement (for purposes of this Part I, the “Investment Management Agreement”) with Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC (the “Adviser”) pursuant to which the Adviser serves as investment adviser to such Fund and the sub-advisory agreement (for purposes of this Part I, the “Sub-Advisory Agreement”) with Nuveen Asset Management, LLC (the “Sub-Adviser”) pursuant to which the Sub-Adviser serves as investment sub-adviser to such Fund. Following an initial two-year period, the Board, including the Independent Board Members, is required under the 1940 Act to review and approve each Investment Management Agreement and Sub-Advisory Agreement on behalf of the applicable Fund on an annual basis. For purposes of this Part I, the Investment Management Agreements and Sub-Advisory Agreements are collectively referred to as the “Advisory Agreements” and the Adviser and the Sub-Adviser are collectively, the “Fund Advisers” and each, a “Fund Adviser.”

In response to a request on behalf of the Independent Board Members by independent legal counsel, the Board received and reviewed prior to the May Meeting extensive materials specifically prepared for the annual review of Advisory Agreements by the Adviser as well as by Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (“Broadridge” or “Lipper”), an independent provider of investment company data. The materials provided in connection with the annual review covered a breadth of subject matter including, but not limited to, a description of the nature, extent and quality of services provided by each Fund Adviser; a review of the Sub-Adviser and the applicable investment team(s); an analysis of fund performance in absolute terms and as compared to the performance of certain peer funds and benchmarks with a focus on any performance outliers; an analysis of the fees and expense ratios of the Nuveen funds in absolute terms and as compared to those of certain peer funds with a focus on any expense outliers; a description of portfolio manager compensation; a review of the performance of various service providers; a description of various initiatives Nuveen had undertaken or continued during the year for the benefit of particular Nuveen fund(s) and/or the complex; a description of the profitability or financial data of Nuveen and the various sub-advisers to the Nuveen funds; and a description of indirect benefits received by the Fund Advisers as a result of their relationships with the Nuveen funds. The Independent Board Members also received a memorandum from independent legal counsel outlining their fiduciary duties and legal standards in reviewing the Advisory Agreements. The Board Members held an in-person meeting on April 10-11, 2018 (the “April Meeting”), in part, to review and discuss the performance of the Nuveen funds and the Adviser’s evaluation of the various sub-advisers to the Nuveen funds. Prior to the May Meeting, the Board Members also received and reviewed supplemental information provided in response to questions posed by the Board Members.

The information prepared specifically for the annual review of the Advisory Agreements supplemented the information provided to the Board and its committees throughout the year. The Board and its committees met regularly during the year and the information provided and topics discussed were relevant to the review of the Advisory Agreements. Some of these reports and other data included, among other things, materials that outlined the investment performance of the Nuveen funds; strategic plans of the Adviser which may impact the services it provides to the Nuveen funds; the review of the Nuveen funds and applicable investment teams; compliance, regulatory and risk management matters; the trading practices of the various sub-advisers; valuation of securities; fund expenses; payments to financial intermediaries, including 12b-1 fees and sub-transfer agency fees; and overall market and regulatory developments. The Board further continued its practice of seeking to meet periodically with the various sub-advisers to the Nuveen funds and their investment teams, when feasible. As a result, the Independent Board Members considered the review of the Advisory Agreements to be an ongoing process and employed the accumulated information, knowledge, and experience the Board Members had gained

 

98


during their tenure on the boards governing the Nuveen funds and working with the Fund Advisers in their review of the Advisory Agreements. Throughout the year and during the annual review of Advisory Agreements, the Independent Board Members met in executive sessions with independent legal counsel and had the benefit of counsel’s advice.

In deciding to renew the Advisory Agreements, the Independent Board Members did not identify a particular factor as determinative, but rather the decision reflected the comprehensive consideration of all the information provided, and each Board Member may have attributed different levels of importance to the various factors and information considered in connection with the approval process. The following summarizes the principal factors, but not all the factors, the Board considered in deciding to renew the Advisory Agreements and its conclusions.

A. Nature, Extent and Quality of Services

In evaluating the renewal of the Advisory Agreements, the Independent Board Members received and considered information regarding the nature, extent and quality of the applicable Fund Adviser’s services provided to the respective Fund and the resulting performance of each Fund. With respect to the Adviser, the Board recognized the comprehensive set of management, oversight and administrative services the Adviser and its affiliates provided to manage and operate the Nuveen funds in a highly regulated industry. As illustrative, these services included, but were not limited to, product management; investment oversight, risk management and securities valuation services; fund accounting and administration services; board support and administration services; compliance and regulatory oversight services; and legal support.

In addition to the services necessary to operate and maintain the Nuveen funds, the Board recognized the Adviser’s continued program of improvements and innovations to make the Nuveen fund complex more relevant and attractive to existing and new investors and to accommodate the new and changing regulatory requirements in an increasingly complex regulatory environment. The Board noted that some of the initiatives the Adviser had taken over recent years to benefit the complex and particular Nuveen funds included, among other things:

 

   

Fund Rationalizations – continuing efforts to rationalize the product line through mergers, liquidations and repositionings in seeking to enhance shareholder value over the years through increased efficiency, reduced costs, improved performance and revised investment approaches more relevant to current shareholder needs;

 

   

Product Innovations – developing product innovations and launching new products that will help the Nuveen fund complex offer a variety of products that will attract new investors and retain existing investors, such as launching the target term funds, exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) and multi-asset class funds;

 

   

Risk Management Enhancements – continuing efforts to enhance risk management, including enhancing reporting to increase the efficiency of risk monitoring, implementing programs to strengthen the ability to detect and mitigate operational risks, dedicating resources and staffing necessary to create standards to help ensure compliance with new liquidity requirements, and implementing a price verification system;

 

   

Additional Compliance Services – the continuing investment of significant resources, time and additional staffing to meet the various new regulatory requirements affecting the Nuveen funds over the past several years, the further implementation of unified compliance policies and processes, the development of additional compliance training modules, and the reorganization of the compliance team adding further depth to its senior leadership; and

 

   

Expanded Dividend Management Services – as the Nuveen fund complex has grown, the additional services necessary to manage the distributions of the varied funds offered and investing in automated systems to assist in this process.

In addition to the services provided by the Adviser, the Board also noted the business related risks the Adviser incurred in managing the Nuveen funds, including entrepreneurial, legal and litigation risks.

The Board further considered the division of responsibilities between the Adviser and the Sub-Adviser and the investment and compliance oversight over the Sub-Adviser provided by the Adviser. The Board recognized that the Sub-Adviser generally provided the portfolio advisory services for the Funds. The Board reviewed the Adviser’s analysis of the Sub-Adviser which evaluated, among other things, the investment team, the members’ experience and any changes to the team during the year, the team’s assets under management, the stability and history of the organization, the team’s investment approach and the performance of the Funds over various periods. The Board noted that the Adviser recommended the renewal of the Sub-Advisory Agreements.

Based on its review, the Board determined, in the exercise of its reasonable business judgment, that it was satisfied with the nature, extent and quality of services provided to the respective Funds under each applicable Advisory Agreement.

B. The Investment Performance of the Funds and Fund Advisers

As part of its evaluation of the services provided by the Fund Advisers, the Board considered the investment performance of each Fund. In this regard, the Board reviewed fund performance over the quarter, one-, three- and five-year periods ending December 31, 2017 as well as performance data for the first quarter of 2018 ending March 31, 2018. For open-end Nuveen funds with multiple classes, the performance data was based on Class A shares and the performance of other classes should be substantially similar as they invest in the same portfolio of securities and differences in performance

 

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among the classes would be principally attributed to the variations in the expense structures of the classes. The Independent Board Members noted that they reviewed and discussed fund performance over various time periods with management at their quarterly meetings throughout the year and their review and analysis of performance during the annual review of Advisory Agreements incorporated such discussions.

The Board reviewed performance on an absolute basis and in comparison to the performance of peer funds (the “Performance Peer Group”) and recognized and/or customized benchmarks (i.e., generally benchmarks derived from multiple recognized benchmarks). The Board considered the Adviser’s analysis of each Nuveen fund’s performance, including, in particular, an analysis of the Nuveen funds determined to be performance outliers and the factors contributing to their underperformance.

In reviewing performance data, the Independent Board Members appreciated some of the inherent limitations of such data. In this regard, the Independent Board Members recognized that there may be limitations with the comparative data of certain peer groups or benchmarks as they may pursue objective(s), strategies or have other characteristics that are different from the respective Nuveen fund and therefore the performance results necessarily are different and limit the value of the comparisons. As an example, some funds may utilize leverage which may add to or detract from performance compared to an unlevered benchmark. The Independent Board Members also noted that management had ranked the relevancy of the peer group as low, medium or high to help the Board evaluate the value of the comparative peer performance data. The Board was aware that the performance data was measured as of a specific date and a different time period may reflect significantly different results and a period of underperformance can significantly impact long-term performance figures. The Board further recognized that a shareholder’s experience in a Fund depends on his or her own holding period which may differ from that reviewed by the Independent Board Members.

