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 811-07619
Nuveen Investment Trust
(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)
Nuveen Investments
333 West Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL 60606
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code)
Kevin J. McCarthy
Nuveen Investments
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: September 30
Date of reporting period: September 30, 2015
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.
Mutual Funds |
Nuveen Non-Traditional
Strategies Fund |
| Annual Report September 30, 2015 |
Share Class / Ticker Symbol | ||||||||||||
Fund Name | Class A | Class C | Class I | |||||||||
| ||||||||||||
Nuveen Global Tactical Opportunities Plus Fund | NTPAX | NTPCX | NTPIX |
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
Life is Complex. | ||||||||||||
Nuveen makes things e-simple. | ||||||||||||
It only takes a minute to sign up for e-Reports. Once enrolled, you’ll receive an e-mail as soon as your Nuveen Fund information is ready. No more waiting for delivery by regular mail. Just click on the link within the e-mail to see the report and save it on your computer if you wish. | ||||||||||||
Free e-Reports right to your e-mail! | ||||||||||||
www.investordelivery.com If you receive your Nuveen Fund distributions and statements from your | ||||||||||||
or | www.nuveen.com/accountaccess If you receive your Nuveen Fund distributions and statements directly from Nuveen.
Must be preceded by or accompanied by a prospectus.
NOT FDIC INSURED MAY LOSE VALUE | |||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
of Contents
4 | ||||
5 | ||||
9 | ||||
11 | ||||
14 | ||||
15 | ||||
16 | ||||
17 | ||||
20 | ||||
21 | ||||
22 | ||||
24 | ||||
26 | ||||
36 | ||||
37 | ||||
38 | ||||
44 |
Nuveen Investments | 3 |
to Shareholders
Dear Shareholders,
For better or for worse, the financial markets have spent the past year waiting for the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) to end its accommodative monetary policy. The policy has propped up stock and bond markets since the Great Recession, but the question remains: how will markets behave without its influence? This uncertainty has been a considerable source of volatility for stock and bond prices lately, despite the Fed carefully conveying its intention to raise rates slowly and only when the economy shows evidence of readiness.
There may be at least one rate hike before the end of 2015. After all, the U.S. has reached “full employment” by the Fed’s standards and growth has resumed – albeit unevenly. But the picture remains somewhat uncertain. Inflation has remained stubbornly low, most recently weighed down by an unexpectedly sharp decline in commodity prices since mid-2014. With the Fed poised to tighten and foreign central banks easing, the U.S. dollar has risen against other currencies, which has weighed on corporate earnings and further contributed to commodity price weakness. U.S. consumers have benefited from an improved labor market and lower prices at the gas pump, but the overall pace of economic expansion has been lackluster.
Nevertheless, the global recovery continues to be led by the United States. Policy makers around the world are deploying their available tools to try to bolster Europe and Japan’s fragile growth, and manage China’s slowdown. Contagion fears ebb and flow with the headlines about Greece and China. Greece reluctantly agreed to a third bailout package from the European Union in July and China’s central bank and government intervened aggressively to try to stem the sell-off in their stock prices. But persistent structural problems in these economies will continue to garner market attention.
Wall Street is fond of saying “markets don’t like uncertainty,” and asset prices are likely to continue to churn in the current macro environment. In times like these, you can look to a professional investment manager with the experience and discipline to maintain the proper perspective on short-term events. And if the daily headlines do concern you, I encourage you to reach out to your financial advisor. Your financial advisor can help you evaluate your investment strategies in light of current events, your time horizon 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,
William J. Schneider
Chairman of the Board
November 23, 2015
4 | Nuveen Investments |
Comments
Nuveen Global Tactical Opportunities Plus Fund
The Nuveen Global Tactical Opportunities Plus Fund features portfolio management by Nuveen Asset Management, LLC (NAM), an affiliate of Nuveen Investments, Inc. During this reporting period, the team of managers included Keith B. Hembre, CFA, Derek B. Bloom, CFA, and David A. Friar.
Here the portfolio managers discuss economic and market conditions, key investment strategies and the performance of the Fund for the twelve-month reporting period ended September 30, 2015.
What were the general market conditions and trends during the twelve-month reporting period ended September 30, 2015?
During this reporting period, the U.S. economy continued to expand at a moderate pace. The Federal Reserve (Fed) maintained efforts to bolster growth and promote progress toward its mandates of maximum employment and price stability by holding the benchmark fed funds rate at the record low level of zero to 0.25% that it established in December 2008. At its October 2014 meeting, the Fed announced that it would end its bond-buying stimulus program as of November 1, 2014, after tapering its monthly asset purchases of mortgage-backed and longer-term Treasury securities from the original $85 billion per month to $15 billion per month over the course of seven consecutive meetings (December 2013 through September 2014). In making the announcement, the Fed cited substantial improvement in the labor market as well as sufficient underlying strength in the broader economy to support ongoing progress toward maximum employment in a context of price stability. The Fed also reiterated that it would continue to look at a wide range of factors, including labor market conditions, indicators of inflationary pressures and readings on financial developments, in determining future actions. Additionally, the Fed stated that it would likely maintain the current target range for the fed funds rate for a considerable time, especially if projected inflation continued to run below the Fed’s 2% longer run goal. However, if economic data shows faster progress, the Fed indicated that it could raise the fed funds rate sooner than expected.
The Fed changed its language slightly in December, indicating it would be “patient” in normalizing monetary policy. This shift helped ease investors’ worries that the Fed might raise rates too soon. However, as employment data released early in 2015 continued to look strong, anticipation began building that the Fed could raise its main policy rate as soon as June. As widely expected, after its March meeting, the Fed eliminated “patient” from its statement, but also highlighted the policymakers’ less optimistic view of the economy’s overall health as well as downgraded their inflation projections. The Fed’s April meeting seemed to further signal that a June rate hike was off the table. While the Fed attributed the first quarter’s economic weakness to temporary factors, the meeting minutes from April revealed that many Committee members believed the economic data available in June would be insufficient to meet the Fed’s criteria for initiating a rate increase. The June meeting bore out that presumption and the Fed decided to keep the target rate near zero. But the Committee also continued to telegraph the likelihood of at least one rate increase in 2015, which many analysts forecasted for September. During the September 2015 meeting, the Fed decided to keep the federal funds rate near zero despite broad speculation that it would increase rates. The Committee said it will keep the rate near zero until the economy has seen further improvement toward reaching the Fed’s goals of maximum employment and inflation approaching 2%. This assessment will take into account a wide range of information, including measures of labor market conditions, indicators of inflation pressures and inflation expectations, and readings on financial and international developments. At the Fed’s October 2015 meeting (subsequent to the close of this reporting period), the Committee again held steady, while opening the door for a potential December rate hike.
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 Fund disclaims any obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or views expressed herein.
Refer to the Glossary of Terms Used in this Report for further definition of the terms used within this section.
Nuveen Investments | 5 |
Portfolio Managers’ Comments (continued)
The U.S. economy proved to be fairly resilient compared to other economies around the globe, boosted by an improving job market, declining gas prices and low mortgage rates. According to the government’s preliminary gross domestic product (GDP) estimate, the U.S. economy increased at a 1.5% annualized rate in the third quarter of 2015, as measured by GDP, compared with increases of 3.9% in the second quarter, 0.6% in the first quarter of 2015 and 2.2% in the fourth quarter 2014. The deceleration in real GDP in the third quarter primarily reflected a downturn in private inventory investment and decelerations in exports, in nonresidential fixed investment, in state and local government spending and in residential fixed investment that were partly offset by a deceleration in imports. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) decreased 0.2% essentially unchanged year-over-year as of September 2015. The core CPI (which excludes food and energy) increased 1.9% during the same period, below the Fed’s unofficial longer term inflation objective of 2.0%. As of September 2015, the U.S. unemployment rate was 5.1%, a figure that is also considered “full employment” by some Fed officials. The housing market continued to post consistent gains as of its most recent reading for August 2015. The average home price in the S&P/Case-Shiller Index of 20 major metropolitan areas rose 5.1% for the twelve months ended August 2015 (most recent data available at the time this report was prepared).
Meanwhile, a number of issues weighed on economies across the globe including geopolitical turmoil, weak growth overseas and sharply falling oil prices, which were caused by the faltering global economy and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPECs) refusal to cede market share. Falling oil prices propelled significant appreciation in the U.S. dollar, which hit a multi-year high versus a basket of other major currencies, supported by the confident Fed and weaker data coming out of Europe, Japan and China. In an effort to improve their economic growth, countries across the globe maintained extraordinarily accommodative monetary policies. The European Central Bank (ECB) launched a massive quantitative easing program via a government bond-buying program that pumped more than 1 trillion euros into the weak eurozone economy, while other central banks around the world enacted more than 30 policy easing actions during the first few months of 2015.
Later in the reporting period, political drama dominated the news including the escalating tensions over Greece’s debt issues and aggressive policy intervention by the Chinese government to deflate the country’s stock market bubble. In late June, Greece took front and center in world market headlines with defaults on its payments to the International Monetary Fund and threats of a potential exit from the European Monetary Union (EMU). However, by mid-July, Greece had agreed to austerity measures in return for more bailout funds. Meanwhile, after skyrocketing for nearly a year, China’s stock market suddenly shifted gears in June and embarked on a massive sell-off that quickly spilled over to the rest of the world. Investors pulled money out of Chinese stocks en masse despite efforts by China’s government to stem the tide, including further rate cuts, a 1 trillion yuan bond for infrastructure build-out, new regulations surrounding equity purchases and redemptions and the unexpected devaluation of the yuan currency in mid-August. A number of factors helped fuel the sell-off, including weak Chinese economic data and falling commodity prices. By August 2015, oil prices had fallen to their lowest levels of the reporting period with prices for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil dipping below the $40/barrel level for a short time. Following the drop, the price of WTI crude oil edged up slightly and ended the reporting period around $45/barrel.
With this backdrop, global volatility spiked across all asset classes during the reporting period. Oil and gas shares, other energy-related stocks and petrocurrencies were hit hard around the world due to dramatically falling commodity prices. The U.S. stock market sold off in October 2014, then surged back before experiencing a 10% correction in August 2015, its first in four years. Earlier in the reporting period, news of the widespread monetary policy moves at the beginning of 2015 were well received; however, toward the end of the reporting period, renewed fears over China and uncertainty about the Fed’s next move hit global markets, spurring the massive global sell-off. The S&P 500® Index posted a slightly negative return of -0.61% for the reporting period. International markets were much weaker and ended the period with returns significantly in the red. The MSCI EAFE Index experienced a steep decline in August 2015 and ended with a -8.27% return for the reporting period. Emerging market stocks experienced even greater headwinds from the strong U.S. dollar, weak Chinese data and Fed uncertainty, significantly underperforming developed market peers. As measured by the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, this segment ended the reporting period down 18.98%.
Likewise, U.S. interest rates were volatile in response to changes in monetary policy and global capital flows, with yields on the benchmark 10-year Treasury fluctuating in a broad range during the reporting period with no sustained trend. Yields moved higher in mid-2014, then declined significantly as concerns about global economic weakness captured the spotlight. Yields hit a low point by early February before rising again into early July, then falling once again through the end of the reporting period. Overall for the reporting period, yields on Treasuries with maturities of three years and longer were down, while shorter term yields were modestly higher.
6 | Nuveen Investments |
The environment during the reporting period proved to be challenging for the riskier areas of the bond market with corporate bonds, particularly in the high yield arena, falling short of Treasuries and the broader bond market. The high yield segment was down approximately 3.5% as bonds from energy and commodity-related issuers exhibited significant volatility due to the sharp drop in oil prices and uncertainty about base commodity prices. Meanwhile, U.S. Treasuries, particularly longer maturity bonds, were the strongest performing fixed income asset class by a substantial margin over the reporting period. The broader bond market, as measured by the Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, posted a return of 2.94% for the reporting period.
How did the Fund perform during the twelve-month reporting period ended September 30, 2015?
The table in the Fund Performance and Expense Ratios section of this report provides total return performance information for the Fund for the one-year and since inception periods ended September 30, 2015. The Fund’s Class A Shares at net asset value (NAV) underperformed the BofA/Merrill Lynch 3-Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index, but performed in line with the Lipper classification average over the twelve-month period. Shareholders should note that the performance of the Lipper classification represents the overall average of returns for funds that invest in a wide range of asset classes, making direct comparisons less meaningful.
What strategies were used to manage the Fund and how did these strategies influence performance for the twelve-month reporting period ended September 30, 2015?
The Fund is an absolute return product designed to generate returns through tactical asset allocation positions that seeks to outperform the BofA/Merrill Lynch 3-Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index by 750 basis points on an annualized basis before the deduction of fees and expenses over a rolling three-year time period. To accomplish the Fund’s goal, we are able to invest in a variety of asset classes, long or short, throughout the world including alternative asset classes, such as currencies and commodities, and investment tools such as the VIX (Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) Volatility Index) to take advantage of market opportunities, to further diversify the Fund or as part of our volatility management strategies. We focus on generating returns in the portfolio in three ways: income oriented positions, market directional positions and long and short relative value positions (spread trades) that produce returns through differential performance. The Fund may gain exposure to its asset classes by: investing in derivative instruments and exchange-traded funds (ETFs); creating custom baskets of securities; and investing directly in U.S. Treasury obligations, non-U.S. government obligations that have an investment grade rating from at least one rating agency and money market funds.
During this twelve-month reporting period, global asset returns were driven primarily by Fed rate hike fears and increased uncertainty regarding the economy and equity markets in China. While the S&P 500® Index was modestly negative during this period, other areas such as commodities, high yield fixed income, and equities in emerging markets and the Europe, Australasia and Far East (EAFE) Index countries were down significantly. Commodities, in particular, continued to plunge as the outlook for global growth deteriorated.
