applicable, securities lending; evaluate investment risks; and manage valuation matters. The Board further considered that over the course of the 2023 calendar year, the Nuveen global public product team which supports the funds in the fund complex and their shareholders assessed the investment personnel across the investment leadership teams which resulted in additions or other modifications to the portfolio management teams of various funds. The Board also reviewed a description of the compensation structure applicable to certain portfolio managers.
In addition to the above investment advisory services, the Board further considered the extensive compliance, regulatory, administrative and other services the Adviser and its various teams or affiliates provide to manage and operate the applicable funds. Given the highly regulated industry in which the funds operate, the Board considered the breadth of the Adviser’s compliance program and related policies and procedures. The Board reviewed various initiatives the Adviser’s compliance team undertook or continued in 2023, in part, to address new regulatory requirements, support international business growth and product development, enhance international trading capabilities, enhance monitoring capabilities in light of the new regulatory requirements and guidance and maintain a comprehensive training program. The Board further considered, among other things, that other non-advisory services provided included, among other things, board support and reporting; establishing and reviewing the services provided by other fund service providers (such as a fund’s custodian, accountant, and transfer agent); risk management, including reviews of the liquidity risk management and derivatives risk management programs; legal support services; regulatory advocacy; and cybersecurity, business continuity and disaster recovery planning and testing.
Aside from the services provided, the Board considered the financial resources of the Adviser and/or its affiliates and their willingness to make investments in the technology, personnel and infrastructure to support the funds, including to enhance global talent, middle office systems, software and international and internal capabilities. The Board considered the access provided by the Adviser and its affiliates to a seed capital budget to support new or existing funds and/or facilitate changes for a respective fund. The Board considered the benefits to shareholders of investing in a fund that is a part of a large fund complex with a variety of investment disciplines, capabilities, expertise and resources available to navigate and support the funds including during stressed times. The Board considered the overall reputation and capabilities of the Adviser and its affiliates and the Adviser’s continuing commitment to provide high quality services.
In its review, the Board also considered the significant risks borne by the Adviser and its affiliates in connection with their services to the applicable funds, including entrepreneurial risks in sponsoring and supporting new funds and smaller funds and ongoing risks with managing the funds, such as investment, operational, reputational, regulatory, compliance and litigation risks.
With respect to the Funds, the Board considered the division of responsibilities between NFAL and the Sub-Adviser and considered that the Sub-Adviser and its investment personnel generally are responsible for the management of each Fund’s portfolio under the oversight of NFAL and the Board. The Board considered an analysis of the Sub-Adviser provided by NFAL which included, among other things, a summary of changes in the leadership teams and/or portfolio manager teams; the performance of the Nuveen funds sub-advised by the Sub-Adviser over various periods of time; and data reflecting product changes (if any) taken with respect to certain Nuveen funds. The Board considered that NFAL recommended the renewal of the Sub-Advisory Agreements.
Based on its review, the Board determined, in the exercise of its reasonable business judgment, that it was satisfied with the nature, extent and quality of services provided to the respective Funds under each applicable Advisory Agreement.
B. The Investment Performance of the Funds and Fund Advisers
In evaluating the quality of the services provided by the Fund Advisers, the Board also considered a variety of investment performance data of the Funds. In this regard, the Board and/or its Investment Committee reviewed, among other things, performance of the Funds over the quarter, one-, three- and five-year periods ending December 31, 2023 and March 31, 2024. For those Funds with multiple share classes, the performance data was based on Class I shares; however, the performance of other share classes was substantially similar as those other share classes invest in the same portfolio of securities and differences in performance among the classes would be principally attributed to the variations in the expense structures of the share classes. The Board performed its annual review of fund performance at its February Meeting and an additional review at the April Executive Session and also reviewed and discussed performance data at its other regularly scheduled quarterly meetings throughout the year. The Board therefore took into account the performance data, presentations and discussions (written and oral) that were provided at the Meeting and in prior meetings over time in evaluating fund performance, including management’s analysis of a fund’s performance with particular focus on funds that met certain challenged performance measurements as determined pursuant to a methodology approved by the Board or additional measurements as determined by management’s investment analysts. As various Nuveen funds have modified their portfolio teams and/or made significant changes to their portfolio strategies over time, the Board reviewed, among other things, certain tracking performance data over specific periods comparing performance before and after such changes.
The Board considered that performance data reflects performance over a specified period which may differ significantly depending on the ending dates selected, particularly during periods of market volatility. Further, the Board considered that shareholders may evaluate performance based on their own respective holding periods which may differ from the performance periods reviewed by the Board and lead to differing results.
In its evaluation, the Board reviewed fund performance results from different perspectives. In general, subject to certain exceptions, the Board reviewed both absolute and relative fund performance over the various time periods and considered performance results in light of a fund’s investment objective(s), strategies and risks. With respect to the relative performance, the Board considered fund performance in comparison to the performance of peer funds (the “Performance Peer Group”),