In their review of performance, the Independent Board Members focused, in particular, on the Adviser’s analysis of Nuveen funds determined to be underperforming performance outliers. The Independent Board Members noted that only a limited number of the Nuveen funds appeared to be underperforming performance outliers at the end of 2017 and considered the factors contributing to the respective fund’s performance and whether there were any performance concerns that needed to be addressed. The Board recognized that some periods of underperformance may only be temporary while other periods of underperformance may indicate a broader issue that may require a corrective action. Accordingly, with respect to any Nuveen funds for which the Board had identified performance issues, the Board monitors such funds closely until performance improves, discusses with the Adviser the reasons for such results, considers whether any steps are necessary or appropriate to address such issues, and reviews the results of any efforts undertaken.

For the Global Infrastructure Fund, the Board noted that although the Fund’s performance was below its benchmark in the one-year period, the Fund outperformed its benchmark in the three- and five-year periods and ranked in the first quartile of its Performance Peer Group in the one-, three- and five-year periods. The Board was satisfied with the Fund’s overall performance.

For the Real Asset Income Fund, the Board noted that although the Fund’s performance was below its benchmark in the one- and three-year periods, the Fund outperformed its benchmark in the five-year period and ranked in the third quartile of its Performance Peer Group in the one-year period and second quartile in the three- and five-year periods. The Board was satisfied with the Fund’s overall performance.

For the Real Estate Securities Fund, the Board noted that although the Fund’s performance was below its benchmark in the three- and five-year periods, the Fund outperformed its benchmark in the one-year period and ranked in the second quartile of its Performance Peer Group in the one- and three-year periods and first quartile in the five-year period. The Board was satisfied with the Fund’s overall performance.

C. Fees, Expenses and Profitability

1. Fees and Expenses

In its annual review, the Board considered the fees paid to the Fund Advisers and the total operating expense ratio of each Fund, before and after any undertaking by Nuveen to limit the Fund’s total annual operating expenses to certain levels. More specifically, the Independent Board Members reviewed, among other things, each Fund’s gross and net management fee rates (i.e., before and after expense reimbursements and/or fee waivers, if any) and net total expense ratio in relation to those of a comparable universe of funds (the “Peer Universe”) and to a more focused subset of comparable funds (the “Peer Group”) established by Broadridge. The Independent Board Members reviewed the methodology Broadridge employed to establish its Peer Universe and Peer Group and recognized that differences between the applicable fund and its respective Peer Universe and/or Peer Group may limit some of the value of the comparative data. The Independent Board Members also considered a fund’s operating expense ratio as it more directly reflected the shareholder’s costs in investing in the respective fund. In their review, the Independent Board Members considered, in particular, each fund with a net expense ratio of six basis points or higher compared to that of its peer average (each an “Expense Outlier Fund”). The Board noted that the number of Nuveen funds classified as an Expense Outlier Fund pursuant to the foregoing criteria had decreased over the past few years with only a limited number of the Nuveen funds (including the Real Asset Income Fund) identified as Expense Outlier Funds in 2017. The Independent Board Members reviewed an analysis as to the factors contributing to each such fund’s higher relative net expense ratio. Accordingly, in reviewing the comparative data between a fund and its peers, the Board generally considered the fund’s net expense ratio and fees to be higher if they were over 10 basis points higher, slightly higher if they were 6 to 10 basis points higher, in line if they were within approximately 5 basis points higher than the peer average and below if they were below the peer average of the Peer Group.

 

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In their review of the fee arrangements for the Nuveen funds, the Independent Board Members considered the management fee schedules, including the complex-wide and fund-level breakpoint schedules, and the expense reimbursements and/or fee waivers provided by Nuveen for each fund, as applicable. The Independent Board Members noted that the management fees and/or expense caps of various open-end funds had been reduced in 2016 and the fund-level breakpoint schedules also had been revised in 2017 for certain open-end funds resulting in the addition of more breakpoints in the management fee schedules of such funds. The Board considered that across the Nuveen fund complex, the complex-wide fee breakpoints reduced fees by $47.4 million and fund-level breakpoints reduced fees by $54.6 million in 2017. Further, fee caps and waivers for all applicable Nuveen funds saved an additional $16.7 million in fees for shareholders in 2017.

The Board considered the sub-advisory fees paid to the Sub-Adviser, including any breakpoint schedule, and as described below, comparative data of the fees the Sub-Adviser charges to other clients.

The Independent Board Members noted that (a) the Global Infrastructure Fund had a net management fee and a net expense ratio below its peer averages; (b) the Real Estate Securities Fund had a net management fee slightly higher than its peer average, but a net expense ratio in line with its peer average; and (c) the Real Asset Income Fund had a net management fee higher than its peer average, but a net expense ratio slightly higher than its peer average. With respect to the Real Asset Income Fund, the Independent Board Members noted that such Fund’s net expense ratio was slightly higher than the peer average due to, among other things, the smaller size of such Fund compared to peers in the Peer Group.

Based on their review of the information provided, the Board determined that each Fund’s management fees (as applicable) to a Fund Adviser were reasonable in light of the nature, extent and quality of services provided to the Fund.

2. Comparisons with the Fees of Other Clients

In determining the appropriateness of fees, the Board also reviewed information regarding the fee rates the respective Fund Advisers charged for certain other types of clients and the type of services provided to these other clients. With respect to the Adviser and/or the Sub-Adviser, such other clients may include retail and institutional managed accounts, investment companies outside the Nuveen family, foreign investment companies offered by Nuveen, and collective investment trusts. The Board further noted that the Adviser also advised certain ETFs sponsored by Nuveen.

The Board recognized that each Fund had an affiliated sub-adviser and reviewed, among other things, the range of fees assessed for managed accounts and foreign investment companies. The Board also reviewed the fee range and average fee rate of certain selected investment strategies offered in retail and institutional managed accounts by the Sub-Adviser and of the non-Nuveen investment companies sub-advised by affiliated sub-advisers. In addition to the comparative fee data, the Board also reviewed, among other things, a description of the different levels of services provided to other clients compared to the services provided to the Nuveen funds as well as the differences in portfolio investment policies, investor profiles, account sizes and regulatory requirements, all of which contribute to the variations in the fee schedules. With respect to ETFs, the Board considered the differences in the passive management of Nuveen’s Nushares ETFs compared to the active management of other Nuveen funds which also contributed to differing management fee levels compared to the other Nuveen funds. In general, the Board noted that the higher fee levels reflect higher levels of services provided by Nuveen, increased investment management complexity, greater product management requirements and higher levels of business risk or some combination of these factors. The Board further considered that the Sub-Adviser’s fee is essentially for portfolio management services and therefore more comparable to the fees it receives for retail wrap accounts and other external sub-advisory mandates. The Board concluded the varying levels of fees were justified given, among other things, the inherent differences in the products and the level of services provided to the Nuveen funds versus other clients, the differing regulatory requirements and legal liabilities and the entrepreneurial risks incurred in sponsoring and advising a registered investment company.

3. Profitability of Fund Advisers

In conjunction with their review of fees, the Independent Board Members considered Nuveen’s level of profitability for its advisory services to the Nuveen funds for the calendar years 2017 and 2016. In considering profitability, the Independent Board Members reviewed the level of profitability realized by Nuveen including and excluding any distribution expenses incurred by Nuveen from its own resources. The Independent Board Members also reviewed a description of the expense allocation methodology employed to develop the financial information and a summary of the history of changes to the methodology over the years. For comparability purposes, the Board recognized that a prior year’s profitability would be restated to reflect any refinements to the methodology. The Independent Board Members were aware of the inherent limitations in calculating profitability as the use of different reasonable allocation methodologies may lead to significantly different results and in reviewing profitability margins over extended periods given the refinements to the methodology over time. The Board noted that two Independent Board Members, along with independent counsel, serve as the Board’s liaisons to review and discuss any proposed changes to the methodology prior to the full Board’s review.

In their review, the Independent Board Members evaluated, among other things, Nuveen’s adjusted operating margins, gross and net revenue margins (pre-tax and after-tax) for advisory activities for the Nuveen funds, and the revenues, expenses, and net income (pre-tax and after-tax and before distribution) of Nuveen for fund advisory services for each of the last two calendar years. The Independent Board Members also reviewed an analysis of the key drivers behind the changes in revenues and expenses that impacted profitability in 2017 versus 2016. The Board noted that Nuveen recently launched its ETF product line in 2016 and reviewed the revenues, expenses and operating margin from this product line.

 

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In addition to reviewing Nuveen’s profitability in absolute terms, the Independent Board Members also examined comparative profitability data reviewing, among other things, the revenues, expenses and adjusted total company margins of other advisory firms that had publicly available information and comparable assets under management (based on asset size and asset composition) for 2017 and as compared to their adjusted operating margins for 2016. The Independent Board Members, however, recognized the difficulty in comparing the profitability of various fund managers given the limited public information available and the subjective nature of calculating profitability which may be affected by numerous factors including the fund manager’s organizational structure, types of funds, other lines of business, methodology used to allocate expenses and cost of capital. Nevertheless, considering such limitations and based on the information provided, the Board noted that Nuveen’s adjusted operating margins appeared reasonable when compared to the adjusted margins of the peers.