Market conditions were challenging during this reporting period and the Fund’s performance was negative. The Fund maintained a defensive positioning to broad market exposure throughout the reporting period and focused on return generation from long/short positioning and other selective exposures. This defensive posturing proved to be beneficial in August 2015 when markets fell significantly across the globe. Global macro strategies in general have struggled to generate positive returns in this market environment. In addition, the correlation of the Fund’s returns relative to that of its competitors continues to remain low.
Fund performance began to gather momentum toward the end of the reporting period, primarily from our defensive positioning. Overall, performance benefited during the reporting period from a long position in the U.S. dollar, a short position in emerging market equities and a relative spread trade consisting of long Australian bonds and short German bunds.
On the other hand, energy and energy-related securities as well as a long international equities/short domestic equities trade were the biggest detractors from performance during the reporting period. Exposure to energy included a modest allocation to USO (Oil ETF) and peso-denominated Mexican bonds. Although the yields on the Mexican bonds edged lower, it was the Mexican peso that weakened materially. Fortunately, the Fund maintained a partial hedge on the Mexican peso that offset a significant portion of the underperformance. Additionally, a small allocation in December to USO proved to be too early, however, we were able to take advantage of extremely high levels of volatility in oil to sell options at elevated prices. This worked to partially hedge the Fund’s energy exposure and mitigate downside risk. We continue to hold modest allocations to energy in tandem with an option selling strategy to take advantage of the extremely high volatility environment in energy.
Nuveen Investments | 7 |
Portfolio Managers’ Comments (continued)
We believe broad-based market opportunities are limited as of the end of the reporting period. Most asset classes are very expensive, offer limited near-term positive return potential and are subject to significant downside risk. Some segments remain reasonably attractive, such as high yield municipal bonds, mortgage real estate investment trusts (REITs), Mexican bonds and longer dated Australian Treasury futures (FX hedged). Therefore, we are maintaining a moderate degree of long positioning in these sectors. Although there may be volatility in the short term, we believe the income generated from these positions should be high enough to compensate for fluctuations in price.
In other segments of the market, we believe directional exposure offers a relatively poor tactical risk and reward tradeoff. Therefore, the Fund is positioned to benefit from either relative performance differentials across market segments or from corrective price movements. International equities relative to U.S. equities are a primary example of this positioning in the portfolio. We are structured to benefit from a narrowing of the spread between U.S. Treasuries and German bunds. This spread is near the widest on record and our view is that further widening is unlikely. We believe the same is true for Australian Treasury futures. We have positioned the Fund to benefit from corrective moves in domestic equities as earnings have contracted and the Fed contemplates monetary tightening.
We continue to hold a modest long U.S. dollar position in excess of the amount needed to hedge foreign currency exposure elsewhere in the portfolio. While our view on the U.S. dollar is for further strength, current levels suggest a more modest allocation.
Volatility premiums in some segments of the market are attractive and will likely remain elevated throughout the year. Writing options to harvest these premiums has become a more significant component of the Fund, particularly in the energy space, select segments of the equity market and for long-term Treasury exposure. By selectively writing calls or puts on a diverse set of ETFs, we believe we can enhance the overall performance of the Fund on a monthly basis while limiting risk. This will be a key element of achieving the Fund’s return objectives in the current environment, given the likely limited return opportunities from long-only exposures.
Throughout the reporting period, we continued to use equity, interest rate and currency futures contracts, which were used to manage country and style exposures as well as implement various absolute return, tactical market and hedging strategies in the Fund. Overall these futures contracts were a contributor to performance during the period. We also utilized equity put and call options to generate returns and manage the Fund. These put and call options were used to implement views on the direction of implied market volatility as well as hedge against a decline or increase in the market, respectively. Overall, these options were a detractor from performance during the reporting period.
8 | Nuveen Investments |
Nuveen Global Tactical Opportunities Plus Fund
Mutual fund investing involves risk; principal loss is possible. There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve its investment objective and the portfolio managers’ asset allocation decisions may adversely affect Fund performance. Absolute return funds are not intended to outperform stocks and bonds during market rallies. The Fund is exposed to the risks of the underlying derivative instruments, ETFs, U.S. Treasury bonds, foreign government bonds, commodities, and short-term securities that may be held in the Fund’s portfolio. These risks include market risk, frequent trading risk, liquidity risk, interest rate risk, and credit risk. The credit risk and liquidity risk is heightened for non-investment grade or high-yield securities. The use of derivatives involves substantial financial risks and transaction costs. Commodities may be highly volatile and foreign investments are subject to additional risks including currency fluctuations, and economic or political instability. These risks are magnified in emerging markets. In addition, the Fund will bear its proportionate share of any fees and expenses paid by the ETFs in which it invests.
Nuveen Investments | 9 |
THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK
10 | Nuveen Investments |
and Expense Ratios
The Fund Performance and Expense Ratios for the Fund are shown within this section of the report.
Returns quoted represent past performance, which is no guarantee of future results. Current performance may be higher or lower than the performance shown. Investment returns and principal value will fluctuate so that when shares are redeemed, they may be worth more or less than their original cost. Returns without sales charges would be lower if the sales charge were included. 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 an agreement by the investment adviser to waive certain fees and/or reimburse expenses 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. For the most recent month-end performance call (800) 257-8787.
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 net asset value (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.
Nuveen Investments | 11 |
Fund Performance and Expense Ratios (continued)
Nuveen Global Tactical Opportunities Plus 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 term used within this section.
Fund Performance
Average Annual Total Returns as of September 30, 2015*
Average Annual | ||||||||
1-Year | Since Inception | |||||||
Class A Shares at NAV | (1.95)% | (0.12)% | ||||||
Class A Shares at maximum Offering Price | (7.58)% | (3.01)% | ||||||
BofA/Merrill Lynch 3-Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index | 0.02% | 0.07% | ||||||
Lipper Absolute Return Funds Classification Average | (1.93)% | 0.81% | ||||||
Class C Shares | (2.63)% | (0.83)% | ||||||
Class I Shares | (1.63)% | 0.17% |
Since inception returns are from 9/26/13. Indexes and Lipper averages are not available for direct investments.
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), also known as a back-end sales charge, if redeemed within twelve months of purchase. Class C Shares have a 1% CDSC for redemptions within less than twelve months, which is not reflected in the one-year total return. 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 I | ||||||||||
Gross Expense Ratios** | 3.35% | 4.10% | 3.11% | |||||||||
Net Expense Ratios** | 1.57% | 2.32% | 1.32% |
The Fund’s investment adviser has agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses through September 30, 2016 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 1.10% of the average daily net assets of any class of Fund shares. The expense limitation expiring September 30, 2016 may be terminated or modified prior to that date only with the approval of the Board of Trustees of the Fund.
* | The Fund is an absolute return product designated to generate returns through tactical asset allocation positions that seeks to outperform the BofA/Merrill Lynch 3-Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index by 750 basis points over a reasonable period of time. |
** | The expense ratios include acquired fund fees and expenses of 0.25%, which reflect the fees and expenses of the exchange-traded funds in which the Fund invests. |
12 | Nuveen Investments |
Growth of an Assumed $10,000 Investment as of September 30, 2015 – Class A Shares
The graphs do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder may pay on Fund distributions or the redemption of Fund shares.
Nuveen Investments | 13 |
Summaries as of September 30, 2015
This data relates to the securities held in the 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 Tactical Opportunities Plus Fund
Portfolio Allocation2,3
Long-Fixed Income | 48.9% | |||
Short-Fixed Income | (31.2)% | |||
Net Fixed Income | 17.7% | |||
Long Equity | 32.8% | |||
Short Equity | (47.4)% | |||
Net Equity | (14.6)% | |||
Long Currency | 8.9% | |||
Short Currency | (2.1)% | |||
Net Currency | 6.8% | |||
Long Commodity | 2.6% |
Fund Allocation1
(% of net assets)
Exchange-Traded Funds | 45.2% | |||
Sovereign Debt | 9.9% | |||
Money Market Funds | 12.6% | |||
U.S. Government and Agency Obligations | 27.6% | |||
Other Assets Less Liabilities | 4.7% | |||
Net Assets | 100% |
Top 5 Long Positions5
U.S. 10-Year Treasury Note | 13.8% | |||
Australian 10-Year Bond | 9.8% | |||
iShares J.P. Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond ETF | 8.7% | |||
U.S. Dollar Index | 6.9% | |||
iShares Mortgage Real Estate Capped ETF | 4.9% |
Top 5 Short Positions5
Euro-Bund | (31.2)% | |||
Mini MSCI EAFE Index | (11.8)% | |||
Russell 2000 Mini Index | (11.7)% | |||
Mini MSCI Emerging Markets | (8.5)% | |||
S&P 500 E-Mini | (6.8)% |
Total Exposure4
Total Long Exposure | 93.2% | |||
Total Short Exposure | 80.7% | |||
Total Net Exposure | 12.5% | |||
Total Gross Exposure | 173.9% |
1 | Fund Allocation reports the percentage breakdown of the Fund’s cash investments as shown in the Fund’s portfolio of investments. |
2 | Portfolio Allocation reflects the investment exposure of the Fund by asset class investment category, including both cash positions and futures positions. The table reflects the market value of long-term cash investments and the notional value of both long and short futures contracts as presented in the Fund’s portfolio of investments as a percentage of total investments, but does not reflect the exposure associated with options. |
3 | Percentages are calculated based upon the market value of total investments as presented in the Fund’s portfolio of investments. |
4 | Net exposure provides an indication of the Fund’s directional exposure to the market at period end and reflects the value of the portfolio’s long positions minus the short positions across asset class investment categories. This is an indication of the Fund’s sensitivity to market movements. Gross exposure provides an indication of the total gross value of the Fund’s market investment exposure reflecting a summation of the absolute value of all long and short positions in the portfolio across asset class investment categories. This is an indication of the scale of the Fund’s total investment positions regardless of direction. |
5 | The top 5 long and short positions reflect the market value of long-term cash investments and the notional value of futures contracts as presented in the Fund’s portfolio of investments, but does not reflect the exposure associated with options. . |
14 | Nuveen Investments |
Examples
As a shareholder of the Fund, 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 Fund 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 September 30, 2015.
The beginning of the period for the Fund is April 1, 2015.
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 the 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 table 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.
In addition to the fees and expenses which the Fund bears directly; the Fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of the exchange-traded funds in which the Fund invests. Because the exchange-traded funds have varied expenses and fee levels and the Fund may own different proportions at different times, the amount of fees and expenses incurred indirectly by the Fund will vary. These exchange-traded fund fees and expenses are not included in the expenses shown in the table.
Nuveen Global Tactical Opportunities Plus Fund
Share Class | ||||||||||||
Class A | Class C | Class I | ||||||||||
Actual Performance | ||||||||||||
Beginning Account Value | $ | 1,000.00 | $ | 1,000.00 | $ | 1,000.00 | ||||||
Ending Account Value | $ | 993.90 | $ | 990.80 | $ | 995.40 | ||||||
Expenses Incurred During Period | $ | 6.95 | $ | 10.43 | $ | 5.45 | ||||||
Hypothetical Performance (5% annualized return before expenses) | ||||||||||||
Beginning Account Value | $ | 1,000.00 | $ | 1,000.00 | $ | 1,000.00 | ||||||
Ending Account Value | $ | 1,018.10 | $ | 1,014.59 | $ | 1,019.60 | ||||||
Expenses Incurred During Period | $ | 7.03 | $ | 10.56 | $ | 5.52 |
For each class of the Fund, expenses are equal to the Fund’s annualized net expense ratio of 1.35%, 2.09% and 1.09% for Classes A, C and I, respectively, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/365 (to reflect the one-half year period).