Aside from Nuveen’s profitability, the Board recognized that the Adviser is a subsidiary of Nuveen, LLC, the investment management arm of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (“TIAA”). As such, the Board also reviewed a balance sheet for TIAA reflecting its assets, liabilities and capital and contingency reserves for the 2017 and 2016 calendar years to consider the financial strength of TIAA.

In reviewing profitability, the Independent Board Members also considered the profitability of the various sub-advisers from their relationships with the respective Nuveen fund(s). The Independent Board Members reviewed the Sub-Adviser’s revenues, expenses and revenue margins (pre- and post-tax) for its advisory activities for the calendar year ended December 31, 2017. The Independent Board Members also reviewed a profitability analysis reflecting the revenues, expenses and revenue margin (pre- and post-tax) by asset type for the Sub-Adviser for the calendar year ending December 31, 2017 and the pre- and post-tax revenue margin from 2017 and 2016.

In evaluating the reasonableness of the compensation, the Independent Board Members also considered any other ancillary benefits derived by the respective Fund Adviser from its relationship with the Nuveen funds as discussed in further detail below.

Based on a consideration of all the information provided, the Board noted that Nuveen’s and the Sub-Adviser’s level of profitability was acceptable and not unreasonable in light of the services provided.

D. Economies of Scale and Whether Fee Levels Reflect These Economies of Scale

The Independent Board Members considered the extent to which economies of scale may be achieved as a Fund grows and whether these economies of scale have been shared with shareholders. Although the Board recognized that economies of scale are difficult to measure, the Independent Board Members noted that there are several methods that may be used in seeking to share economies of scale, including through breakpoints in the management fee schedule reducing the fee rates as asset levels grow, fee waivers and/or expense limitation agreements and the Adviser’s investment in its business which can enhance the services provided to the Nuveen funds. With respect to breakpoint schedules, because the Board had previously recognized that economies of scale may occur not only when the assets of a particular fund grow but also when the assets in the complex grow, the Nuveen funds generally pay the Adviser a management fee comprised of a fund-level component and a complex-level component each with its own breakpoint schedule, subject to certain exceptions. In general terms, the breakpoint schedule at the fund level reduces fees as assets in the particular fund pass certain thresholds and the breakpoint schedule at the complex level reduces fees on certain funds as the eligible assets in the complex pass certain thresholds. Subject to exceptions for certain Nuveen funds, the Independent Board Members reviewed the fund-level and complex-level fee schedules and any resulting savings in fees. The Board also recognized that the fund-level breakpoint schedule for certain Nuveen funds had been revised in 2016.

Aside from the breakpoint schedules, the Independent Board Members also reviewed the temporary and/or permanent expense caps applicable to certain Nuveen funds (including the temporary expense caps applicable to the Global Infrastructure Fund and the Real Asset Income Fund), which may also serve as a means to share economies of scale. Based on the information provided, the Independent Board Members noted that the combination of fund-level breakpoints, complex-level breakpoints and fund-specific fee waivers reflected a total of $118.6 million in fee reductions in 2017. In addition, the Independent Board Members recognized the Adviser’s continued reinvestment in its business through, among other things, improvements in technology, additional staffing, product innovations and other organizational changes designed to expand or enhance the services provided to the benefit of all of the Nuveen funds.

Based on its review, the Board concluded that the current fee arrangements together with the Adviser’s reinvestment in its business appropriately shared any economies of scale with shareholders.

E. Indirect Benefits

The Independent Board Members received and considered information regarding other benefits the respective Fund Adviser or its affiliates may receive as a result of their relationship with the Nuveen funds. The Independent Board Members reviewed the revenues that an affiliate of the Adviser received in 2017 as a result of serving as principal underwriter to the open-end funds from 12b-1 distribution and shareholder servicing fees (except for Nuveen’s Nushares ETFs which currently do not incur 12b-1 fees).

In addition to the above, the Independent Board Members considered whether the Sub-Adviser uses commissions paid by the Funds on portfolio transactions to obtain research products and other services (“soft dollar transactions”). The Board recognized that the Sub-Adviser may benefit from research received from broker-dealers that execute Fund portfolio transactions. The Board, however, noted that the benefits for sub-advisers

 

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transacting in fixed-income securities may be more limited as such securities generally trade on a principal basis and therefore do not generate brokerage commissions. Further, the Board noted that although the Sub-Adviser may benefit from the receipt of research and other services that it may otherwise have to pay for out of its own resources, the research may also benefit the Funds to the extent it enhances the ability of the Sub-Adviser to manage the Funds or is acquired through the commissions paid on portfolio transactions of other funds or clients.

Based on their review, the Board concluded that any indirect benefits received by a Fund Adviser as a result of its relationship with the Funds were reasonable and within acceptable parameters.

F. Other Considerations

The Board Members did not identify any single factor discussed previously as all-important or controlling. The Board Members, including the Independent Board Members, concluded that the terms of each Advisory Agreement were fair and reasonable, that the respective Fund Adviser’s fees were reasonable in light of the services provided to each Fund and that the Advisory Agreements be renewed.

II.

Nuveen Global Real Estate Securities Fund

The Board Members are responsible for approving advisory arrangements and, at a meeting held on February 27-March 1, 2018 (for purposes of this Part II, the “Meeting”), were asked to approve the advisory arrangements for the Global Real Estate Securities Fund (for purposes of this Part II, the “Fund”). At the Meeting, the Board Members, including the Independent Board Members, considered and approved the investment management agreement (for purposes of this Part II, the “Investment Management Agreement”) between the Fund and Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC (the “Adviser”), and the investment sub-advisory agreement (for purposes of this Part II, the “Sub-Advisory Agreement”) between the Adviser and Nuveen Asset Management, LLC (the “Sub-Adviser”). For purposes of this Part II, the Adviser and the Sub-Adviser are each hereafter a “Fund Adviser.” For purposes of this Part II, the Investment Management Agreement and the Sub-Advisory Agreement are each hereafter an “Advisory Agreement” and collectively, the “Advisory Agreements.”

To assist the Board in its evaluation of an Advisory Agreement with a Fund Adviser at the Meeting, the Independent Board Members had received, in adequate time in advance of the Meeting or at prior meetings, materials which outlined, among other things:

 

   

the nature, extent and quality of the services expected to be provided by the Fund Adviser;

 

   

the organization of the Fund Adviser, including the responsibilities of various departments and key personnel;

 

   

the expertise and background of the Fund Adviser with respect to the Fund’s investment strategy;

 

   

certain performance-related information (as described below);

 

   

the profitability of Nuveen and its affiliates for their advisory activities;

 

   

the proposed management fees of the Fund Adviser, including comparisons of such fees with the management fees of comparable funds;

 

   

the expected expenses of the Fund, including comparisons of the Fund’s expected expense ratio with the expense ratios of comparable funds; and

 

   

the soft dollar practices of the Fund Adviser, if any.

At the Meeting and/or prior meetings, the Adviser made presentations to and responded to questions from the Board. During the Meeting and/or prior meetings, the Independent Board Members also met privately with their legal counsel to, among other things, review the Board’s duties under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”), the general principles of state law in reviewing and approving advisory contracts, the standards used by courts in determining whether investment company boards of directors have fulfilled their duties, factors to be considered in voting on advisory contracts and an adviser’s fiduciary duty with respect to advisory agreements and compensation. It is with this background that the Independent Board Members considered the Advisory Agreements. As outlined in more detail below, the Independent Board Members considered all factors they believed relevant with respect to the Fund, including, among other things: (a) the nature, extent and quality of the services expected to be provided by the Fund Advisers; (b) investment performance, as described below; (c) the advisory fees and costs of the services expected to be provided to the Fund and the profitability of the Fund Advisers; (d) the extent of any anticipated economies of scale; (e) any benefits expected to be derived by the Fund Advisers from their relationships with the Fund; and (f) other factors. Each Board Member may have accorded different weight to the various factors in reaching his or her conclusions with respect to the Fund’s Advisory Agreements.

A. Nature, Extent and Quality of Services

The Independent Board Members considered the nature, extent and quality of the respective Fund Adviser’s services, including portfolio management services and administrative services. Given that the Adviser and the Sub-Adviser already serve as adviser and sub-adviser, respectively, to other Nuveen funds overseen by the Board Members, the Board has a good understanding of each such Fund Adviser’s organization, operations, personnel and

 

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services. As the Independent Board Members meet regularly throughout the year to oversee the Nuveen funds, including funds currently advised by the Fund Advisers, the Independent Board Members have relied upon their knowledge from their meetings and any other interactions throughout the year with the respective Fund Adviser in evaluating the Advisory Agreements.

At the Meeting and/or at prior meetings, the Independent Board Members reviewed materials outlining, among other things, the respective Fund Adviser’s organization and business; the types of services that such Fund Adviser or its affiliates provide to the Nuveen funds (as applicable) and are expected to provide to the Fund; and the experience of the respective Fund Adviser with applicable investment strategies. Further, at the Meeting and/or at prior meetings, the Independent Board Members have evaluated the background and experience of the relevant investment personnel.

With respect to services, the Board noted that the Fund would be a registered investment company that would operate in a regulated industry. In considering the services that were expected to be provided by the Fund Advisers, the Board recognized the myriad of services that the Adviser and its affiliates provide to manage and operate the Nuveen funds, including: (a) product management (such as managing distributions, positioning the product in the marketplace, managing the relationships with the distribution platforms, maintaining and enhancing shareholder communications, and reporting to the Board); (b) investment oversight, risk management and securities valuation (such as overseeing the sub-advisers and other service providers, analyzing investment performance and risks, overseeing risk management and disclosure, executing the daily valuation of securities, and analyzing trade execution); (c) fund administration (such as helping to prepare fund tax returns and complete other tax compliance matters and helping to prepare regulatory filings and shareholder reports); (d) fund board administration (such as preparing board materials and organizing and providing assistance for board meetings); (e) compliance (such as helping to devise and maintain the Nuveen funds’ compliance program and test for adherence); (f) legal support (such as helping to prepare registration statements and proxy statements, interpreting regulations and policies, and overseeing fund activities); (g) with respect to certain closed-end funds, providing leverage, capital and distribution management services; and (h) with respect to certain open-end funds with portfolios that have a leverage component, providing such leverage management services.

The Independent Board Members noted that the Adviser would oversee the Sub-Adviser, which was generally expected to provide portfolio advisory services to the Fund. In addition, the Board Members recognized the Sub-Adviser’s relevant experience and expertise.

Based on their review, the Independent Board Members found that, overall, the nature, extent and quality of services expected to be provided to the Fund under each Advisory Agreement were satisfactory.

B. Investment Performance

The Fund was new and, therefore, did not have its own performance history. The Independent Board Members, however, were familiar with the performance records of other Nuveen funds advised by the Adviser and sub-advised by the Sub-Adviser. In this regard, the Independent Board Members were provided with performance-related data relating to the Nuveen Real Estate Securities Fund, including one-year, three-year, five-year and ten-year returns as of December 31, 2017, and calendar year returns for the years 2008 through 2017.

C. Fees, Expenses and Profitability

1. Fees and Expenses

In evaluating the management fees and expenses that the Fund was expected to bear, the Independent Board Members considered, among other things, the Fund’s proposed management fee structure, the rationale for its proposed fee levels, and its expected expense ratio in absolute terms as well as compared with the fees and expense ratios of comparable funds. Accordingly, the Independent Board Members reviewed, among other things, the proposed maximum gross management fee and estimated gross and net total expense ratios for the Fund, as well as comparative fee and expense data pertaining to the Fund’s peers in the Lipper category in which the Fund is expected to be classified. Further, the Independent Board Members considered the Fund’s proposed sub-advisory fee rate.

In addition, the Independent Board Members considered the Fund’s proposed fund-level and complex-wide breakpoint schedules (described in further detail below), and any applicable fee waivers and expense reimbursements expected to be provided.

Based on their review of the fee and expense information provided, the Independent Board Members determined that the Fund’s management fees (as applicable) to a Fund Adviser were reasonable in light of the nature, extent and quality of services to be provided to the Fund.

2. Comparisons with the Fees of Other Clients

At the Meeting and/or at prior meetings, the Board considered information regarding the fees that the Fund Advisers assess to the Nuveen funds compared to those of other clients, as described in further detail below. With respect to non-municipal funds, such other clients of the Adviser and/or its affiliated sub-advisers may include: separately managed accounts (such as retail, institutional or wrap accounts), other investment companies that are not offered by Nuveen but are sub-advised by one of Nuveen’s affiliated sub-advisers, foreign investment companies offered by Nuveen, and collective investment trusts. The Board has further noted that the Adviser also advises certain exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) sponsored by Nuveen.

In reviewing the fee rates assessed to other clients, the Board has previously reviewed, among other things, the range of fees assessed for managed accounts and the foreign investment companies offered by Nuveen. With respect to foreign funds, the Board has noted that unlike the

 

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management fees for the Nuveen funds, the management fees for the foreign funds may include distribution fees paid to intermediaries. The Board has also previously reviewed the average fee rate for certain strategies offered by the Sub-Adviser. Further, the Board has recognized the inherent differences between the Nuveen funds and the other types of clients and has considered information regarding these various differences which have included, among other things, the services required, product distribution, average account sizes, types of investors targeted, legal structure and operations and applicable laws and regulations. The Independent Board Members have recognized that the foregoing variations result in different economics among the product structures and culminate in varying management fees among the types of clients and the Nuveen funds. In general, the Board has noted that higher fee levels have reflected higher levels of service provided by the Fund Adviser, increased investment management complexity, greater product management requirements and higher levels of business risk or some combination of the foregoing.

The Board has also recognized the breadth of services the Adviser provides to support the Nuveen funds and has noted that many of the administrative services that the Adviser was expected to provide to support the Fund may not be required to the same extent or at all for the institutional clients or other clients. The Board has further recognized that the passive management of ETFs compared to the active management required of other Nuveen funds would contribute to differing fee levels.

The Independent Board Members noted that the sub-advisory fee to be paid by the Adviser to the Sub-Adviser would generally be for portfolio management services.

Given the inherent differences in the various products, particularly the extensive services expected to be provided to the Fund, the Independent Board Members concluded that such facts justify the different levels of fees.

3. Profitability of Fund Advisers

In conjunction with their review of fees, at the Meeting and/or at prior meetings, the Independent Board Members have considered Nuveen’s level of profitability for its advisory services to the Nuveen funds. In considering profitability, the Independent Board Members have considered the level of profitability realized by Nuveen before the imposition of any distribution and marketing expenses incurred by the firm from its own resources. In evaluating the profitability, the Independent Board Members have evaluated the analysis employed in developing the profitability figures, including the assumptions and methodology employed in allocating expenses. The Independent Board Members have recognized the inherent limitations to any cost allocation methodology as different and reasonable approaches may be used and yet yield differing results. The Independent Board Members have further reviewed an analysis of the history of the profitability methodology used explaining any changes to the methodology over the years. The Board has appointed two Independent Board Members, who along with independent legal counsel, have helped to review and discuss the methodology employed to develop the profitability analysis each year and any proposed changes thereto and to keep the Board apprised of such changes during the year.

In their review, at the Meeting and/or at prior meetings, the Independent Board Members have evaluated, among other things, Nuveen’s adjusted operating margins, the gross and net revenue margins (pre-tax and after-tax) for advisory activities for the Nuveen funds, and the revenues, expenses, and net income (pre-tax and after-tax) of Nuveen. In addition to reviewing Nuveen’s profitability in absolute terms, the Independent Board Members have also reviewed the adjusted total company margins of other advisory firms that had publicly available information and comparable assets under management (based on asset size and asset composition). The Independent Board Members, however, have noted that the usefulness of the comparative data may be limited as the other firms may have a different business mix and their profitability data may be affected by numerous other factors such as the types of funds managed, the cost allocation methodology used, and their capital structure. Nevertheless, the Board has noted that Nuveen’s adjusted operating margins appeared comparable to the adjusted margins of the peers.

Further, the Adviser is a subsidiary of Nuveen, LLC, the investment management arm of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (“TIAA”). To have a fuller picture of the financial condition and strength of the TIAA complex, together with Nuveen, the Board has reviewed a balance sheet for TIAA reflecting its assets, liabilities and capital and contingency reserves.

In addition to the Adviser’s profitability, the Independent Board Members have also considered the profitability of the Sub-Adviser from its relationship with the Nuveen funds. The Independent Board Members have previously reviewed the Sub-Adviser’s revenues, expenses and revenue margins (pre- and post-tax) for its advisory activities. The Independent Board Members have also reviewed a profitability analysis reflecting the revenues, expenses and revenue margin (pre- and post-tax) by asset type for the Sub-Adviser.

In evaluating the reasonableness of the compensation, the Independent Board Members also considered other amounts expected to be paid to a Fund Adviser for its services to the Fund as well as indirect benefits (such as soft dollar arrangements), if any, the Fund Adviser and its affiliates are expected to receive that would be directly attributable to the management of the Fund. See Section E below for additional information on indirect benefits a Fund Adviser may receive as a result of its relationship with the Fund.

Based on a consideration of the information provided, the Board has noted that Nuveen’s and the Sub-Adviser’s levels of profitability were acceptable and not unreasonable in light of the services provided.

 

105


Annual Investment Management Agreement Approval Process (Unaudited) (continued)

 

D. Economies of Scale and Whether Fee Levels Reflect These Economies of Scale

With respect to economies of scale, the Independent Board Members have recognized that, in general, as the assets of a particular fund or the Nuveen complex in the aggregate increase over time, economies of scale may be realized with respect to the management of the funds. In this regard, the Independent Board Members considered whether the Fund could be expected to benefit from any economies of scale. Although the Independent Board Members have recognized that economies of scale are difficult to measure with precision, they have noted that there are several ways a Fund Adviser may share the benefits of economies of scale, including through breakpoints in the management fee schedule reducing the fee rates as asset levels grow, fee waivers and/or expense limitation agreements, and the Adviser’s investment in its business which can enhance the services provided to the Nuveen funds.