Nuveen Investments | 15 |
Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Board of Trustees and Shareholders of
Nuveen Investment Trust:
In our opinion, the accompanying statement of assets and liabilities, including the portfolio of investments, and the related statements of operations and of changes in net assets and the financial highlights present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Nuveen Global Tactical Opportunities Plus Fund (a series of Nuveen Investment Trust, hereinafter referred to as the “Fund”) at September 30, 2015, the results of its operations for the year then ended, and the changes in its net assets and the financial highlights for the periods presented, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. These financial statements and financial highlights (hereafter referred to as “financial statements”) are the responsibility of the Fund’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits. We conducted our audits of these financial statements in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits, which included confirmation of securities at September 30, 2015 by correspondence with the custodian and brokers, provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Chicago, IL
November 24, 2015
16 | Nuveen Investments |
Nuveen Global Tactical Opportunities Plus Fund
Portfolio of Investments | September 30, 2015 |
Shares | Description (1), (2) | Value | ||||||
LONG-TERM INVESTMENTS – 55.1% | ||||||||
EXCHANGE-TRADED FUNDS – 45.2% | ||||||||
Commodity Funds – 2.5% | ||||||||
3,200 | United States Natural Gas Fund, LP, (3) | $ | 37,152 | |||||
2,500 | United States Oil Fund, LP, (3) | 36,700 | ||||||
Total Commodity Funds (cost $79,786) | 73,852 | |||||||
Currency Funds – 1.9% | ||||||||
2,200 | PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish Fund | 55,220 | ||||||
Total Currency Funds (cost $55,770) | 55,220 | |||||||
Equity Funds – 26.6% | ||||||||
420 | iShares China Large-Cap ETF | 14,897 | ||||||
2,425 | iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Japan ETF | 66,639 | ||||||
13,900 | iShares Mortgage Real Estate Capped ETF | 138,166 | ||||||
1,895 | iShares MSCI Australia ETF | 33,958 | ||||||
4,459 | iShares MSCI Germany ETF | 110,316 | ||||||
1,117 | iShares MSCI Hong Kong ETF | 21,357 | ||||||
4,750 | iShares MSCI India ETF | 135,707 | ||||||
3,958 | iShares MSCI Japan ETF | 45,240 | ||||||
110 | iShares MSCI South Korea Capped ETF | 5,366 | ||||||
2,035 | iShares MSCI Sweden ETF | 59,076 | ||||||
3,400 | iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF | 44,744 | ||||||
3,015 | iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF | 49,416 | ||||||
4,100 | Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF, (3) | 56,334 | ||||||
Total Equity Funds (cost $849,654) | 781,216 | |||||||
Fixed Income Funds – 14.2% | ||||||||
600 | iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF, (3) | 74,124 | ||||||
2,298 | iShares J.P. Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond ETF | 244,508 | ||||||
4,080 | Market Vectors Emerging Markets Local Currency Bond ETF | 70,706 | ||||||
1,425 | PowerShares CEF Income Composite Portfolio | 29,939 | ||||||
Total Fixed Income Funds (cost $446,794) | 419,277 | |||||||
Total Exchange-Traded Funds (cost $1,432,004) | $ | 1,329,565 |
Nuveen Investments | 17 |
Nuveen Global Tactical Opportunities Plus Fund (continued)
Portfolio of Investments | September 30, 2015 |
Principal Amount (000) (4) | Description (1) | Coupon | Maturity | Ratings (5) | Value | |||||||||||||||
SOVEREIGN DEBT – 9.9% | ||||||||||||||||||||
Mexico – 7.4% | ||||||||||||||||||||
1,370 MXN | Mexico Bonos de DeSarrollo | 8.000% | 6/11/20 | A | $ | 90,393 | ||||||||||||||
1,200 MXN | Mexico Bonos de DeSarrollo | 6.500% | 6/09/22 | A | 73,617 | |||||||||||||||
8 MXN | Mexico Bonos de DeSarrollo | 7.750% | 11/13/42 | A | 52,159 | |||||||||||||||
2,578 MXN | Total Mexico | 216,169 | ||||||||||||||||||
New Zealand – 2.5% | ||||||||||||||||||||
100 NZD | New Zealand Government | 5.500% | 4/15/23 | Aaa | 74,721 | |||||||||||||||
Total Sovereign Debt (cost $364,878) | 290,890 | |||||||||||||||||||
Total Long-Term Investments (cost $1,796,882) | 1,620,455 | |||||||||||||||||||
Shares/ Principal | Description (1) | Coupon | Maturity | Ratings (5) | Value | |||||||||||||||
SHORT-TERM INVESTMENTS – 40.2% | ||||||||||||||||||||
Money Market Funds – 12.6% | ||||||||||||||||||||
370,860 | First American Treasury Obligations Fund, Class Z | 0.000% | (6) | N/A | N/A | $ | 370,860 | |||||||||||||
U.S. Government and Agency Obligations – 27.6% | ||||||||||||||||||||
$ | 60 | U.S. Treasury Bills | 0.000% | 11/12/15 | AAA | 60,001 | ||||||||||||||
150 | U.S. Treasury Bills, (3) | 0.000% | 2/04/16 | AAA | 149,990 | |||||||||||||||
300 | U.S. Treasury Bills, (3) | 0.000% | 3/31/16 | AAA | 299,887 | |||||||||||||||
300 | U.S. Treasury Bills, (3) | 0.000% | 4/28/16 | AAA | 299,884 | |||||||||||||||
$ | 810 | Total U.S. Government and Agency Obligations | 809,762 | |||||||||||||||||
Total Short-Term Investments (cost $1,180,037) | 1,180,622 | |||||||||||||||||||
Total Investments (cost $2,976,919) – 95.3% | 2,801,077 | |||||||||||||||||||
Other Assets Less Liabilities – 4.7% (7) | 136,977 | |||||||||||||||||||
Net Assets – 100% | $ | 2,938,054 |
Investments in Derivatives as of September 30, 2015
Futures Contracts outstanding:
Description | Contract Position | Number of Contracts | Contract Expiration | Notional Amount | Variation Margin Receivable/ (Payable) | Unrealized Appreciation (Depreciation) | ||||||||||||||||||
Australian 10-Year Bond | Long | 4 | 12/15 | $ | 273,363 | $ | (573 | ) | $ | 2,768 | ||||||||||||||
Euro-Bund | Short | (5 | ) | 12/15 | (872,638 | ) | (112 | ) | (17,554 | ) | ||||||||||||||
Mexican Peso | Short | (2 | ) | 12/15 | (58,730 | ) | (460 | ) | 411 | |||||||||||||||
Mini MSCI EAFE Index | Short | (4 | ) | 12/15 | (329,900 | ) | (6,340 | ) | 11,891 | |||||||||||||||
Mini MSCI Emerging Markets | Short | (6 | ) | 12/15 | (237,330 | ) | (7,170 | ) | 3,902 | |||||||||||||||
NASDAQ 100 E-Mini | Short | (2 | ) | 12/15 | (166,520 | ) | (3,530 | ) | 5,369 | |||||||||||||||
Russell 2000 Mini Index | Short | (3 | ) | 12/15 | (328,770 | ) | (5,250 | ) | 17,435 | |||||||||||||||
S&P 500 E-Mini | Short | (2 | ) | 12/15 | (190,870 | ) | (3,420 | ) | 106 | |||||||||||||||
S&P 500 E-Mini Consumer Discretionary Sector | Short | (1 | ) | 12/15 | (74,420 | ) | (1,850 | ) | 1,016 | |||||||||||||||
S&P MidCap 400 E-Mini | Long | 1 | 12/15 | 136,290 | 1,930 | (4,771 | ) | |||||||||||||||||
U.S. 10-Year Treasury Note | Long | 3 | 12/15 | 386,203 | (234 | ) | 4,071 | |||||||||||||||||
U.S. Dollar Index | Long | 2 | 12/15 | 192,960 | 974 | 549 | ||||||||||||||||||
$ | (1,270,362 | ) | $ | (26,035 | ) | $ | 25,193 |
* | The aggregate Notional Amount at Value of long and short positions is $988,816 and $(2,259,178), respectively. |
18 | Nuveen Investments |
Investments in Derivatives as of September 30, 2015 (continued)
Options Purchased outstanding:
Option Type | Number of Contracts | Description | Notional Amount (8) | Expiration Date | Strike Price | Value | ||||||||||||||
Call | 5 | SPDR S&P 500 ETF | $ | 95,000 | 12/18/15 | $ | 190.0 | $ | 3,930 | |||||||||||
5 | Total Options Purchased (premiums paid $3,415) | $ | 95,000 | $ | 3,930 |
Options Written outstanding:
Option Type | Number of Contracts | Description | Notional Amount (8) | Expiration Date | Strike Price | Value | ||||||||||||||
Call | (6) | iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF | $ | (76,200) | 10/16/15 | $ | 127.0 | $ | (222) | |||||||||||
Put | (6) | iShares Russell 2000 ETF | (63,000) | 12/18/15 | 105.0 | (2,034) | ||||||||||||||
Put | (8) | iShares Russell 2000 ETF | (83,200) | 12/18/15 | 104.0 | (2,480) | ||||||||||||||
Call | (41) | Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF | (69,700) | 10/16/15 | 17.0 | (144) | ||||||||||||||
Put | (11) | Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF | (14,300) | 10/16/15 | 13.0 | (341) | ||||||||||||||
Call | (32) | United States Natural Gas Fund, LP | (44,800) | 10/16/15 | 14.0 | (48) | ||||||||||||||
Put | (38) | United States Natural Gas Fund, LP | (45,600) | 10/16/15 | 12.0 | (2,280) | ||||||||||||||
Put | (7) | United States Natural Gas Fund, LP | (7,700) | 11/20/15 | 11.0 | (298) | ||||||||||||||
Call | (25) | United States Oil Fund, LP | (40,000) | 10/16/15 | 16.0 | (287) | ||||||||||||||
Put | (12) | United States Oil Fund, LP | (18,600) | 10/16/15 | 15.5 | (1,242) | ||||||||||||||
(186) | Total Options Written (premiums received $8,762) | $ | (463,100) | $ | (9,376) |
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) | A copy of the most recent financial statements for these exchange-traded funds can be obtained directly from the Securities and Exchange Commission on its website at http://www.sec.gov. |
(3) | Investment, or portion of investment, segregated as collateral for investments in derivatives. |
(4) | Principal Amount (000) denominated in U.S. Dollars, unless otherwise noted. |
(5) | Ratings (not covered by the report of independent registered public accounting firm): Using the highest of Standard & Poor’s Group (“Standard & Poor’s”), Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”) or Fitch, Inc. (“Fitch”) rating. 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. |
(6) | The rate shown is the annualized seven-day effective yield as of the end of the reporting period. |
(7) | Other assets less liabilities includes the unrealized appreciation (depreciation) of certain over-the-counter derivatives as presented on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. The unrealized appreciation (depreciation) of exchange-cleared and exchange-traded derivatives is recognized as part of the cash collateral at brokers and/or the receivable or payable for variation margin as presented on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities, when applicable. Other assets less liabilities also includes the value of options as presented on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. |
(8) | For disclosure purposes, Notional Amount is calculated by multiplying the Number of Contracts by the Strike Price by 100. |
N/A | Not Applicable |
CEF | Closed-End Fund |
DB | Deutsche Bank |
EAFE | Europe, Australasia and Far East |
ETF | Exchange-Traded Fund |
MSCI | Morgan Stanley Capital International Inc. |
MXN | Mexican Peso |
NASDAQ | National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations |
NZD | New Zealand Dollar |
S&P | Standard & Poor’s |
SPDR | Standard & Poor’s Depositary Receipts |
USD | United States Dollar |
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
Nuveen Investments | 19 |
Assets and Liabilities | September 30, 2015 |
Assets | ||||
Long-term investments, at value (cost $1,796,882) | $ | 1,620,455 | ||
Short-term investments, at value (cost $1,180,037) | 1,180,622 | |||
Options purchased, at value (premiums paid $3,415) | 3,930 | |||
Receivable for: | ||||
Dividends | 3,765 | |||
Interest | 5,930 | |||
Investments sold | 180,374 | |||
Reimbursement from Adviser | 453 | |||
Variation margin on futures contracts | 2,904 | |||
Other assets | 551 | |||
Total assets | 2,998,984 | |||
Liabilities | ||||
Options written, at value (premiums received $8,762) | 9,376 | |||
Payable for variation margin on futures contracts | 28,939 | |||
Accrued expenses: | ||||
12b-1 distribution and service fees | 25 | |||
Professional fees | 16,699 | |||
Shareholder reporting expenses | 4,230 | |||
Trustees fees | 17 | |||
Other | 1,644 | |||
Total liabilities | 60,930 | |||
Net assets | $ | 2,938,054 | ||
Class A Shares | ||||
Net assets | $ | 24,419 | ||
Shares outstanding | 1,250 | |||
Net asset value (“NAV”) per share | $ | 19.54 | ||
Offering price per share (NAV per share plus maximum sales charge of 5.75% of offering price) | $ | 20.73 | ||
Class C Shares | ||||
Net assets | $ | 24,244 | ||
Shares outstanding | 1,250 | |||
NAV and offering price per share | $ | 19.40 | ||
Class I Shares | ||||
Net assets | $ | 2,889,391 | ||
Shares outstanding | 147,500 | |||
NAV and offering price per share | $ | 19.59 | ||
Net assets consist of: | ||||
Capital paid-in | $ | 2,996,564 | ||
Undistributed (Over-distribution of) net investment income | 70,516 | |||
Accumulated net realized gain (loss) | 22,012 | |||
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) | (151,038 | ) | ||
Net assets | $ | 2,938,054 | ||
Authorized shares – per class | Unlimited | |||
Par value per share | $ | 0.01 |
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
20 | Nuveen Investments |
Operations | Year Ended September 30, 2015 |
Investment Income | ||||
Dividend income | $ | 66,894 | ||
Interest income (net of foreign tax withheld of $217) | 18,457 | |||
Total investment income | 85,351 | |||
Expenses | ||||
Management fees | 27,044 | |||
12b-1 service fees – Class A Shares | 62 | |||
12b-1 distribution and service fees – Class C Shares | 245 | |||
Shareholder servicing agent fees | 56 | |||
Custodian fees | 11,432 | |||
Trustees fees | 290 | |||
Professional fees | 19,834 | |||
Shareholder reporting expenses | 8,935 | |||
Other | 1,469 | |||
Total expenses before fee waiver/expense reimbursement | 69,367 | |||
Fee waiver/expense reimbursement | (37,256 | ) | ||
Net expenses | 32,111 | |||
Net investment income (loss) | 53,240 | |||
Realized and Unrealized Gain (Loss) | ||||
Net realized gain (loss) from: | ||||
Investments and foreign currency | 29,599 | |||
Futures contracts | 72,196 | |||
Options purchased | (707 | ) | ||
Options written | 26,424 | |||
Change in net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) of: | ||||
Investments and foreign currency | (238,935 | ) | ||
Futures contracts | 7,374 | |||
Options purchased | 515 | |||
Options written | (614 | ) | ||
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) | (104,148 | ) | ||
Net increase (decrease) in net assets from operations | $ | (50,908 | ) |
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
Nuveen Investments | 21 |
Changes in Net Assets
Year Ended 9/30/15 | Eleven Months Ended 9/30/14 | For the Period 9/26/13 (commencement of operations) through 10/31/13 | ||||||||||
Operations | ||||||||||||
Net investment income (loss) | $ | 53,240 | $ | 65,429 | $ | (574 | ) | |||||
Net realized gain (loss) from: | ||||||||||||
Investments and foreign currency | 29,599 | 12,369 | (3,159 | ) | ||||||||
Futures contracts | 72,196 | (93,922 | ) | 640 | ||||||||
Options purchased | (707 | ) | (1,440 | ) | — | |||||||
Options written | 26,424 | — | — | |||||||||
Change in net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) of: | ||||||||||||
Investments and foreign currency | (238,935 | ) | 40,330 | 22,473 | ||||||||
Futures contracts | 7,374 | 36,340 | (18,521 | ) | ||||||||
Options purchased | 515 | — | — | |||||||||
Options written | (614 | ) | — | — | ||||||||
Net increase (decrease) in net assets from operations | | (50,908 | ) | 59,106 | 859 | |||||||
Distributions to Shareholders | ||||||||||||
From net investment income: | ||||||||||||
Class A Shares | (530 | ) | — | — | ||||||||
Class C Shares | (337 | ) | — | — | ||||||||
Class I Shares | (70,136 | ) | — | — | ||||||||
Decrease in net assets from distributions to shareholders | (71,003 | ) | — | — | ||||||||
Fund Share Transactions | ||||||||||||
Proceeds from sale of shares | — | — | 3,000,000 | |||||||||
Net increase (decrease) in net assets from Fund share transactions | — | — | 3,000,000 | |||||||||
Net increase (decrease) in net assets | (121,911 | ) | 59,106 | 3,000,859 | ||||||||
Net assets at the beginning of period | 3,059,965 | 3,000,859 | — | |||||||||
Net assets at the end of period | $ | 2,938,054 | $ | 3,059,965 | $ | 3,000,859 | ||||||
Undistributed (Over-distribution of) net investment income at the end of period | $ | 70,516 | $ | 57,566 | $ | — |
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
22 | Nuveen Investments |
THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK
Nuveen Investments | 23 |
Highlights
Selected data for a share outstanding throughout each period:
Investment Operations | Less Distributions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Class (Commencement Date)
| Beginning NAV | Net Investment | Net Realized/ Unrealized Gain (Loss) | Total | From Investment | From Accumulated Net Realized Gains | Total | Ending NAV | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Class A (9/13) |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Year Ended 9/30 |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2015 | $ | 20.35 | $ | 0.30 | $ | (0.69 | ) | $ | (0.39 | ) | $ | (0.42 | ) | $ | — | $ | (0.42 | ) | $ | 19.54 | ||||||||||||||
2014(g) | 20.00 | 0.39 | (0.04 | ) | 0.35 | — | — | — | 20.35 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Year Ended 10/31 |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2013(d) | 20.00 | (0.01 | ) | 0.01 | — | — | — | — | 20.00 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Class C (9/13) |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Year Ended 9/30 |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2015 | 20.20 | 0.16 | (0.69 | ) | (0.53 | ) | (0.27 | ) | — | (0.27 | ) | 19.40 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
2014(g) | 19.99 | 0.25 | (0.04 | ) | 0.21 | — | — | — | 20.20 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Year Ended 10/31 |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2013(d) | 20.00 | (0.02 | ) | 0.01 | (0.01 | ) | — | — | — | 19.99 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Class I (9/13) |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Year Ended 9/30 |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2015 | 20.40 | 0.36 | (0.69 | ) | (0.33 | ) | (0.48 | ) | — | (0.48 | ) | 19.59 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
2014(g) | 20.01 | 0.44 | (0.05 | ) | 0.39 | — | — | — | 20.40 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Year Ended 10/31 |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2013(d) | 20.00 | — | * | 0.01 | 0.01 | — | — | — | 20.01 |
24 | Nuveen Investments |
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(e) | Net Investment Income (Loss) | Expenses(e) | Net Investment Income (Loss) | Portfolio Turnover Rate(f) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
(1.95 | )% | $ | 24 | 2.60 | % | 0.28 | % | 1.31 | % | 1.53 | % | 117 | % | |||||||||||||||||
1.75 | 25 | 3.10 | ** | 0.33 | ** | 1.32 | ** | 2.11 | ** | 85 | ||||||||||||||||||||
— | 25 | 6.89 | ** | (6.00 | )** | 1.32 | ** | (0.45 | )** | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||
(2.63 | ) | 24 | 3.33 | (0.45 | ) | 2.06 | 0.80 | 117 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
1.05 | 25 | 3.85 | ** | (0.43 | )** | 2.07 | ** | 1.36 | ** | 85 | ||||||||||||||||||||
(0.05 | ) | 25 | 7.58 | ** | (6.69 | )** | 2.07 | ** | (1.18 | )** | 10 | |||||||||||||||||||
(1.63 | ) | 2,889 | 2.33 | 0.55 | 1.06 | 1.81 | 117 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
1.95 | 3,009 | 2.86 | ** | 0.57 | ** | 1.07 | ** | 2.36 | ** | 85 | ||||||||||||||||||||
0.05 | 2,951 | 6.54 | ** | (5.66 | )** | 1.07 | ** | (0.18 | )** | 10 |
(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. |
(d) | For the period September 26, 2013 (commencement of operations) through October 31, 2013. |
(e) | In addition to the fees and expenses which the Fund bears directly; the Fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of the exchange-traded funds in which the Fund invests. These exchange-traded fund fees and expenses are not reflected in the expense ratios. Because the exchange-traded funds have varied expenses and fee levels and the Fund may own different proportions at different times, the amount of fees and expenses incurred indirectly by the Fund will vary. |
(f) | 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. |
(g) | For the eleven months ended September 30, 2014. |
* | Rounds to less than $0.01 per share. |
** | Annualized. |
See accompanying notes to financial statements.
Nuveen Investments | 25 |
Financial Statements
1. General Information and Significant Accounting Policies
General Information
Trust and Fund Information
The Nuveen Investment Trust (the “Trust”) is an open-end management investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. The Trust is comprised of the Nuveen Global Tactical Opportunities Plus Fund (the “Fund”), as a diversified fund, among others. The Trust was organized as a Massachusetts business trust on May 6, 1996.
The end of the reporting period for the Fund is September 30, 2015, and the period covered by these Notes to Financial Statements is the fiscal year ended September 30, 2015 (the “current fiscal period”).
Investment Adviser
The Fund’s investment adviser is Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC (the “Adviser”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nuveen Investments, Inc. (“Nuveen”). The Adviser is responsible for the Fund’s overall investment strategy and asset allocation decisions. The Adviser has entered into a sub-advisory agreement with Nuveen Asset Management, LLC (the “Sub-Adviser”), a subsidiary of the Adviser, under which the Sub-Adviser manages the investment portfolio of the Fund.
Investment Objective and Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund’s investment objective is to earn a positive total return over a reasonable period of time, regardless of market conditions. Under normal market conditions, the Fund will seek to outperform the Merrill Lynch 3 Month Treasury Bill Index (the “Treasury Bill Index”) by 750 basis points, or 7.5%, on an annualized basis, before the deduction of Fund fees and expenses. The Fund seeks to achieve this outperformance over a rolling three-year time period, although there is no guarantee that it will be able to do so. Under normal market conditions, the Fund will invest at least 40% of the sum of its net assets and the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes in non-U.S. securities and will invest in securities of at least three different countries (one of which may be the United States).
The Fund seeks to achieve its objective by investing its assets across the following asset classes:
• | U.S., international and emerging market equity securities; |
• | U.S., international and emerging market debt securities, including high-yield debt securities, which are rated below investment grade and commonly referred to as “junk” bonds; |
• | Commodities; |
• | Currencies; and |
• | High quality, short-term debt securities and money market funds. |
The Fund gains exposure to the above asset classes (i) by investing in derivative instruments and exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), (ii) by creating custom baskets of equity and debt securities, where each basket is designed to track the performance of a particular securities index (such as an industry, sector, country or region index) within certain parameters, and (iii) by investing directly in U.S. Treasury obligations, obligations issued by non-U.S. governments that have an investment grade rating from at least one rating agency and money market funds.
The Fund will use derivative instruments such as options; futures contracts, including futures on equity indices, volatility indices, interest rate futures and currency futures; options on futures contracts; interest rate caps and floors; foreign currency contracts; options on foreign currencies; interest rate, total return, currency and credit default swaps; and options on the foregoing types of swap agreements. Derivatives may be entered into on established exchanges, either in the U.S. or in non-U.S. countries, or through privately negotiated transactions referred to as over-the-counter derivatives. In using derivatives, the Fund may take both long positions (the values of which move in the same direction as the prices of the underlying investment, pool of investments, index or currency) and short positions (the values of which move in the opposite direction from the price of the underlying investment, pool of investments, index or currency).
The Fund’s most recent prospectus provides further description of the Fund’s investment objective, principal investment strategies and principal risks.
Significant Accounting Policies
The 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 Fund in the preparation of its financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”).
26 | Nuveen Investments |
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 Fund has earmarked securities in it’s portfolio 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 Fund did not have any outstanding when-issued/delayed delivery purchase commitments.
Investment Income
Dividend income is recorded on the ex-dividend date or, for foreign securities, when information is available. Interest income, which reflects the amortization of premiums and includes accretion of discounts for financial reporting purposes, is recorded on an accrual basis.
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 are declared and distributed to shareholders annually. 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 Fund receives substantial distributions from holdings in ETFs. ETF distributions received by the Fund are generally comprised of ordinary income, long-term capital gains and a return of capital. The actual character of amounts received during the period is not known until after the fiscal year-end. For the fiscal year ended September 30, 2015, the character of distributions to the Fund from the ETFs was 91.10% ordinary income, 0.55% long-term capital gains and 8.35% return of capital.
For the fiscal year ended September 30, 2015, the Fund applied the actual character of distributions reported by the ETFs in which the Fund invests to its receipts from the ETFs. If an ETF held in the portfolio of investments did not report the actual character of its distributions during the period, the Fund treated the distributions as ordinary income.
The actual character of distributions made by the Fund during the fiscal year ended September 30, 2015 is reflected in the accompanying financial statements.
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”) if redeemed within twelve 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 I Shares are not subject to any sales charge or 12b-1 distribution or service fees.
Multiclass Operations and Allocations
Income and expenses of the Fund that are not directly attributable to a specific class of shares are prorated among the classes based on the relative net assets 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.
Realized and unrealized capital gains and losses of the Fund are prorated among the classes based on the relative net assets of each class.
Indemnifications
Under the Trust’s organizational documents, its officers and trustees are indemnified against certain liabilities arising out of the performance of their duties to the Trust. In addition, in the normal course of business, the Trust enters into contracts that provide general indemnifications to other parties. The Trust’s maximum exposure under these arrangements is unknown as this would involve future claims that may be made against the Trust that have not yet occurred. However, the Trust has not had prior claims or losses pursuant to these contracts and expects the risk of loss to be remote.
Netting Agreements
In the ordinary course of business, the Fund may enter into transactions subject to enforceable International Swaps and Derivative Association, Inc. (“ISDA”) master agreements or other similar arrangements (“netting agreements”). Generally, the right to offset in netting agreements allows the Fund
Nuveen Investments | 27 |
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
to offset certain securities and derivatives with a specific counterparty with any collateral received or delivered to that counterparty based on the terms of the agreements. Generally, the Fund manages its cash collateral and securities collateral on a counterparty basis.
The Fund’s 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 reporting 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, prepayment speeds, credit risk, etc.). | |
Level 3 – | Prices are determined using significant unobservable inputs (including management’s assumptions in determining the fair value of investments). |
ETFs 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.
Prices of fixed-income securities are provided by a pricing service approved by the Fund’s Board of Trustees (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 priority of the significant inputs.
Investments in investment companies are valued at their respective NAVs on the valuation date and are generally classified as Level 1.
The value of exchange-traded options are based on the mean of the closing bid and ask prices. Futures contracts are valued using the closing settlement price or, in the absence of such a price, the last traded price. Exchange-traded options and futures contracts are generally classified as Level 1. Options traded in the over-the counter market are valued using an evaluated mean price and are generally classified as Level 2.
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 Fund’s 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 New York Stock Exchange (“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 Fund’s NAV is determined, or if under the Fund’s 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 priority 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 the 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
28 | Nuveen Investments |
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 priority 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 the Fund’s fair value measurements as of the end of the reporting period:
Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Total | |||||||||||||
Long-Term Investments: | ||||||||||||||||
Exchange-Traded Funds* | $ | 1,329,565 | $ | — | $ | — | $ | 1,329,565 | ||||||||
Sovereign Debt** | — | 290,890 | — | 290,890 | ||||||||||||
Short-Term Investments: | ||||||||||||||||
Money Market Funds | 370,860 | — | — | 370,860 | ||||||||||||
U.S. Government and Agency Obligations | — | 809,762 | — | 809,762 | ||||||||||||
Investments in Derivatives: | ||||||||||||||||
Futures Contracts*** | 25,193 | — | — | 25,193 | ||||||||||||
Options Purchased | 3,930 | — | — | 3,930 | ||||||||||||
Options Written | (9,376 | ) | — | — | (9,376 | ) | ||||||||||
Total | $ | 1,720,172 | $ | 1,100,652 | $ | — | $ | 2,820,824 |
* | Refer to the Fund’s Portfolio of Investments for further information on the exchange-traded funds in which the Fund invests. |
** | Refer to the Fund’s Portfolio of Investments for country classifications. |
*** | Represents net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) as reported in the Fund’s Portfolio of Investments. |
The Board is responsible for the valuation process and has appointed the oversight of the daily valuation process to the Adviser’s Valuation Committee. The Valuation Committee, pursuant to the valuation policies and procedures adopted by the Board, is responsible for making fair value determinations, evaluating the effectiveness of the Fund’s pricing policies and reporting to the Board. The Valuation Committee is aided in its efforts by the Adviser’s dedicated Securities Valuation Team, which is responsible for administering the daily valuation process and applying fair value methodologies as approved by the Valuation Committee. When determining the reliability of independent pricing services for investments owned by the Fund, the Valuation Committee, among other things, conducts due diligence reviews of the pricing services and monitors the quality of security prices received through various testing reports conducted by the Securities Valuation Team.