With respect to the fee structure, the Independent Board Members have recognized that economies of scale may be realized when a particular fund grows, but also when the total size of the fund complex grows (even if the assets of a particular fund in the complex have not changed or have decreased). Accordingly, subject to certain exceptions, the funds in the Nuveen complex pay a management fee to the Adviser which is generally comprised of a fund-level component and a complex-level component, each of which has a breakpoint schedule. Subject to certain exceptions, the fund level fee component declines as the assets of a particular fund grow and the complex-level fee component declines when eligible assets of all the Nuveen funds (except for Nuveen ETFs, which are subject to a unitary fee) in the Nuveen complex combined grow. Accordingly, the Independent Board Members reviewed and considered the proposed management fee for the Fund, taking into account the fund-level breakpoints and the complex-wide fee arrangement. Additionally, the Independent Board Members considered the Fund’s proposed temporary expense cap.

In addition, the Independent Board Members have recognized the Adviser’s ongoing investment in its business to expand or enhance the services provided to the benefit of all of the Nuveen funds.

Based on their review, the Independent Board Members concluded that the proposed fee structure was acceptable and reflected economies of scale to be shared with the Fund’s shareholders when assets under management increase.

E. Indirect Benefits

The Independent Board Members considered information received at the Meeting and/or at prior meetings regarding other benefits that a Fund Adviser or its affiliates may receive as a result of their relationship with the Nuveen funds, including compensation paid to affiliates of a Fund Adviser for services rendered to the funds and research services received by a Fund Adviser from broker-dealers that execute fund trades. In this regard, the Independent Board Members considered, among other things, any distribution fees and shareholder services fees expected to be received and retained by the Fund’s principal underwriter, an affiliate of the Adviser (including fees to be received pursuant to any Rule 12b-1 plan).

In addition to the above, the Independent Board Members considered that the Fund’s portfolio transactions would be allocated by the Sub-Adviser and have noted at the Meeting and/or at prior meetings that the Sub-Adviser may benefit from research received from broker-dealers that execute Fund portfolio transactions. The Board has noted, however, that with respect to transactions in fixed income securities, such securities generally trade on a principal basis and do not generate soft dollar credits. Although the Board recognized that the Sub-Adviser may benefit from a soft dollar arrangement if it does not have to pay for this research out of its own assets, the Board also recognized that any research may benefit the Fund to the extent it enhances the ability of the Sub-Adviser to manage the Fund.

Based on their review, the Independent Board Members concluded that any indirect benefits expected to be received by a Fund Adviser as a result of its relationship with the Fund were reasonable and within acceptable parameters.

F. Approval

The Independent Board Members did not identify any single factor discussed previously as all-important or controlling. The Board Members, including a majority of the Independent Board Members, concluded that the terms of the Investment Management Agreement and the Sub-Advisory Agreement were fair and reasonable, that the respective Fund Adviser’s fees were reasonable in light of the services to be provided to the Fund and that the Investment Management Agreement and Sub-Advisory Agreement should be and were approved on behalf of the Fund.

 

106


Directors/Trustees and Officers

(Unaudited)

 

The management of the Funds, including general supervision of the duties performed for the Funds by the Adviser, is the responsibility of the Board of Directors/Trustees of the Funds. The number of Directors/Trustees of the Funds is currently set at ten. None of the Directors/Trustees who are not “interested” persons of the Funds (referred to herein as “Independent Directors/Trustees”) has ever been a Director/Trustees or employee of, or consultant to, Nuveen or its affiliates. The names and business addresses of the Directors/Trustees and officers of the Funds, their principal occupations and other affiliations during the past five years, the number of portfolios each oversees and other directorships they hold are set forth below.

The Funds’ Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) includes more information about the Directors/Trustees. To request a free copy, call Nuveen Investments at (800) 257-8787 or visit the Funds’ website at www.nuveen.com.

 

Name,
Year of Birth
& Address
 

Position(s)
Held with

the Funds

  Year First
Elected or
Appointed (1)
  Principal Occupation(s)
Including other Directorships
During Past 5 Years
  Number of
Portfolios in
Fund Complex
Overseen by
Director/Trustee
     
Independent Directors/Trustees:    

Terence J. Toth

1959

333 W. Wacker Drive

Chicago, IL 60606

  Chairman and Director/Trustee   2008   Formerly, a Co-Founding Partner, Promus Capital (2008-2017); Director, Fulcrum IT Service LLC (since 2010) and Quality Control Corporation (since 2012); member: Catalyst Schools of Chicago Board (since 2008) and Mather Foundation Board (since 2012), and chair of its investment committee; formerly, Director, Legal & General Investment Management America, Inc. (2008-2013); formerly, CEO and President, Northern Trust Global Investments (2004-2007); Executive Vice President, Quantitative Management & Securities Lending (2000-2004); prior thereto, various positions with Northern Trust Company (since 1994); formerly, Member, Northern Trust Mutual Funds Board (2005-2007), Northern Trust Global Investments Board (2004-2007), Northern Trust Japan Board (2004-2007), Northern Trust Securities Inc. Board (2003- 2007) and Northern Trust Hong Kong Board (1997-2004).   168

Jack B. Evans

1948

333 W. Wacker Drive

Chicago, IL 60606

  Director/Trustee   1999   Chairman (since 2019), formerly, President (1996-2019), The
Hall-Perrine Foundation, a private philanthropic corporation; Director and Chairman, United Fire Group, a publicly held company; Director, Public member, American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (since 2015); Life Trustee of Coe College and the Iowa College Foundation; formerly, President Pro-Tem of the Board of Regents for the State of Iowa University System; formerly, Director, Alliant Energy and The Gazette Company; formerly, Director, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago; formerly, President and Chief Operating Officer, SCI Financial Group, Inc., a regional financial services firm.
  168

William C. Hunter

1948

333 W. Wacker Drive

Chicago, IL 60606

  Director/Trustee   2003   Dean Emeritus, formerly, Dean, Tippie College of Business, University of Iowa (2006-2012); Director of Wellmark, Inc. (since 2009); past Director (2005-2015), and past President (2010-2014) Beta Gamma Sigma, Inc., The International Business Honor Society; formerly, Director (2004-2018) of Xerox Corporation; Dean and Distinguished Professor of Finance, School of Business at the University of Connecticut (2003-2006); previously, Senior Vice President and Director of Research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (1995-2003); formerly, Director (1997-2007), Credit Research Center at Georgetown University.   168

 

107


Directors/Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)

 

Name,
Year of Birth
& Address
 

Position(s)
Held with

the Funds

  Year First
Elected or
Appointed (1)
  Principal Occupation(s)
Including other Directorships
During Past 5 Years
  Number of
Portfolios in
Fund Complex
Overseen by
Director/Trustee

Albin F. Moschner

1952

333 W. Wacker Drive

Chicago, IL 60606

  Director/Trustee   2016   Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Northcroft Partners, LLC, a management consulting firm (since 2012); Chairman (since 2019), and Director (since 2012), USA Technologies, Inc., a provider of solutions and services to facilitate electronic payment transactions (since 2012); formerly, Director, Wintrust Financial Corporation (1996-2016); previously, held positions at Leap Wireless International, Inc., including Consultant (2011-2012), Chief Operating Officer (2008-2011), and Chief Marketing Officer (2004-2008); formerly, President, Verizon Card Services division of Verizon Communications, Inc. (2000-2003); formerly, President, One Point Services at One Point Communications (1999-2000); formerly, Vice Chairman of the Board, Diba, Incorporated (1996-1997); formerly, various executive positions and Chief Executive Officer of Zenith Electronics Corporation (1991-1996).   168

John K. Nelson

1962

333 W. Wacker Drive

Chicago, IL 60606

  Director/Trustee   2013   Member of Board of Directors of Core12 LLC (since 2008), a private firm which develops branding, marketing and communications strategies for clients; serves on The President’s Council, Fordham University (since 2010); and previously was a Director of The Curran Center for Catholic American Studies (2009-2018); formerly senior external advisor to the financial services practice of Deloitte Consulting LLP (2012-2014); formerly, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Marian University (2010 as trustee, 2011- 2014 as Chairman); formerly, Chief Executive Officer of ABN AMRO N.V. North America, and Global Head of its Financial Markets Division (2007-2008); prior senior positions held at ABN AMRO include Corporate Executive Vice President and Head of Global Markets-the Americas (2006-2007), CEO of Wholesale Banking-North America and Global Head of Foreign Exchange and Futures Markets (2001-2006), and Regional Commercial Treasurer and Senior Vice President Trading-North America (1996-2001); formerly, Trustee at St. Edmund Preparatory School in New York City.   168

Judith M. Stockdale

1947

333 W. Wacker Drive

Chicago, IL 60606

  Director/Trustee   1997   Board Member, Land Trust Alliance (since 2013) and U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities (since 2013); formerly, Executive Director (1994-2012), Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation; prior thereto, Executive Director, Great Lakes Protection Fund (1990-1994).   168

Carole E. Stone

1947

333 W. Wacker Drive

Chicago, IL 60606

  Director/Trustee   2007   Former Director, Chicago Board Options Exchange (2006-2017), and C2 Options Exchange, Incorporated (2009-2017); Director, Cboe Global Markets, Inc., formerly, CBOE Holdings, Inc. (since 2010); formerly, Commissioner, New York State Commission on Public Authority Reform (2005-2010).   168

Margaret L. Wolff

1955

333 W. Wacker Drive

Chicago, IL 60606

  Director/Trustee   2016   Formerly, member of the Board of Directors (2013-2017) of Travelers Insurance Company of Canada and The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company (each, a part of Travelers Canada, the Canadian operation of The Travelers Companies, Inc.); formerly, Of Counsel, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP (Mergers & Acquisitions Group) (2005-2014); Member of the Board of Trustees of New York-Presbyterian Hospital (since 2005); Member (since 2004) and Chair (since 2015) of the Board of Trustees of The John A. Hartford Foundation (a philanthropy dedicated to improving the care of older adults); formerly, Member (2005-2015) and Vice Chair (2011-2015) of the Board of Trustees of Mt. Holyoke College.   168

 

108


Name,
Year of Birth
& Address
 

Position(s)
Held with

the Funds

  Year First
Elected or
Appointed (1)
  Principal Occupation(s)
Including other Directorships
During Past 5 Years
  Number of
Portfolios in
Fund Complex
Overseen by
Director/Trustee

Robert L. Young(2)

1963

333 W. Wacker Drive

Chicago, IL 60606

  Director/Trustee   2017   Formerly, Chief Operating Officer and Director, J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. (2010-2016); formerly, President and Principal Executive Officer (2013-2016), and Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (2005-2010), of J.P. Morgan Funds; formerly, Director and various officer positions for J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. (formerly, JPMorgan Funds Management, Inc. and formerly, One Group Administrative Services) and JPMorgan Distribution Services, Inc. (formerly, One Group Dealer Services, Inc.) (1999-2017).   166
       
Interested Director/Trustee:      

Margo L. Cook(3)

1964

333 W. Wacker Drive

Chicago, IL 60606

  Director/Trustee   2016   President (since 2017), formerly, Co-Chief Executive Officer and Co-President (2016-2017), formerly, Senior Executive Vice President of Nuveen Investments, Inc; Executive Vice President (since 2017) of Nuveen, LLC; President, Global Products and Solutions (since 2017), and Co-Chief Executive Officer (since 2015), formerly, Executive Vice President (2013-2015) of Nuveen Securities, LLC; President (since 2017), formerly, Co-President (2016-2017), formerly Senior Executive Vice President (2015-2016) of Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC (Executive Vice President 2011-2015); President (since 2017), Nuveen Alternative Investments, LLC; Chartered Financial Analyst.   168

 

Name,
Year of Birth
& Address
  Position(s)
Held with
the Funds
  Year First
Elected or
Appointed (4)
  Principal Occupation(s)
During Past 5 Years
  Number of
Portfolios in
Fund Complex
Overseen by
Officer
         
Officers of the Funds:        

Greg A. Bottjer

1971

333 W. Wacker Drive

Chicago, IL 60606

  Chief Administrative Officer   2016   Senior (since 2017) Managing Director (since 2011), formerly, Senior Vice President (2007-2010) of Nuveen; Senior (since 2017) Managing Director (since 2016) of Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC; Chartered Financial Analyst.   83

Mark J. Czarniecki

1979

901 Marquette Avenue

Minneapolis, MN 55402

  Vice President and Assistant Secretary   2013   Vice President and Assistant Secretary of Nuveen Securities, LLC (since 2016) and Nuveen Fund Advisors (since 2017); Vice President and Associate General Counsel of Nuveen (since 2013) and Vice President, Assistant Secretary and Associate General Counsel of Nuveen Asset Management (since March 2018).   168

Stephen D. Foy

1954

333 W. Wacker Drive

Chicago, IL 60606

  Vice President and Controller   1998   Managing Director (since 2014), formerly, Senior Vice President (2013-2014) and Vice President (2005-2013) of Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC; Managing Director (since 2016) of Nuveen Securities, LLC; Managing Director (since 2016) of Nuveen Alternative Investments, LLC; Certified Public Accountant.   168

Diana R. Gonzalez

1978

333 West Wacker Drive

Chicago, IL 60606

  Vice President and Assistant Secretary   2017   Vice President and Assistant Secretary of Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC (since 2017); Vice President and Associate General Counsel of Nuveen (since 2017); Associate General Counsel of Jackson National Asset Management (2012-2017).   168

Nathaniel T. Jones

1979

333 W. Wacker Drive

Chicago, IL 60606

  Vice President and Treasurer   2016   Managing Director (since 2017), formerly, Senior Vice President (2016-2017), formerly, Vice President (2011- 2016) of Nuveen; Managing Director of Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC; Chartered Financial Analyst.   168

 

109


Directors/Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)

 

Name,
Year of Birth
& Address
  Position(s)
Held with
the Funds
  Year First
Elected or
Appointed (4)
  Principal Occupation(s)
During Past 5 Years
  Number of
Portfolios in
Fund Complex
Overseen by
Officer

Walter M. Kelly

1970

333 W. Wacker Drive

Chicago, IL 60606

  Chief Compliance Officer and Vice President   2003   Managing Director (since 2017), formerly, Senior Vice President (2008-2017) of Nuveen Investments Holdings, Inc.   168

Tina M. Lazar

1961

333 W. Wacker Drive

Chicago, IL 60606

  Vice President   2002   Managing Director (since 2017), formerly, Senior Vice President (2014-2017) of Nuveen Securities, LLC.   168

Kevin J. McCarthy

1966

333 W. Wacker Drive

Chicago, IL 60606

  Vice President and Assistant Secretary   2007   Senior Managing Director (since 2017) and Secretary and General Counsel (since 2016) of Nuveen Investments, Inc., formerly, Executive Vice President (2016-2017) and Managing Director and Assistant Secretary (2008-2016); Senior Managing Director (since 2017) and Assistant Secretary (since 2008) of Nuveen Securities, LLC, formerly Executive Vice President (2016-2017) and Managing Director (2008-2016); Senior Managing Director (since 2017), Secretary (since 2016) and Co-General Counsel (since 2011) of Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC, formerly, Executive Vice President (2016-2017), Managing Director (2008-2016) and Assistant Secretary (2007-2016); Senior Managing Director (since 2017), Secretary (since 2016) and Associate General Counsel (since 2011) of Nuveen Asset Management, LLC, formerly Executive Vice President (2016-2017) and Managing Director and Assistant Secretary (2011-2016); Senior Managing Director (since 2017) and Secretary (since 2016) of Nuveen Investments Advisers, LLC, formerly Executive Vice President (2016-2017); Vice President (since 2007) and Secretary (since 2016), formerly, Assistant Secretary, of NWQ Investment Management Company, LLC, Symphony Asset Management, LLC, Santa Barbara Asset Management, LLC and Winslow Capital Management, LLC (since 2010). Senior Managing Director (since 2017) and Secretary (since 2016) of Nuveen Alternative Investments, LLC.   168

Christopher M. Rohrbacher

1971

333 W. Wacker Drive

Chicago, IL 60606

  Vice President and Secretary   2008   Managing Director (since 2017) and Assistant Secretary of Nuveen Securities, LLC; Managing Director (since 2017), formerly, Senior Vice President (2016-2017) and Assistant Secretary (since 2016) of Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC.   168

William A. Siffermann

1975

333 W. Wacker Drive

Chicago, IL 60606

  Vice President   2017   Managing Director (since 2017), formerly Senior Vice President (2016-2017) and Vice President (2011-2016) of Nuveen.   168

Joel T. Slager

1978

333 W. Wacker Drive

Chicago, IL 60606

  Vice President and Assistant Secretary   2013   Fund Tax Director for Nuveen Funds (since 2013); previously, Vice President of Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Inc., Assistant Treasurer of the Morgan Stanley Funds (from 2010 to 2013).   168

 

110


Name,
Year of Birth
& Address
  Position(s)
Held with
the Funds
  Year First
Elected or
Appointed (4)
  Principal Occupation(s)
During Past 5 Years
  Number of
Portfolios in
Fund Complex
Overseen by
Officer

Gifford R. Zimmerman

1956

333 W. Wacker Drive

Chicago, IL 60606

  Vice President and Assistant Secretary   1988   Managing Director (since 2002), and Assistant Secretary of Nuveen Securities, LLC; Managing Director (since 2004) and Assistant Secretary (since 1994) of Nuveen Investments, Inc.; Managing Director (since 2002), Assistant Secretary (since 1997) and Co-General Counsel (since 2011) of Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC; Managing Director, Assistant Secretary and Associate General Counsel of Nuveen Asset Management, LLC (since 2011); Vice President (since 2017), formerly, Managing Director (2003-2017) and Assistant Secretary (since 2003) of Symphony Asset Management LLC ; Managing Director and Assistant Secretary (since 2002) of Nuveen Investments Advisers, LLC; Vice President and Assistant Secretary of NWQ Investment Management Company, LLC (since 2002), Santa Barbara Asset Management, LLC (since 2006) and of Winslow Capital Management, LLC, (since 2010); Chartered Financial Analyst.   168

 

(1)

Directors/Trustees serve an indefinite term until his/her successor is elected or appointed. The year first elected or appointed represents the year in which the director/trustee was first elected or appointed to any fund in the Nuveen Fund Complex.

(2)

On May 25, 2017, Mr. Young was appointed as a Board Member, effective July 1, 2017. He is a Board Member of each of the Nuveen Funds, except Nuveen Diversified Dividend and Income Fund and Nuveen Real Estate Income Fund.