The Valuation Committee will consider pricing methodologies it deems relevant and appropriate when making a fair value determination, based on the facts and circumstances specific to the portfolio instrument. Fair value determinations generally will be derived as follows, using public or private market information:
(i) | If available, fair value determinations shall be derived by extrapolating from recent transactions or quoted prices for identical or comparable securities. |
(ii) | If such information is not available, an analytical valuation methodology may be used based on other available information including, but not limited to: analyst appraisals, research reports, corporate action information, issuer financial statements and shelf registration statements. Such analytical valuation methodologies may include, but are not limited to: multiple of earnings, discount from market value of a similar freely-traded security, discounted cash flow analysis, book value or a multiple thereof, risk premium/yield analysis, yield to maturity and/or fundamental investment analysis. |
The purchase price of a portfolio instrument will be used to fair value the instrument only if no other valuation methodology is available or deemed appropriate, and it is determined that the purchase price fairly reflects the instrument’s current value.
For each portfolio security that has been fair valued pursuant to the policies adopted by the Board, the fair value price is compared against the last available and next available market quotations. The Valuation Committee reviews the results of such testing and fair valuation occurrences are reported to the Board.
3. Portfolio Securities and Investments in Derivatives
Portfolio Securities
Foreign Currency Transactions
To the extent that the Fund invests in securities and/or contracts that are denominated in a currency other than U.S. dollars, the Fund 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 Fund’s 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
Nuveen Investments | 29 |
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
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.
The books and records of the Fund 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 the 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) investments, (ii) investments in derivatives and (iii) other assets and 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.
Zero Coupon Securities
A zero coupon security does not pay a regular interest coupon to its holders during the life of the security. Income to the holder of the security comes from accretion of the difference between the original purchase price of the security at issuance and the par value of the security at maturity and is effectively paid at maturity. The market prices of zero coupon securities generally are more volatile than the market prices of securities that pay interest periodically.
Investments in Derivatives
The Fund is authorized to invest in certain derivative instruments. The Fund records derivative instruments at fair value, with changes in fair value recognized on the Statement of Operations, when applicable. Even though the Fund’s 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, the 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” on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. Investments in futures contracts obligate the 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 the Fund has unrealized appreciation the clearing broker would credit the Fund’s account with an amount equal to appreciation and conversely if the 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, the 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, the Fund invested in equity, interest rate and currency futures contracts, which were used to manage country and style exposures and implement various absolute return, tactical market and hedging strategies.
The average notional amount of futures contracts outstanding during the current fiscal period was as follows:
Average notional amount of futures contracts outstanding* | $ | 3,578,844 |
* | The average notional amount is calculated based on the absolute aggregate notional amount of contracts outstanding at the beginning of the fiscal period and at the end of each fiscal quarter within the current fiscal period. |
30 | Nuveen Investments |
The following table presents the fair value of all futures contracts held by the Fund as of the end of the reporting period, the location of these instruments on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities and the primary underlying risk exposure.
Location on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities | ||||||||||||||
Asset Derivatives | (Liability) Derivatives | |||||||||||||
Underlying Risk Exposure | Derivative Instrument | Location | Value | Location | Value | |||||||||
Equity | Futures contracts | Receivable for variation margin on futures contracts* | $ | (4,771 | ) | Payable for variation margin on futures contracts* | $ | 39,719 | ||||||
Foreign currency exchange rate | Futures contracts | Receivable for variation margin on futures contracts* | 549 | Payable for variation margin on futures contracts* | 411 | |||||||||
Interest rate | Futures contracts | — | — | Payable for variation margin on futures contracts* | 6,839 | |||||||||
— | — | Payable for variation margin on futures contracts* | (17,554 | ) | ||||||||||
Total | $ | (4,222 | ) | $ | 29,415 |
* | Value represents unrealized appreciation (depreciation) of futures contracts as reported by the Fund’s Portfolio of Investments, and not the asset and liability derivative location as described in the table above. |
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.
Underlying Risk Exposure | Derivative Instrument | Net Realized Gain (Loss) from Futures Contracts | Change in Net Unrealized Appreciation (Depreciation) of Futures Contracts | |||||||
Equity | Futures contracts | $ | 11,874 | $ | 23,301 | |||||
Foreign currency exchange rate | Futures contracts | 44,037 | (6,019 | ) | ||||||
Interest rate | Futures contracts | 16,285 | (9,908 | ) | ||||||
Total | $ | 72,196 | $ | 7,374 |
Options Transactions
The purchase of options involves the risk of loss of all or a part of the cash paid for the options (the premium). The market risk associated with purchasing options is limited to the premium paid. The counterparty credit risk of purchasing options, however, needs also to take into account the current value of the option, as this is the performance expected from the counterparty. When the Fund purchases an option, an amount equal to the premium paid (the premium plus commission) is recognized as a component of “Options purchased, at value” on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. When the Fund writes an option, an amount equal to the net premium received (the premium less commission) is recognized as a component of “Options written, at value” on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities and is subsequently adjusted to reflect the current value of the written option until the option is exercised or expires or the Fund enters into a closing purchase transaction. The changes in the value of options purchased and/or written during the fiscal period are recognized as a component of “Change in net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) of options purchased and/or written” on the Statement of Operations. When an option is exercised or expires or the Fund enters into a closing purchase transaction, the difference between the net premium received and any amount paid at expiration or on executing a closing purchase transaction, including commission, is recognized as a component of “Net realized gain (loss) from options purchased and/or written” on the Statement of Operations. The Fund, as a writer of an option has no control over whether the underlying instrument may be sold (called) or purchased (put) and as a result bears the risk of an unfavorable change in the market value of the instrument underlying the written option. There is also the risk the Fund may not be able to enter into a closing transaction because of an illiquid market.
During the current fiscal period, the Fund used equity call and put options to generate return and manage the Fund. These options were purchased as a way to implement views on the direction of implied market volatility. The call options hedge against an increase in the market while the put options hedge against a decline in the market.
The average notional amount of outstanding options purchased and options written during the current fiscal period, was as follows:
Average notional amount of outstanding options purchased* | $ | 26,280 |
Average notional amount of outstanding options written* | $ | (312,018 | ) |
* | The average notional amount is calculated based on the outstanding notional at the beginning of the fiscal period and at the end of each fiscal quarter within the current fiscal period. |
Nuveen Investments | 31 |
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
The following table presents the fair value of all options held by the Fund as of the end of the reporting period, the location of these instruments on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities and the primary underlying risk exposure.
Location on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities | ||||||||||||||
Asset Derivatives | (Liability) Derivatives | |||||||||||||
Underlying Risk Exposure | Derivative Instrument | Location | Value | Location | Value | |||||||||
Commodity | Options | — | $ | — | Options written, at value | $ | (4,155 | ) | ||||||
Equity price | Options | Options purchased, at value | 3,930 | Options written, at value | (4,999 | ) | ||||||||
Interest Rate | Options | — | — | Options written, at value | (222 | ) | ||||||||
Total | $ | 3,930 | $ | (9,376 | ) |
The following table presents the amount of net realized gain (loss) and change in net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) recognized on options purchased and options written on the Statement of Operations during the current fiscal period, and the primary underlying risk exposure.
Underlying Risk Exposure | Derivative Instrument | Net Realized Gain (Loss) from | Change in Net Unrealized Appreciation (Depreciation) of Options Purchased/Written | |||||||
Commodity | Options written | $ | 6,675 | $ | (600 | ) | ||||
Equity price | Options purchased | (575 | ) | 515 | ||||||
Equity price | Options written | 14,899 | 100 | |||||||
Foreign currency exchange rate | Options written | 19 | — | |||||||
Interest rate | Options purchased | (132 | ) | — | ||||||
Interest rate | Options written | 4,831 | (114 | ) | ||||||
Total | $ | 25,717 | $ | (99 | ) |
Market and Counterparty Credit Risk
In the normal course of business the 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 the Fund to counterparty credit risk, consist principally of cash due from counterparties on forward, option and swap transactions, when applicable. The extent of the 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.
The 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 the Fund with a value approximately equal to the amount of any unrealized gain above a pre-determined threshold. Reciprocally, when the Fund has an unrealized loss, the Fund has instructed the custodian to pledge assets of the Fund 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
Transactions in Fund shares during the current and prior fiscal periods were as follows:
Year Ended 9/30/15 | Eleven Months Ended 9/30/14 | For the period 9/26/13 (commencement of operations) through 10/31/13 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Shares | Amount | Shares | Amount | Shares | Amount | |||||||||||||||||||
Shares sold: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Class A | — | $ | — | — | $ | — | 1,250 | $ | 25,000 | |||||||||||||||
Class C | — | — | — | — | 1,250 | 25,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
Class I | — | — | — | — | 147,500 | 2,950,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
— | — | — | — | 150,000 | 3,000,000 | |||||||||||||||||||
Shares redeemed: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Class A | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||
Class C | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||
Class I | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||
— | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||
Net increase (decrease) | — | $ | — | — | $ | — | 150,000 | $ | 3,000,000 |
32 | Nuveen Investments |
5. Investment Transactions
Long-term purchases and sales (including maturities but excluding derivative transactions) during the current fiscal period, were as follows:
Purchases | $ | 2,495,028 | ||
Sales and maturities | 3,010,228 |
Transactions in options written during the current fiscal period were as follows:
Number of Contracts | Premiums Received | |||||||
Options outstanding, beginning of period | — | $ | — | |||||
Options written | 1,763 | 70,651 | ||||||
Options terminated in closing purchase transactions | (194 | ) | (17,422 | ) | ||||
Options expired | (1,011 | ) | (26,872 | ) | ||||
Options exercised | (372 | ) | (17,595 | ) | ||||
Options outstanding, end of period | 186 | $ | 8,762 |
6. Income Tax Information
The 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 Fund 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 Fund 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 Fund.
As of September 30, 2015, the cost and unrealized appreciation (depreciation) of investments (excluding investments in derivatives), as determined on a federal income tax basis, were as follows:
Cost of investments | $ | 2,976,919 | ||
Gross unrealized: | ||||
Appreciation | $ | 3,718 | ||
Depreciation | (179,560 | ) | ||
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) of investments | $ | (175,842 | ) |
Permanent differences, primarily due to foreign currency transactions and investments in partnerships, resulted in reclassifications among the Fund’s components of net assets as of September 30, 2015, the Fund’s tax year end, as follows:
Capital paid-in | $ | — | ||
Undistributed (Over-distribution of) net investment income | 30,713 | |||
Accumulated net realized gain (loss) | (30,713 | ) |
The tax components of undistributed net ordinary income and net long-term capital gains as of September 30, 2015, the Fund’s tax year end, were as follows:
Undistributed net ordinary income1 | $ | 109,127 | ||
Undistributed net long-term capital gains | 5,825 |
1 | Net ordinary income consists of net taxable income derived from dividends, interest, and net short-term capital gains, if any. |
Nuveen Investments | 33 |
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
The tax character of distributions paid during the periods indicated below, was designated for purposes of the dividends paid deduction as follows:
Year ended September 30, 2015 | ||||
Distributions from net ordinary income1 | $ | 71,003 | ||
Distributions from net long-term capital gains | — | |||
Eleven Months ended September 30, 2014 | ||||
Distributions from net ordinary income1 | $ | — | ||
Distributions from net long-term capital gains | — | |||
September 26, 2013 (commencement of operations) through October 31, 2013 | ||||
Distributions from net ordinary income1 | $ | — | ||
Distributions from net long-term capital gains | — |
1 | Net ordinary income consists of net taxable income derived from dividends, interest, and net short-term capital gains, if any. |
During the Fund’s tax year ended, September 30, 2015, the Fund utilized $57,234 of its capital losses carrying forward.
7. Management Fees and Other Transactions with Affiliates
The 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 Fund from the management fee paid to the Adviser.
The Fund’s management fee consists of two components – a fund-level fee, based only on the amount of assets within the Fund, and a complex-level fee, based on the aggregate amount of all eligible fund assets managed by the Adviser. This pricing structure enables Fund shareholders to benefit from growth in the assets within the Fund as well as from growth in the amount of complex-wide assets managed by the Adviser.
The annual Fund-level fee, payable monthly, is calculated according to the following schedule:
Average Daily Net Assets | Fund-Level Fee | |||
For the first $125 million | 0.7500 | % | ||
For the next $125 million | 0.7375 | |||
For the next $250 million | 0.7250 | |||
For the next $500 million | 0.7125 | |||
For the next $1 billion | 0.7000 | |||
For net assets over $2 billion | 0.6750 |
The annual complex-level fee, payable monthly, is calculated according to the following schedule:
Complex-Level Asset Breakpoint Level* | Effective 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 funds. Eligible assets do not include assets attributable to investments in other Nuveen funds or assets in excess of $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 September 30, 2015, the complex-level fee for the Fund was 0.1646%. |
The Adviser has agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses through September 30, 2016, 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 1.10% of the average daily net assets of any class of Fund shares.
34 | Nuveen Investments |
The Trust pays no compensation directly to those of its trustees who are affiliated with the Adviser or to its officers, all of whom receive remuneration for their services to the Trust from the Adviser or its affiliates. The Board has adopted a deferred compensation plan for independent trustees that enables 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.
During the current fiscal period, Nuveen Securities, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nuveen retained all 12b-1 fees.
As of the end of the reporting period, Nuveen owned shares of the Fund as follows:
Class A Shares | 1,250 | |||
Class C Shares | 1,250 | |||
Class I Shares | 147,500 |
8. Subsequent Events
Change in Contingent Deferred Sales Charge (CDSC) Schedule
Effective November 1, 2015, shareholders purchasing $1 million or more of Class A Shares at NAV without an up-front sales charge will be assessed a CDSC of 1.00% on any shares redeemed within eighteen months of purchase, unless the redemption is eligible for a CDSC reduction or waiver as specified in the Fund’s statement of additional information.