(3)

“Interested person” of the Trust, as defined in the 1940 Act, by reason of her position with Nuveen, LLC. and certain of its subsidiaries.

(4)

Officers serve one year terms through August of each year. The year first elected or appointed represents the year in which the officer was first elected or appointed to any fund in the Nuveen Fund Complex.

 

111


LOGO

 

Nuveen:

Serving Investors for Generations

Since 1898, financial advisors and their clients have relied on Nuveen to provide dependable investment solutions through continued adherence to proven, long-term investing principles. Today, we offer a range of high quality solutions designed to be integral components of a well-diversified core portfolio.

Focused on meeting investor needs.

Nuveen is the investment manager of TIAA. We have grown into one of the world’s premier global asset managers, with specialist knowledge across all major asset classes and particular strength in solutions that provide income for investors and that draw on our expertise in alternatives and responsible investing. Nuveen is driven not only by the independent investment processes across the firm, but also the insights, risk management, analytics and other tools and resources that a truly world-class platform provides. As a global asset manager, our mission is to work in partnership with our clients to create solutions which help them secure their financial future.

Find out how we can help you.

To learn more about how the products and services of Nuveen may be able to help you meet your financial goals, talk to your financial advisor, or call us at (800) 257-8787. Please read the information provided carefully before you invest. Investors should consider the investment objective and policies, risk considerations, charges and expenses of any investment carefully. Where applicable, be sure to obtain a prospectus, which contains this and other relevant information. To obtain a prospectus, please contact your securities representative or Nuveen, 333 W. Wacker Dr., Chicago, IL 60606. Please read the prospectus carefully before you invest or send money.

Learn more about Nuveen Funds at: www.nuveen.com/mutual-funds

 

Nuveen Securities, LLC, member FINRA and SIPC  | 
333 West Wacker Drive  | Chicago, IL 60606  | www.nuveen.com
  MAN-FREGIF-1218D        741797-INV-Y-02/19


ITEM 2. CODE OF ETHICS.

As of the end of the period covered by this report, the registrant has adopted a code of ethics that applies to the registrant’s principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer or controller, or persons performing similar functions. There were no amendments to or waivers from the code during the period covered by this report. The registrant has posted the code of ethics on its website at www.nuveen.com/MutualFunds/ShareholderResources/FundGovernance.aspx. (To view the code, click on Code of Conduct.)

ITEM 3. AUDIT COMMITTEE FINANCIAL EXPERT.

As of the end of the period covered by this report, the registrant’s Board of Directors or Trustees (“Board”) determined that the registrant has at least one “audit committee financial expert” (as defined in Item 3 of Form N-CSR) serving on its Audit Committee. The registrant’s audit committee financial experts are Carole E. Stone, Jack B. Evans and William C. Hunter, who are “independent” for purposes of Item 3 of Form N-CSR.

Ms. Stone served for five years as Director of the New York State Division of the Budget. As part of her role as Director, Ms. Stone was actively involved in overseeing the development of the State’s operating, local assistance and capital budgets, its financial plan and related documents; overseeing the development of the State’s bond-related disclosure documents and certifying that they fairly presented the State’s financial position; reviewing audits of various State and local agencies and programs; and coordinating the State’s system of internal audit and control. Prior to serving as Director, Ms. Stone worked as a budget analyst/examiner with increasing levels of responsibility over a 30 year period, including approximately five years as Deputy Budget Director. Ms. Stone has also served as Chair of the New York State Racing Association Oversight Board, as Chair of the Public Authorities Control Board, as a Commissioner on the New York State Commission on Public Authority Reform and as a member of the Boards of Directors of several New York State public authorities. These positions have involved overseeing operations and finances of certain entities and assessing the adequacy of project/entity financing and financial reporting. Currently, Ms. Stone is on the Board of Directors of CBOE Holdings, Inc., of the Chicago Board Options Exchange, and of C2 Options Exchange. Ms. Stone’s position on the boards of these entities and as a member of both CBOE Holdings’ Audit Committee and its Finance Committee has involved, among other things, the oversight of audits, audit plans and preparation of financial statements.

Mr. Evans was formerly President and Chief Operating Officer of SCI Financial Group, Inc., a full service registered broker-dealer and registered investment adviser (“SCI”). As part of his role as President and Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Evans actively supervised the Chief Financial Officer (the “CFO”) and actively supervised the CFO’s preparation of financial statements and other filings with various regulatory authorities. In such capacity, Mr. Evans was actively involved in the preparation of SCI’s financial statements and the resolution of issues raised in connection therewith. Mr. Evans has also served on the audit committee of various reporting companies. At such companies, Mr. Evans was involved in the oversight of audits, audit plans, and the preparation of financial statements. Mr. Evans also formerly chaired the audit committee of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

Mr. Hunter was formerly a Senior Vice President at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. As part of his role as Senior Vice President, Mr. Hunter was the senior officer responsible for all operations of each of the Economic Research, Statistics, and Community and Consumer Affairs units at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. In such capacity, Mr. Hunter oversaw the subunits of the Statistics and Community and Consumer Affairs divisions responsible for the analysis and evaluation of bank and bank holding company financial statements and financial filings. Prior to serving as Senior Vice President at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Mr. Hunter was the Vice President of the Financial Markets unit at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta where he supervised financial staff and bank holding company analysts who analyzed and evaluated bank and bank holding company financial statements. Mr. Hunter also currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Xerox Corporation and Wellmark, Inc. as well as on the Audit Committees of such Boards. As an Audit Committee member, Mr. Hunter’s responsibilities include, among other things, reviewing financial statements, internal audits and internal controls over financial reporting. Mr. Hunter also formerly was a Professor of Finance at the University of Connecticut School of Business and has authored numerous scholarly articles on the topics of finance, accounting and economics.

ITEM 4. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES.

The following tables show the amount of fees that Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP, the Funds’ auditor, billed to the Funds’ during the Funds’ last two full fiscal years. The Audit Committee approved in advance all audit services and non-audit services that Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP, provided to the Funds, except for those non-audit services that were subject to the pre-approval exception under Rule 2-01 of Regulation S-X (the “pre-approval exception”). The preapproval exception for services provided directly to the Funds waives the pre-approval requirement for services other than audit, review or attest services if: (A) the aggregate amount of all such services provided constitutes no more than 5% of the total amount of revenues paid by the Funds during the fiscal year in which the services are provided; (B) the Funds did not recognize the services as non-audit services at the time of the engagement; and (C) the services are promptly brought to the Audit Committee’s attention, and the Committee (or its delegate) approves the services before the audit is completed.

The Audit Committee has delegated certain pre-approval responsibilities to its Chairman (or, in his absence, any other member of the Audit Committee).

 

Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2018

   Audit Fees Billed
to Funds 1
     Audit-Related Fees
Billed to Funds 2
     Tax Fees Billed
to Funds 3
     All Other Fees
Billed to Funds 4
 

Fund Name

           

Nuveen Global Infrastructure Fund

     46,663        0        21,943        0  

Nuveen Real Estate Securities Fund

     58,452        0        5,683        0  

Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund

     52,903        0        3,283        0  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total

   $ 158,018      $ 0      $ 30,909      $ 0  

 

1    

“Audit Fees” are the aggregate fees billed for professional services for the audit of the Fund’s annual financial statements and services provided in connection with statutory and regulatory filings or engagements.

2   

“Audit-Related Fees” are the aggregate fees billed for assurance and related services reasonably related to the performance of the audit or review of financial statements that are not reported under “Audit Fees”. These fees include offerings related to the Fund’s common shares and leverage.

3   

“Tax Fees” are the aggregate fees billed for professional services for tax advice, tax compliance, and tax planning. These fees include: all global withholding tax services; excise and state tax reviews; capital gain, tax equalization and taxable basis calculations performed by the principal accountant.

4   

“All Other Fees” are the aggregate fees billed for products and services other than “Audit Fees”, “Audit-Related Fees” and “Tax Fees”. These fees represent all “Agreed-Upon Procedures” engagements pertaining to the Fund’s use of leverage.

 

     Percentage Approved Pursuant to Pre-approval Exception  
     Audit Fees Billed
to Funds
    Audit-Related Fees
Billed to Funds
    Tax Fees
Billed to Funds
    All Other Fees
Billed to Funds
 

Fund Name

        

Nuveen Global Infrastructure Fund

     0     0     0     0

Nuveen Real Estate Securities Fund

     0     0     0     0

Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund

     0     0     0     0

Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2017

   Audit Fees Billed
to Funds 1
    Audit-Related Fees
Billed to Funds 2
    Tax Fees
Billed to Funds 3
    All Other Fees
Billed to Funds 4
 

Fund Name

        

Nuveen Global Infrastructure Fund

     45,460       0       17,298       0  

Nuveen Real Estate Securities Fund

     62,728       0       4,768       0  

Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund

     49,177       0       4,312       0  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total

   $ 157,365     $ 0     $ 26,378     $ 0  

 

1    

“Audit Fees” are the aggregate fees billed for professional services for the audit of the Fund’s annual financial statements and services provided in connection with statutory and regulatory filings or engagements.