Nuveen Investments | 35 |
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 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Chicago, IL 60606
Custodian U.S. Bank National Association Milwaukee, WI 53202
| Legal Counsel Chapman and Cutler LLP Chicago, IL 60603 | Transfer Agent and Boston Financial Data Services, Inc. Nuveen Investor Services P.O. Box 8530 Boston, MA 02266-8530 (800)257-8787 |
| ||||||||||||||
Distribution Information: The Fund hereby designates its percentages of dividends paid from net ordinary income as dividends qualifying for the 70% dividends received deduction (“DRD”) for corporations and its percentages as qualified dividend income (“QDI”) for individuals under Section 1 (h)(11) of the Internal Revenue Code as shown in the accompanying table. The actual qualified dividend income distributions will be reported to shareholders on Form 1099-DIV which will be sent to shareholders shortly after calendar year end. | ||||||||||||||
% QDI | 32% | |||||||||||||
% DRD | 17% |
| ||||||||||||||
Quarterly Form N-Q Portfolio of Investments Information: The 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 on Form N-Q. You may obtain this information directly from the SEC. Visit the SEC on-line at http://www.sec.gov or in person at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, D.C. Call the SEC toll-free at (800) SEC-0330 for room hours and operation. | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
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 Investments 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 Investments 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.FINRA.org. |
36 | Nuveen Investments |
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 distributions and capital gains, if any) over the time period being considered.
Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index: The index covers the U.S. investment grade fixed rate bond market, with index components for government and corporate securities, mortgage pass through securities and asset-backed securities. These major sectors are subdivided into more specific indexes that are calculated and reported on a regular basis. Index returns assume reinvestment of distributions, but do not include the effects of any applicable sales charges or management fees.
BofA/Merrill Lynch 3-Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index: An unmanaged index that is comprised of a single U.S. Treasury issue with approximately three months to final maturity, purchased at the beginning of each month and held for one full month. The index returns assume reinvestment of distributions, but do not reflect any applicable sales charges or management fees.
Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) Volatility Index (the “VIX”): A measure of market expectations of 30-day volatility. It is constructed using the implied volatilities of a wide range of S&P 500® Index options. 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 Absolute Return Funds Classification Average: Represents the average annualized total return for all reporting funds in the Lipper Absolute Return Funds Classification. Lipper returns account for the effects of management fees and assume reinvestment of distributions but do not reflect any applicable sales charges.
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: A free-float-adjusted market capitalization index that is designed to measure equity market performance in the global emerging markets. 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.
S&P 500® Index: An unmanaged index generally considered representative of the U.S. stock market. Index returns assume reinvestment of distributions, but do not include the effects of 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.
Nuveen Investments | 37 |
Annual Investment Management Agreement
Approval Process (Unaudited)
The Board of Trustees of the Fund (the “Board,” and each Trustee, a “Board Member”), including the Board Members who are not parties to the Fund’s advisory or sub-advisory agreements or “interested persons” of any such parties (the “Independent Board Members”), is responsible for overseeing the performance of the investment adviser and sub-adviser to the Fund and determining whether to continue the Fund’s advisory agreement (the “Investment Management Agreement”) between the Fund and Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC (the “Adviser”) and the sub-advisory agreement (the “Sub-Advisory Agreement” and, together with the Investment Management Agreement, the “Advisory Agreements”) between the Adviser and Nuveen Asset Management, LLC (the “Sub-Adviser”). Following an initial term with respect to the Fund upon its commencement of operations, the Board is required to consider the continuation of the Advisory Agreements on an annual basis pursuant to the requirements of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”). Accordingly, at an in-person meeting held on May 11-13, 2015 (the “May Meeting”), the Board, including a majority of the Independent Board Members, considered and approved the existing Advisory Agreements for the Fund.
In preparation for its considerations at the May Meeting, the Board received in advance of the meeting extensive materials prepared in connection with the review of the Advisory Agreements. The materials provided a broad range of information regarding the Fund, including, among other things, the nature, extent and quality of services provided by the Adviser and Sub-Adviser (the Adviser and Sub-Adviser are collectively, the “Fund Advisers” and each, a “Fund Adviser”); Fund performance including performance assessments against the appropriate benchmark(s); fee and expense information of the Fund; a description and assessment of shareholder service levels for the Fund; a summary of the performance of certain service providers; a review of product initiatives and shareholder communications; and profitability information of the Fund Advisers as described in further detail below. As part of its annual review, the Board also held a separate meeting on April 14-15, 2015 to review the Fund’s investment performance and consider an analysis by the Adviser of the Sub-Adviser which generally evaluated the Sub-Adviser’s investment team, investment mandate, organizational structure and history, investment philosophy and process, and the performance of the Fund, and any significant changes to the foregoing. During the review, the Independent Board Members asked questions of and requested additional information from management.
The Board considered that the evaluation process with respect to the Fund Advisers is an ongoing process that encompassed the information and knowledge gained throughout the year. The Board, acting directly or through its committees, met regularly during the course of the year and received information and considered factors at each meeting that would be relevant to its annual consideration of the Advisory Agreements, including information relating to Fund performance; Fund expenses; investment team evaluations; and valuation, compliance, regulatory and risk matters. In addition to regular reports, the Adviser provided special reports to the Board to enhance the Board’s understanding on topics that impact some or all of the Nuveen funds and the Adviser (such as presentations on risk and stress testing; the new governance, risk and compliance system; cybersecurity developments; Nuveen fund accounting and reporting matters; regulatory developments impacting the investment company industry and the business plans or other matters impacting the Adviser). The Board also met with key investment personnel managing certain Nuveen fund portfolios during the year.
The Board had created several standing committees including the Open-End Funds Committee and the Closed-End Funds Committee to assist the full Board in monitoring and gaining a deeper insight into the distinctive business practices of closed-end and open-end funds. These Committees met prior to each quarterly Board meeting, and the Adviser provided presentations to these Committees permitting them to delve further into specific matters or initiatives impacting the respective product line.
The Board also continued its program of seeking to have the Board Members or a subset thereof visit each sub-adviser to the Nuveen funds at least once over a multiple year rotation, meeting with key investment and business personnel. In this regard, the Independent Board Members made site visits to multiple equity and fixed-income investment teams of the Sub-Adviser in June 2014.
The Board considered the information provided and knowledge gained at these meetings and visits during the year when performing its annual review of the Advisory Agreements. The Independent Board Members also were assisted throughout the process by independent legal counsel. During the course of the year and during their deliberations regarding the review of advisory contracts, the Independent Board Members met with independent legal counsel in executive sessions without management present. The Independent Board Members also received a memorandum from independent legal counsel outlining the legal standards for their consideration of the proposed continuation of the Advisory Agreements. In addition, it is important to recognize that the management arrangements for the Nuveen funds are the result of many years of review and discussion between the Independent Board Members and Fund management and that the Board Members’ conclusions may be based, in part, on their consideration of fee arrangements and other factors developed in previous years.
The Board took into account all factors it believed relevant with respect to the Fund, including, among other things: (a) the nature, extent and quality of the services provided by the Fund Advisers; (b) the investment performance of the Fund and Fund Advisers; (c) the advisory fees and costs of the services to be provided to the Fund and the profitability of the Fund Advisers; (d) the extent of any economies of scale; (e) any benefits derived by the Fund Advisers from the relationship with the Fund; and (f) other factors. Each Board Member may have accorded different weight to the various factors
38 | Nuveen Investments |
in reaching his or her conclusions with respect to the Advisory Agreements of the Fund. The Independent Board Members did not identify any single factor as all-important or controlling. The Independent Board Members’ considerations were instead based on a comprehensive consideration of all the information presented. The principal factors considered by the Board and its conclusions are described below.
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 Fund. The Board reviewed information regarding, among other things, each Fund Adviser’s organization and business, the types of services that each Fund Adviser or its affiliates provided to the Fund, the performance record of the Fund (as described in further detail below), and any initiatives that had been undertaken on behalf of the open-end product line. The Board recognized the high quality of services the Adviser had provided to the Fund over the years and the conscientiousness with which the Adviser provided these services. The Board also considered the improved capital structure of Nuveen Investments, Inc. (“Nuveen”) (the parent of the Adviser) following the acquisition of Nuveen by TIAA-CREF in 2014 (the “TIAA-CREF Transaction”).
With respect to the services, the Board noted the Fund was a registered investment company that operated in a regulated industry and considered the myriad of investment management, administrative, compliance, oversight and other services the Adviser provided to manage and operate the Fund. Such services included, among other things: (a) product management (such as analyzing ways to better position a Nuveen fund in the marketplace, setting dividends; maintaining relationships to gain access to distribution platforms; and providing shareholder communications); (b) fund administration (such as preparing tax returns and other tax compliance services, preparing regulatory filings and shareholder reports; managing fund budgets and expenses; overseeing a fund’s various service providers and supporting and analyzing new and existing funds); (c) Board administration (such as supporting the Board and its committees, in relevant part, by organizing and administering the Board and committee meetings and preparing the necessary reports to assist the Board in its duties); (d) compliance (such as monitoring adherence to a fund’s investment policies and procedures and applicable law; reviewing the compliance program periodically and developing new policies or updating existing compliance policies and procedures as considered necessary or appropriate; responding to regulatory requests; and overseeing compliance testing of the funds’ sub-advisers); (e) legal support (such as preparing or reviewing fund registration statements, proxy statements and other necessary materials; interpreting regulatory requirements and compliance thereof; and maintaining applicable registrations); and (f) investment services (such as overseeing and reviewing the funds’ sub-advisers and their investment teams; analyzing performance of the funds; overseeing investment and risk management; evaluating brokerage transactions and securities lending, overseeing the daily valuation process for portfolio securities and developing and recommending valuation policies and methodologies and changes thereto; reporting to the Board on various matters including performance, risk and valuation; and participating in fund development, leverage management, and the developing or interpreting of investment policies and parameters).
In its review, the Board considered information highlighting the various initiatives that the Adviser had implemented or continued during the last year to enhance its services to the Nuveen funds. The Board recognized that some of these initiatives are a result of a multi-year process. In reviewing the activities of 2014, the Board recognized the Adviser’s continued focus on fund rationalization for open-end funds through mergers, fund closures or repositioning the funds in seeking to enhance shareholder value, reduce costs, improve performance, eliminate fund overlap and better meet shareholder needs. The Board noted the Adviser’s investment in additional staffing to strengthen and improve its services to the Nuveen funds, including with respect to risk management and valuation. The Board recognized that expanding the depth and range of its risk oversight activities had been a major priority for the Adviser in recent years, and the Adviser continued to add to the risk management team, develop additional risk management programs and create committees or other teams designated to oversee or evaluate certain risks, such as liquidity risk, enterprise risk, investment risk and cybersecurity risk. The Adviser had also continued to add to the valuation team, launched its centralized securities valuation system which is intended to provide for uniform pricing and reporting across the complex as the system continues to develop, continued to refine its valuation analysis and updated related policies and procedures and evaluated and assessed pricing services. The Board considered the Adviser’s ongoing investment in information technology and operations and the various projects of the information technology team to support the continued growth and complexity of the Nuveen funds and increase efficiencies in their operations. The Board also recognized the Adviser’s strong commitment to compliance and reviewed information reflecting the compliance group’s ongoing activities to enhance its compliance system and refine its compliance procedures as well as the Chief Compliance Officer’s report regarding the compliance team, the initiatives the team had undertaken in 2014 and proposed for 2015, the compliance functions and reporting process, the record of compliance with the policies and procedures and its supervision activities of other service providers.
With respect to the open-end fund product line, the Adviser had also, among other things: developed new funds in seeking to enhance the product line; enhanced the reporting to the Board and its committees regarding payments to intermediaries; and continued to explore opportunities for potential funds.
As noted, the Adviser also oversees the Sub-Adviser who primarily provides the portfolio advisory services to the Fund. The Board recognized the skill and competency of the Adviser in monitoring and analyzing the performance of the Sub-Adviser and managing the sub-advisory relationship. In considering the Sub-Advisory Agreement and supplementing its prior knowledge, the Board considered a current report provided by the Adviser analyzing, among other things, the Sub-Adviser’s investment team and changes thereto, investment approach, organization and history, and assets under management, and the investment performance of the Fund.
Nuveen Investments | 39 |
Annual Investment Management Agreement Approval Process (Unaudited) (continued)
Based on their review, the Independent Board Members found that, overall, the nature, extent and quality of services provided to the Fund under each respective Advisory Agreement were satisfactory.
B. The Investment Performance of the Fund and Fund Advisers
The Board, including the Independent Board Members, considered the performance history of the Fund over various time periods. The Board reviewed reports, including an analysis of the Fund’s performance and the investment team. The Board reviewed, among other things, the Fund’s investment performance both on an absolute basis and in comparison to its benchmark for the quarter and one-year periods ending December 31, 2014 as well as performance information reflecting the first quarter of 2015. In its review, the Board noted that it also reviewed Fund performance results at each of its quarterly meetings.
In evaluating performance, the Board recognized several factors that may impact the performance data as well as the consideration given to particular performance data.
• | The performance data reflected a snapshot in time, in this case as of the end of the most recent calendar year or quarter. A different performance period, however, could generate significantly different results. |
• | Long-term performance can be adversely affected by even one period of significant underperformance so that a single investment decision or theme had the ability to disproportionately affect long-term performance. |
• | The investment experience of a particular shareholder in a fund would vary depending on when such shareholder invested in the fund, the class held (if multiple classes are offered in the fund) and the performance of the fund (or respective class) during that shareholder’s investment period. |
• | Open-end funds offer multiple classes and the performance data provided for open-end funds was based on Class A shares. The performance of the other classes of a fund, however, should be substantially similar on a relative basis because all of the classes would be invested in the same portfolio of securities and differences in performance among classes could be principally attributed to the variations in distribution and servicing expenses of each class. |
• | The Board considered the Fund’s performance compared to its benchmark to help assess the Fund’s comparative performance. While the Board was cognizant of the relative performance of the Fund’s benchmark, the Board evaluated Fund performance in light of the Fund’s investment objectives, investment parameters and guidelines and considered that the variations between the objectives and investment parameters or guidelines of the Fund with its benchmark result in differences in performance results. |
With respect to any Nuveen funds for which the Board has identified performance concerns, the Board monitors such funds closely until performance improves, discusses with the Adviser the reasons for such results, considers those steps necessary or appropriate to address such issues, and reviews the results of any efforts undertaken. The Board is aware, however, that shareholders chose to invest or remain invested in a fund knowing that the Adviser manages the fund and knowing the fund’s fee structure.
In considering the performance data, the Independent Board Members noted that the Fund had not been publicly offered and therefore a peer group was not available at the time of the annual review. The Board, however, noted that the Fund outperformed its benchmark for the one-year period. The Board further noted that the Fund was relatively new with a performance history that was too short for a conclusive assessment of its limited performance record.
C. Fees, Expenses and Profitability
1. Fees and Expenses
The Board evaluated the management fees and other fees and expenses of the Fund (expressed as a percentage of average net assets) in absolute terms and in comparison to the fee and expense levels of a comparable universe of funds (the “Peer Universe”) and, with respect to open-end funds, to a more focused subset in the Peer Universe (the “Peer Group”), each selected by an independent third-party fund data provider. The Independent Board Members reviewed the methodology regarding the construction of the Peer Universe and Peer Group for the Fund. The Board reviewed, among other things, the Fund’s gross management fees, net management fees and net expense ratios in absolute terms as well as compared to the average and median fee and expense levels of the Peer Universe and/or Peer Group. The Board noted that the net total expense ratio paid by investors in the Fund was the most representative of an investor’s net experience. The Board Members also considered any fee waivers and/or expense reimbursement arrangements currently in effect for the Fund.
In reviewing the comparative fee and expense information, the Independent Board Members recognized that various factors such as the limited size and particular composition of the Peer Universe or Peer Group (including the inclusion of other Nuveen funds in the peer set); expense anomalies; changes in the funds comprising the Peer Universe or Peer Group from year to year; levels of reimbursement or fee waivers; the timing of information used; and differences in services provided can impact the comparative data limiting the usefulness of the data to help make a conclusive assessment of the Fund’s fees and expenses.
40 | Nuveen Investments |
In reviewing the fee schedule for a fund, the Independent Board Members also considered the fund-level and complex-wide breakpoint schedules (described in further detail below) and any fee waivers and reimbursements provided by Nuveen. In reviewing fees and expenses, the Board considered the expenses and fees to be higher if they were over 10 basis points higher, slightly higher if they were approximately 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. In reviewing the reports, the Board noted that the majority of the Nuveen funds had a net expense ratio near or below their peer average.
The Independent Board Members recognized that the Fund had a net management fee and a net expense ratio below its peer averages (noting that there was not a management fee after fee waivers and expense reimbursements for the latest fiscal year).
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 provided to the Fund.
2. Comparisons with the Fees of Other Clients
The Board considered information regarding the fees a Fund Adviser assessed to the Nuveen funds compared to that 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), hedge funds, 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 recognized that the Fund had an affiliated sub-adviser and therefore the overall Fund management fee can be divided into two components, the fee retained by the Adviser and the fee paid to the Sub-Adviser. In reviewing the nature of the services provided by the Adviser, including through its affiliated sub-advisers, the Board considered the range of advisory fee rates for retail and institutional managed accounts advised by Nuveen-affiliated sub-advisers. The Board also reviewed, among other things, the average fee the affiliated sub-advisers assessed such clients as well as the range of fee rates assessed to the different types of clients (such as retail, institutional and wrap accounts as well as non-Nuveen funds) applicable to such sub-advisers.
In reviewing the comparative information, the Board also reviewed information regarding the differences between the Fund and the other clients, including differences in services provided, investment policies, investor profiles, compliance and regulatory requirements and account sizes. The Board recognized the breadth of services necessary to operate a registered investment company (as described above) and that, in general terms, the Adviser provided the administrative and other support services to the Fund and, although the Sub-Adviser may provide some of these services, the Sub-Adviser essentially provided the portfolio management services. In general, the Board noted that higher fee levels 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 Independent Board Members considered the differences in structure and operations of separately managed accounts and hedge funds from registered funds and noted that the range of day-to-day services was not generally of the breadth required for the registered funds. Many of the additional administrative services provided by the Adviser were not required for institutional clients or funds sub-advised by a Nuveen-affiliated sub-adviser that were offered by other fund groups. The Independent Board Members also recognized that the management fee rates of the foreign funds advised by the Adviser may vary due to, among other things, differences in the client base, governing bodies, operational complexities and services covered by the management fee. Given the inherent differences in the various products, particularly the extensive services provided to the Fund, the Independent Board Members believed such facts justify the different levels of fees.
3. Profitability of Fund Advisers
In conjunction with their review of fees, the Independent Board Members also considered the profitability of Nuveen for its advisory activities and its financial condition. The Independent Board Members reviewed, among other things, the adjusted operating margins for Nuveen for the last two calendar years, the revenues, expenses, net income (pre-tax and after-tax) and net revenue margins (pre-tax and after-tax) of Nuveen’s managed fund advisory activities for the last two calendar years, the allocation methodology used by Nuveen in preparing the profitability data and a history of the adjustments to the methodology due to changes in the business over time. The Independent Board Members also reviewed the revenues, expenses, net income (pre-tax and after-tax) and revenue margin (pre-tax and post-tax) of the Adviser and, as described in further detail below, each affiliated sub-adviser for the 2014 calendar year. In reviewing the profitability data, the Independent Board Members noted the subjective nature of cost allocation methodologies used to determine profitability as other reasonable methods could also have been employed but yield different results. The Independent Board Members reviewed an analysis of the key drivers behind the changes in revenues and expenses that impacted profitability in 2014. The Independent Board Members recognized that Nuveen’s net revenue margin from advisory activities for 2014 was consistent with 2013. The Independent Board Members also considered the profitability of Nuveen in comparison to the adjusted operating margins of other investment advisers with publicly available data and with comparable assets under management (based on asset size and asset composition) to Nuveen. The Independent Board Members noted that Nuveen’s adjusted operating margins appeared to be reasonable in relation to such other advisers. The Independent Board Members, however, recognized the difficulty of making comparisons of profitability from fund
Nuveen Investments | 41 |
Annual Investment Management Agreement Approval Process (Unaudited) (continued)
investment advisory contracts as the information is not generally publicly available, the information for the investment advisers that was publicly available may not be representative of the industry and various other factors would impact the profitability data such as differences in services offered, business mix, expense methodology and allocations, capital structure and costs, complex size, and types of funds and other accounts managed.
The Independent Board Members noted this information supplemented the profitability information requested and received during the year and noted that two Independent Board Members served as point persons to review the profitability analysis and methodologies employed, and any changes thereto, and to keep the Board apprised of such changes during the year.
The Independent Board Members determined that Nuveen appeared to be sufficiently profitable to operate as a viable investment management firm and to honor its obligations as a sponsor of the Nuveen funds. The Independent Board Members noted the Adviser’s continued expenditures to upgrade its investment technology and increase personnel and recognized the Adviser’s continued commitment to its business to enhance the Adviser’s capacity and capabilities in providing the services necessary to meet the needs of the Nuveen funds as they grow or change over time. The Independent Board Members also noted that the sub-advisory fees for the Nuveen funds are paid by the Adviser, however, the Board recognized that many of the sub-advisers, including the Sub-Adviser, are affiliated with Nuveen. The Independent Board Members also noted the increased resources and support available to Nuveen as well as an improved capital structure as a result of the TIAA-CREF Transaction.
With respect to the Sub-Adviser, 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, 2014. The Independent Board Members also reviewed profitability analysis reflecting the revenues, expenses and the revenue margin (pre- and post-tax) by asset type for the Sub-Adviser for the calendar year ended December 31, 2014.
In evaluating the reasonableness of the compensation, the Independent Board Members also considered other amounts paid to a Fund Adviser by the Fund as well as indirect benefits (such as soft dollar arrangements), if any, the Fund Adviser and its affiliates received or were expected to receive that were 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 their review, the Independent Board Members determined that the Adviser’s and the Sub-Adviser’s level of profitability was reasonable in light of the respective services provided.
D. Economies of Scale and Whether Fee Levels Reflect These Economies of Scale
The Independent Board Members recognized that, as the assets of a particular fund or the Nuveen complex in the aggregate increase over time, economies of scale may be realized, and the Independent Board Members considered the extent to which the funds benefit from such economies of scale. Although the Independent Board Members recognized that economies of scale are difficult to measure, the Board recognized that one method to help ensure the shareholders share in these benefits is to include breakpoints in the management fee schedule reducing fee rates as asset levels grow. The Independent Board Members noted that, subject to certain exceptions, the management fees of the funds in the Nuveen complex are generally comprised of a fund-level component and complex-level component. Each component of the management fee for the Fund included breakpoints to reduce management fee rates of the Fund as the Fund grows and, as described below, as the Nuveen complex grows. In addition to fund-specific breakpoint schedules which reduce the fee rates of a particular fund as its assets increase, the Independent Board Members recognized that the Adviser also passed on the benefits of economies of scale through the complex-wide fee arrangement which reduced management fee rates as assets in the fund complex reached certain levels. The complex-wide fee arrangement seeks to provide the benefits of economies of scale to fund shareholders when total fund complex assets increase, even if assets of a particular fund are unchanged or have decreased. The approach reflected the notion that some of Nuveen’s costs were attributable to services provided to all its funds in the complex, and therefore all funds benefit if these costs were spread over a larger asset base. The Independent Board Members reviewed the breakpoint and complex-wide schedules and the fee reductions achieved as a result of such structures for the 2014 calendar year.
The Independent Board Members also noted that additional economies of scale were shared with shareholders of the Fund through the adoption of a temporary expense cap. The Independent Board Members further considered that as part of the TIAA-CREF Transaction, Nuveen agreed, for a period of two years from the date of the closing of the TIAA-CREF Transaction, not to increase contractual management fees for any Nuveen fund and, with respect to funds with expense caps, not to raise expense cap levels for such funds from levels in effect at that time or scheduled to go into effect prior to the closing of the TIAA-CREF Transaction. The commitment would not limit or otherwise affect mergers or liquidations of any funds in the ordinary course.
Based on their review, the Independent Board Members concluded that the current fee structure was acceptable and reflected economies of scale to be shared with shareholders when assets under management increase.
42 | Nuveen Investments |
E. Indirect Benefits
The Independent Board Members received and considered information regarding potential “fall out” or ancillary benefits the respective Fund Adviser or its affiliates may receive as a result of its relationship with the Fund. In this regard, the Independent Board Members recognized that an affiliate of the Adviser served as the Fund’s principal underwriter and may receive compensation therefore from, among other things, sales charges, distribution fees and shareholder services fees (which included fees received pursuant to any 12b-1 plan). The Independent Board Members therefore took into account, among other things, the 12b-1 fees retained by Nuveen during the last calendar year.
In addition to the above, the Independent Board Members considered whether the Fund Adviser received any benefits from soft dollar arrangements whereby a portion of the commissions paid by the Fund for brokerage may be used to acquire research that may be useful to the Fund Adviser in managing the assets of the Fund and other clients. The Fund’s portfolio transactions are allocated by the Sub-Adviser. Accordingly, the Independent Board Members considered that the Sub-Adviser may benefit from research provided by broker-dealers executing portfolio transactions on behalf of the Fund. With respect to any fixed income securities, however, the Board recognized that such securities generally trade on a principal basis that does not generate soft dollar credits. Similarly, the Board recognized that any research received pursuant to soft dollar arrangements by the Sub-Adviser may also benefit the Fund and shareholders to the extent the research enhanced the ability of the Sub-Adviser to manage the Fund. The Independent Board Members noted that the Sub-Adviser’s profitability may be somewhat lower if it had to acquire any such research services directly.
Based on their review, the Independent Board Members concluded that any indirect benefits received by a Fund Adviser as a result of its relationship with the Fund were reasonable and within acceptable parameters.
F. Other Considerations
The Independent 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 the Fund and that the Advisory Agreements be renewed.