2   

“Audit-Related Fees” are the aggregate fees billed for assurance and related services reasonably related to the performance of the audit or review of financial statements that are not reported under “Audit Fees”. These fees include offerings related to the Fund’s common shares and leverage.

3   

“Tax Fees” are the aggregate fees billed for professional services for tax advice, tax compliance, and tax planning. These fees include: all global withholding tax services; excise and state tax reviews; capital gain, tax equalization and taxable basis calculations performed by the principal accountant.

4   

“All Other Fees” are the aggregate fees billed for products and services other than “Audit Fees”, “Audit-Related Fees” and “Tax Fees”. These fees represent all “Agreed-Upon Procedures” engagements pertaining to the Fund’s use of leverage.

 

     Percentage Approved Pursuant to Pre-approval Exception  
     Audit Fees Billed
to Funds
    Audit-Related Fees
Billed to Funds
    Tax Fees
Billed to Funds
    All Other Fees
Billed to Funds
 

Fund Name

        

Nuveen Global Infrastructure Fund

     0     0     0     0

Nuveen Real Estate Securities Fund

     0     0     0     0

Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund

     0     0     0     0

 

Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2018

   Audit-Related Fees
Billed to Adviser  and
Affiliated Fund
Service Providers
    Tax Fees Billed to
Adviser and
Affiliated Fund
Service Providers
    All Other Fees
Billed to Adviser
and Affiliated Fund
Service Providers
 

Nuveen Investment Funds, Inc.

   $  0     $  0     $  0  
     Percentage Approved Pursuant to Pre-approval Exception  
     Audit-Related Fees
Billed to Adviser and
Affiliated Fund
Service Providers
    Tax Fees Billed to
Adviser and
Affiliated Fund
Service Providers
    All Other Fees
Billed to Adviser
and Affiliated Fund
Service Providers
 
     0     0     0

Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2017

   Audit-Related Fees
Billed to Adviser and
Affiliated Fund
Service Providers
    Tax Fees Billed to
Adviser and
Affiliated Fund
Service Providers
    All Other Fees
Billed to Adviser
and Affiliated Fund
Service Providers
 

Nuveen Investment Funds, Inc.

   $ 0     $ 0     $ 0  
     Percentage Approved Pursuant to Pre-approval Exception  
     Audit-Related Fees
Billed to Adviser and
Affiliated Fund
Service Providers
    Tax Fees Billed to
Adviser and
Affiliated Fund
Service Providers
    All Other Fees
Billed to Adviser
and Affiliated Fund
Service Providers
 
     0     0     0

 

Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2018

   Total Non-Audit Fees
Billed to Trust
     Total Non-Audit Fees
billed to Adviser and
Affiliated Fund Service
Providers (engagements
related directly to the
operations and financial
reporting of the Trust)
     Total Non-Audit Fees
billed to Adviser and
Affiliated Fund Service
Providers (all other
engagements)
     Total  

Fund Name

           

Nuveen Global Infrastructure Fund

     21,943        0        0        21,943  

Nuveen Real Estate Securities Fund

     5,683        0        0        5,683  

Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund

     3,283        0        0        3,283  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total

   $ 30,909      $ 0      $ 0      $ 30,909  

“Non-Audit Fees billed to Fund” for both fiscal year ends represent “Tax Fees” and “All Other Fees” billed to Fund in their respective amounts from the previous table.

Less than 50 percent of the hours expended on the principal accountant’s engagement to audit the registrant’s financial statements for the most recent fiscal year were attributed to work performed by persons other than the principal accountant’s full-time, permanent employees.

 

Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2017

   Total Non-Audit Fees
Billed to Trust
     Total Non-Audit Fees
billed to Adviser and
Affiliated Fund Service
Providers (engagements
related directly to the
operations and financial
reporting of the Trust)
     Total Non-Audit Fees
billed to Adviser and
Affiliated Fund Service
Providers (all other
engagements)
     Total  

Fund Name

           

Nuveen Global Infrastructure Fund

     17,298        0        0        17,298  

Nuveen Real Estate Securities Fund

     4,768        0        0        4,768  

Nuveen Real Asset Income Fund

     4,312        0        0        4,312  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total

   $ 26,378      $ 0      $ 0      $ 26,378  

“Non-Audit Fees billed to Fund” for both fiscal year ends represent “Tax Fees” and “All Other Fees” billed to Fund in their respective amounts from the previous table.

Audit Committee Pre-Approval Policies and Procedures. Generally, the Audit Committee must approve (i) all non-audit services to be performed for the Funds by the Funds’ independent accountant and (ii) all audit and non-audit services to be performed by the Funds’ independent accountant for the Affiliated Fund Service Providers with respect to the operations and financial reporting of the Funds. Regarding tax and research projects conducted by the independent accountant for the Funds and Affiliated Fund Service Providers (with respect to operations and financial reports of the Trust), such engagements will be (i) pre-approved by the Audit Committee if they are expected to be for amounts greater than $10,000; (ii) reported to the Audit Committee Chairman for his verbal approval prior to engagement if they are expected to be for amounts under $10,000 but greater than $5,000; and (iii) reported to the Audit Committee at the next Audit Committee meeting if they are expected to be for an amount under $5,000.

ITEM 5. AUDIT COMMITTEE OF LISTED REGISTRANTS.

Not applicable to this registrant.

ITEM 6. SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS.

 

a)   See Portfolio of Investments in Item 1.

 

b)   Not applicable.

ITEM 7. DISCLOSURE OF PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR CLOSED-END

MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES.

Not applicable to this registrant.

ITEM 8. PORTFOLIO MANAGERS OF CLOSED-END MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES.

Not applicable to this registrant.

ITEM 9. PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES BY CLOSED-END MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANY AND AFFILIATED PURCHASERS.

Not applicable to this registrant.

ITEM 10. SUBMISSION OF MATTERS TO A VOTE OF SECURITY HOLDERS.

There have been no material changes to the procedures by which shareholders may recommend nominees to the registrant’s Board of Trustees implemented after the registrant last provided disclosure in response to this Item.

ITEM 11. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES.

 

  (a)  

The registrant’s principal executive and principal financial officers, or persons performing similar functions, have concluded that the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 30a-3(c) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”) (17 CFR 270.30a-3(c))) are effective, as of a date within 90 days of the filing date of this report that includes the disclosure required by this paragraph, based on their evaluation of the controls and procedures required by Rule 30a-3(b) under the 1940 Act (17 CFR 270.30a-3(b)) and Rules 13a-15(b) or 15d-15(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) (17 CFR 240.13a-15(b) or 240.15d-15(b)).

 

  (b)  

There were no changes in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 30a-3(d) under the 1940 Act (17 CFR 270.30a-3(d)) that occurred during the period covered by this report that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting.

ITEM 12. DISCLOSURE OF SECURITIES LENDING ACTIVITIES FOR CLOSED-END MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES.

Not applicable.

ITEM 13. EXHIBITS.

File the exhibits listed below as part of this Form.

 

(a)(1)   Any code of ethics, or amendment thereto, that is the subject of the disclosure required by Item 2, to the extent that the registrant intends to satisfy the Item 2 requirements through filing of an exhibit: Not applicable because the code is posted on registrant’s website at www.nuveen.com/MutualFunds/ShareholderResources/FundGovernance.aspx and there were no amendments during the period covered by this report. (To view the code, click on Code of Conduct.)
(a)(2)   A separate certification for each principal executive officer and principal financial officer of the registrant as required by Rule 30a-2(a) under the 1940 Act (17 CFR 270.30a-2(a)) in the exact form set forth below: See EX-99.CERT attached hereto.
(a)(3)   Any written solicitation to purchase securities under Rule 23c-1 under the 1940 Act (17 CFR 270.23c-1) sent or given during the period covered by the report by or on behalf of the registrant to 10 or more persons: Not applicable to this registrant.
(a)(4)   Change in the registrant’s independent public accountant. Not applicable.
(b)   If the report is filed under Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, provide the certifications required by Rule 30a-2(b) under the 1940 Act (17 CFR 270.30a-2(b)), Rule 13a-14(b) or Rule 15d-14(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13a-14(b) or 240.15d-14(b)), and Section 1350 of Chapter 63 of Title 18 of the United States Code (18 U.S.C. 1350) as an Exhibit. A certification furnished pursuant to this paragraph will not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act (15 U.S.C. 78r), or otherwise subject to the liability of that section. Such certification will not be deemed to be incorporated by reference into any filing under the Securities Act of 1933 or the Exchange Act, except to the extent that the registration specifically incorporates it by reference: See EX-99.906 CERT attached hereto.


SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

(Registrant) Nuveen Investment Funds, Inc.

 

By (Signature and Title)    /s/ Christopher M. Rohrbacher
   Christopher M. Rohrbacher
   Vice President and Secretary

Date: March 8, 2019

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

 

By (Signature and Title)    /s/ Greg A. Bottjer
   Greg A. Bottjer
   Chief Administrative Officer
   (principal executive officer)

Date: March 8, 2019

 

By (Signature and Title)    /s/ Stephen D. Foy
   Stephen D. Foy
   Vice President and Controller
   (principal financial officer)

Date: March 8, 2019