Nuveen Investments | 43 |
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 trustees of the Funds. The number of directors of the Funds is currently set at eleven. None of the trustees who are not “interested” persons of the Funds (referred to herein as “independent trustees”) has ever been a director or employee of, or consultant to, Nuveen or its affiliates. The names and business addresses of the 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 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 Trustee | ||||
Independent Trustee: | ||||||||
William J. Schneider 1944 333 W. Wacker Drive Chicago, IL 60606 | Chairman of the Board and Trustee | 1996 | Chairman of Miller-Valentine Partners, a real estate investment company; formerly, Senior Partner and Chief Operating Officer (retired 2004) of Miller-Valentine Group; owner in several other Miller-Valentine entities; Board Member of Med-America Health System, and WDPR Public Radio Station; formerly, member, Business Advisory Council, Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank and University of Dayton Business School Advisory Council. | 196 | ||||
Jack B. Evans 1948 333 W. Wacker Drive Chicago, IL 60606 | Trustee | 1999 | President, The Hall-Perrine Foundation, a private philanthropic corporation (since 1996); Director and Chairman, United Fire Group, a publicly held company; formerly, President Pro-Tem of the Board of Regents for the State of Iowa University System; Director, Source Media Group; Life Trustee of Coe College; formerly, Director, Alliant Energy; formerly, Director, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago; formerly, President and Chief Operating Officer, SCI Financial Group, Inc., a regional financial services firm. | 196 | ||||
William C. Hunter 1948 333 W. Wacker Drive Chicago, IL 60606 | Trustee | 2004 | Dean Emeritus, formerly, Dean, Tippie College of Business, University of Iowa (2006-2012); Director (since 2004) of Xerox Corporation; Director (since 2005), and President (since 2012) Beta Gamma Sigma, Inc., The International Business Honor Society; Director of Wellmark, Inc. (since 2009); formerly, 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. | 196 | ||||
David J. Kundert 1942 333 W. Wacker Drive Chicago, IL 60606 | Trustee | 2005 | Formerly, Director, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company (2006-2013); retired (since 2004) as Chairman, JPMorgan Fleming Asset Management, President and CEO, Banc One Investment Advisors Corporation, and President, One Group Mutual Funds; prior thereto, Executive Vice President, Banc One Corporation and Chairman and CEO, Banc One Investment Management Group; Regent Emeritus, Member of Investment Committee, Luther College; member of the Wisconsin Bar Association; member of Board of Directors and Chair of Investment Committee, Greater Milwaukee Foundation; member of the Board of Directors (Milwaukee), College Possible. | 196 |
44 | Nuveen Investments |
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 Trustee | ||||
John K. Nelson 1962 333 West Wacker Drive Chicago, IL 60606 | Trustee | 2013 | Member of Board of Directors of Core12 LLC (since 2008), a private firm which develops branding, marketing and communications strategies for clients; Director of The Curran Center for Catholic American Studies (since 2009) and The President’s Council, Fordham University (since 2010); 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. | 196 | ||||
Judith M. Stockdale 1947 333 W. Wacker Drive Chicago, IL 60606 | 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). | 196 | ||||
Carole E. Stone 1947 333 W. Wacker Drive Chicago, IL 60606 | Trustee | 2007 | Director, Chicago Board Options Exchange (since 2006), C2 Options Exchange, Incorporated (since 2009) Director, CBOE Holdings, Inc. (since 2010); formerly, Commissioner, New York State Commission on Public Authority Reform (2005-2010). | 196 | ||||
Virginia L. Stringer 1944 333 W. Wacker Drive Chicago, IL 60606 | Trustee | 2011 | Board Member, Mutual Fund Directors Forum; non-profit board member; former governance consultant; former Owner and President, Strategic Management Resources, Inc., a management consulting firm; former Member, Governing Board, Investment Company Institute’s Independent Directors Council; previously, held several executive positions in general management, marketing and human resources at IBM and The Pillsbury Company; Independent Director, First American Fund Complex (1987-2010) and Chair (1997-2010). | 196 | ||||
Terence J. Toth 1959 333 W. Wacker Drive Chicago, IL 60606 | Trustee | 2008 | Managing Partner, Promus Capital (since 2008); Director, Fulcrum IT Service LLC (since 2010), Quality Control Corporation (since 2012) and LogicMark LLC (since 2012); 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); member: Chicago Fellowship Board (since 2005), Catalyst Schools of Chicago Board (since 2008) and Mather Foundation Board (since 2012), and a member of its investment committee; 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). | 196 |
Nuveen Investments | 45 |
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 Trustee | ||||
Interested Trustee: | ||||||||
William Adams IV(2) 1955 333 W. Wacker Drive Chicago, IL 60606 | Trustee | 2013 | Senior Executive Vice President, Global Structured Products (since 2010); Co-President of Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC (since 2011); Executive Vice President of Nuveen Securities, LLC; President (since 2011), formerly, Managing Director (2010-2011) of Nuveen Commodities Asset Management, LLC; Board Member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and of Gilda’s Club Chicago; formerly, Executive Vice President, U.S. Structured Products, of Nuveen Investments, Inc. (1999-2010). | 196 | ||||
Thomas S. Schreier, Jr.(2) 1962 333 W. Wacker Drive Chicago, IL 60606 | Trustee | 2013 | Vice Chairman, Wealth Management of Nuveen Investments, Inc. (since 2011); Co-President of Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC; Chairman of Nuveen Asset Management, LLC (since 2011); Co-Chief Executive Officer of Nuveen Securities, LLC (since 2011); Member of Board of Governors and Chairman’s Council of the Investment Company Institute; Director of Allina Health and a Member of its Finance, Audit and Investment Committees, formerly, Chief Executive Officer (2000-2010) and Chief Investment Officer (2007-2010) of FAF Advisors, Inc.; formerly, President of First American Funds (2001-2010). | 196 |
Name, Year of Birth & Address | Position(s) Held with the Funds | Year First Elected or Appointed (3) | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by | ||||
Officers of the Funds: | ||||||||
Gifford R. Zimmerman 1956 333 W. Wacker Drive Chicago, IL 60606 | Chief Administrative Officer | 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); Managing Director and Assistant Secretary of Symphony Asset Management LLC (since 2003); Vice President and Assistant Secretary of NWQ Investment Management Company, LLC (since 2002), Nuveen Investments Advisers Inc. (since 2002), Santa Barbara Asset Management, LLC (since 2006) and of Winslow Capital Management, LLC, (since 2010); Vice President and Assistant Secretary (since 2013), formerly, Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Compliance Officer (2006-2013) of Nuveen Commodities Asset Management, LLC; Chartered Financial Analyst. | 197 | ||||
Margo L. Cook 1964 333 W. Wacker Drive Chicago, IL 60606 | Vice President | 2009 | Senior Executive Vice President of Nuveen Investments, Inc.; Executive Vice President, Investment Services of Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC (since 2011); Managing Director – Investment Services of Nuveen Commodities Asset Management, LLC (since 2011); Co-Chief Executive Officer (since 2015); previously, Executive Vice President (2013-2015) of Nuveen Securities, LLC; Chartered Financial Analyst. | 197 | ||||
Lorna C. Ferguson 1945 333 W. Wacker Drive Chicago, IL 60606 | Vice President | 1998 | Managing Director (since 2005) of Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC and Nuveen Securities, LLC (since 2004). | 197 |
46 | Nuveen Investments |
Name, Year of Birth & Address | Position(s) Held with the Funds | Year First Elected or Appointed (3) | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by | ||||
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; Chief Financial Officer of Nuveen Commodities Asset Management, LLC (since 2010); Certified Public Accountant. | 197 | ||||
Sherri A. Hlavacek 1962 333 W. Wacker Drive Chicago, IL 60606 | Vice President and Treasurer | 2015 | Executive Vice President (since May 2015, formerly, Managing Director) and Controller of Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC; Managing Director and Controller of Nuveen Commodities Asset Management, LLC; Executive Vice President (since May 2015, formerly, Managing Director), Treasurer and Controller of Nuveen Asset Management, LLC; Executive Vice President, Principal Financial Officer (since July 2015, formerly, Managing Director), Treasurer and Corporate Controller of Nuveen Investments, Inc.; Executive Vice President (since May 2015, formerly, Managing Director), Treasurer and Corporate Controller of Nuveen Investments Advisers Inc. and Nuveen Investments Holdings, Inc.; Managing Director, Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Controller of Nuveen Securities, LLC; Vice President, Controller and Treasurer of NWQ Investment Management Company, LLC; Vice President and Controller of Santa Barbara Asset Management, LLC, Tradewinds Global Investors, LLC, Symphony Asset Management LLC and Winslow Capital Management, LLC; Certified Public Accountant. | 197 | ||||
Walter M. Kelly 1970 333 W. Wacker Drive Chicago, IL 60606 | Chief Compliance Officer and Vice President | 2003 | Senior Vice President (since 2008) of Nuveen Investments Holdings, Inc. | 197 | ||||
Tina M. Lazar 1961 333 W. Wacker Drive Chicago, IL 60606 | Vice President | 2002 | Senior Vice President of Nuveen Investments Holdings, Inc. and Nuveen Securities, LLC | 197 | ||||
Kevin J. McCarthy 1966 333 W. Wacker Drive Chicago, IL 60606 | Vice President and Secretary | 2007 | Managing Director and Assistant Secretary (since 2008), Nuveen Securities, LLC; Managing Director (since 2008), Assistant Secretary (since 2007) and Co-General Counsel (since 2011) of Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC; Managing Director, Assistant Secretary and Associate General Counsel (since 2011) of Nuveen Asset Management, LLC; Managing Director and Assistant Secretary, Nuveen Investments, Inc.; Vice President (since 2007) and Assistant Secretary of Nuveen Investments Advisers Inc., NWQ Investment Management Company, LLC, Tradewinds Global Investors LLC, Symphony Asset Management LLC, Santa Barbara Asset Management, LLC, and of Winslow Capital Management, LLC. (since 2010); Vice President and Secretary (since 2010) of Nuveen Commodities Asset Management, LLC. | 197 | ||||
Kathleen L. Prudhomme 1953 901 Marquette Avenue Minneapolis, MN 55402 | Vice President and Assistant Secretary | 2011 | Managing Director, Assistant Secretary and Co-General Counsel (since 2011) of Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC; Managing Director, Assistant Secretary and Associate General Counsel (since 2011) of Nuveen Asset Management, LLC; Managing Director and Assistant Secretary (since 2011) of Nuveen Securities, LLC; formerly, Deputy General Counsel, FAF Advisors, Inc. (2004-2010). | 197 | ||||
Joel T. Slager 1978 333 West 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). | 197 |
Nuveen Investments | 47 |
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Name, Year of Birth & Address | Position(s) Held with the Funds | Year First Elected or Appointed (3) | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by | ||||
Jeffery M. Wilson 1956 333 West Wacker Drive Chicago, IL 60606 | Vice President | 2011 | Senior Vice President of Nuveen Securities, LLC (since 2011); formerly, Senior Vice President of FAF Advisors, Inc. (2000-2010). | 108 |
(1) | Trustees serve an indefinite term until his/her successor is elected or appointed. Ms. Stringer will retire from the Board as of December 31, 2015. The year first elected or appointed represents the year in which the trustee was first elected or appointed to any fund in the Nuveen Fund Complex. |
(2) | “Interested persons” of the Trust, as defined in the 1940 Act, by reason of their positions with Nuveen and certain of its subsidiaries. |
(3) | 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. |
48 | Nuveen Investments |
Notes
Nuveen Investments | 49 |
Notes
50 | Nuveen Investments |
Notes
Nuveen Investments | 51 |
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
Nuveen Investments: | ||||||||||||||
Serving Investors for Generations | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
Since 1898, financial advisors and their clients have relied on Nuveen Investments to provide dependable investment solutions through continued adherence to proven, long-term investing principles. Today, we offer a range of high quality equity and fixed-income solutions designed to be integral components of a well-diversified core portfolio. | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
Focused on meeting investor needs.
Nuveen Investments provides high-quality investment services designed to help secure the longterm goals of institutional and individual investors as well as the consultants and financial advisors who serve them. Nuveen Investments markets a wide range of specialized investment solutions which provide investors access to capabilities of its high-quality boutique investment affiliates-Nuveen Asset Management, Symphony Asset Management, NWQ Investment Management Company, Santa Barbara Asset Management, Tradewinds Global Investors, Winslow Capital Management, and Gresham Investment Management. In total, Nuveen Investments managed more than $220 billion as of September 30, 2015. | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
Find out how we can help you. To learn more about how the products and services of Nuveen Investments 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 Investments, 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/mf | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
Distributed by Nuveen Securities, LLC | 333 West Wacker Drive Chicago, IL 60606 | www.nuveen.com |
MAN-GTOPSP-0915P 12130-INV-Y-11/6
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.
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 and Jack B. Evans, 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.
ITEM 4. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES.
The following tables show the amount of fees that PricewaterhouseCoopers 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 PricewaterhouseCoopers 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).
SERVICES THAT THE AUDITOR BILLED TO THE FUND
Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2015 | Audit Fees Billed to Fund 1 | Audit-Related Fees Billed to Fund 2 | Tax Fees Billed to Fund 3 | All Other Fees Billed to Fund 4 | ||||||||||||
Fund Name | ||||||||||||||||
Nuveen Global Tactical Opportunities Plus Fund | 16,687 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |||||||||
Total | $ | 16,687 | $ | 0 | $ | 0 | $ | 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 Fund | Audit-Related Fees Billed to Fund | Tax Fees Billed to Fund | All Other Fees Billed to Fund | |||||||||||||
Fund Name | ||||||||||||||||
Nuveen Global Tactical Opportunities Plus Fund | 0 | % | 0 | % | 0 | % | 0 | % | ||||||||
Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2014 | Audit Fees Billed to Fund 1 | Audit-Related Fees Billed to Fund 2 | Tax Fees Billed to Fund 3 | All Other Fees Billed to Fund 4 | ||||||||||||
Fund Name | ||||||||||||||||
Nuveen Global Tactical Opportunities Plus Fund | 16,138 | 0 | 2,575 | 0 | ||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |||||||||
Total | $ | 16,138 | $ | 0 | $ | 2,575 | $ | 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 Fund | Audit-Related Fees Billed to Fund | Tax Fees Billed to Fund | All Other Fees Billed to Fund | |||||||||||||
Fund Name | ||||||||||||||||
Nuveen Global Tactical Opportunities Plus Fund | 0 | % | 0 | % | 0 | % | 0 | % |
Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2015 | 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 Trust | $ | 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 September 30, 2014 | 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 Trust | $ | 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 September 30, 2015 | 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 Tactical Opportunities Plus Fund | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |||||||||
Total | $ | 0 | $ | 0 | $ | 0 | $ | 0 |
“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 September 30, 2014 | 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 Tactical Opportunities Plus Fund | 2,575 | 0 | 0 | 2,575 | ||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |||||||||
Total | $ | 2,575 | $ | 0 | $ | 0 | $ | 2,575 |
“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 second fiscal quarter of 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. 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. | |
(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 Trust
By (Signature and Title) | /s/ Kevin J. McCarthy | |
Kevin J. McCarthy | ||
Vice President and Secretary |
Date: December 4, 2015
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/ Gifford R. Zimmerman | |
Gifford R. Zimmerman | ||
Chief Administrative Officer | ||
(principal executive officer) |
Date: December 4, 2015
By (Signature and Title) | /s/ Stephen D. Foy | |
Stephen D. Foy | ||
Vice President and Controller | ||
(principal financial officer) |
Date: December 4, 2015