- A Shares
One of the flexible pricing options offered by Nuveen mutual funds. An investor purchasing A shares pays an up-front sales charge plus an on-going 12b-1 service fee over time. The up-front sales charge declines as the amount of the purchase increases, and Nuveen offers a number of additional ways to qualify for a reduced sales charge, including Rights of Accumulation and Letter of Intent (LOI) privileges.
- Absolute Return
This measure looks at the return appreciation or depreciation (expressed as a percentage) that an asset achieves over a given period of time. When used in the context of an investment objective, absolute return strategies seek positive returns regardless of market conditions, rather than returns relative to a benchmark.
- Account Registration
Includes the name(s) that appear on client accounts.
- Accredited Investor
An accredited investor is a person or entity that can deal with securities not registered with financial authorities by satisfying one of the requirements regarding income, net worth, asset size, governance status or professional experience.
- Accreted Value
The current value of your zero-coupon bond, taking into account interest that has been accumulating and automatically reinvested in the bond.
- Accrued Dividend Income
An accrued dividend is remuneration (monetary payment) accumulated but not yet paid by a company to its shareholders.
- Accrued Interest
Interest which accumulates on an investment, but has not yet been paid to the investor is called accrued interest.
- Active Portfolio Management
Management of a fund's investment portfolio that seeks to exceed the returns of an unmanaged ("passive") benchmark or index. Active managers may rely on research, market forecasts and/or quantitative models as well as their own judgment and experience in making investment decisions.
- Active Share
Active share refers to the degree to which the manager’s stock selection differs from a benchmark index; the portfolio holdings of high active share funds differ from an index to a greater degree than a fund with lower active share. There is no guarantee that a fund with high active share will outperform funds with lower active share or the benchmark.
- Advance Refunding
A refinancing approach under which new bonds are issued to repay an outstanding bond issue prior to its first call date. Generally, the proceeds of the new issue are invested in government securities, which are placed in escrow. The interest and principal repayments on these securities are then used to repay the old issue, usually on the first call date.
- Advisory Fee
The amount a fund pays to its investment adviser for the management associated with overseeing the fund's portfolio and managing the fund overall. Also referred to as a Management Fee.
- After-Tax Return
The return from an investment after all income taxes have been deducted. Comparing after-tax returns may help investors determine which investment makes the most sense based on their tax brackets.
- Agency RMBS
Agency RMBS have agency guarantees that assure investors that they will receive timely payment of interest and principal, regardless of delinquency or default rates on the underlying loans. Agency RMBS include securities issued or guaranteed by the Government National Mortgage Association, the Federal National Mortgage Association, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, and other federal agencies.
- Alerian MLP Index
The Alerian MLP Index is the leading gauge of energy Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs). The float-adjusted, capitalization-weighted index, whose constituents represent approximately 85% of total float-adjusted market capitalization, is disseminated real-time on a price-return basis (AMZ) and on a total-return basis (AMZX).
- Alpha
A measure of performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
- Alpha Return
Measures the non-systematic return which cannot be attributed to the market. It shows the difference between a fund’s actual return and its expected return, given its level of systematic (or market) risk as measured by beta. A positive alpha indicates that the fund has performed better than its beta would predict. Alpha is widely viewed as a measure of the value added or lost by a fund manager.
- Alt-A Loans
Alt-A loans tend to be mortgages of fair to decent, but relatively uncertain, credit quality, worse than "prime" but better than "subprime". Alt-A loans are typically characterized by the following: i) limited or alternative documentation, ii) lower levels of owner-occupied and single family, iii) primarily investor properties, iv) floating rate or interest only, and v) higher prepayments due to borrower refinancing.
- Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)
The federal income tax regime in which the taxpayer will pay the "greater of" (a) the taxpayer's "regular" federal income tax or (b) the "alternative minimum" tax determined by adding normally deductible tax preference items back into adjusted gross income. If the alternative income tax calculated by this method is higher than the regular tax liability, the regular tax and the amount by which the AMT exceeds the regular tax are paid.
- Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) - (Non-AMT)
Income exempt from the Alternative Minimum Tax.
- American Depositary Receipt (ADR)
ADRs are receipts issued by a U.S. bank representing shares of a foreign corporation, which are then listed on a U.S. stock exchange or trade in U.S. over-the-counter markets. ADRs enable U.S. investors to invest in foreign-traded stocks in U.S. markets.
- American Stock Exchange (AMEX)
The second largest stock exchange in the U.S. Companies that trade on the AMEX are generally smaller than those traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
- Amortization
Refers either to the natural decline of a bond's premium price toward its par-at-maturity price or some other possible termination price such as a call price, or to the liquidation of a debt through installment payments.
- AMT Bonds
Certain types of municipal bonds whose income is subject to the alternative minimum tax (AMT). AMT bonds include those issued to finance such private purpose activities as industrial redevelopment and sports stadium construction.
- Annual Report
A legally required document that every fund sends to its shareholders within 60 days after the end of the fund's fiscal year. The annual report describes the fund's financial condition and performance and includes a list of portfolio securities and audited financial statements.
- Annualized Rate of Return
The average return over a stated number of years, taking into account the effect of compounding. For example, a 100% return over five years is equivalent to an annualized rate of return of 14.9% per year.
- Ascending, Or Positive, Yield Curve
The interest rate structure which exists when long-term interest rates exceed short-term interest rates.
- Asset Allocation
The process of apportioning your investment across various classes of financial assets, such as stocks, bonds, and short-term reserves. According to financial experts, the investment mix choosen has a greater impact on long-term investment results than the performance of individual investments selected.
- Asset Allocation Fund
A mutual fund that invests its assets in a wide variety of investments that may include domestic and foreign stocks and bonds, government securities, commodities, and real estate. Some asset allocation funds keep the proportions allocated between different investments relatively constant, while others alter the mix as market conditions change.
- Asset Coverage
The asset coverage shown is coverage for a fund’s preferred shares and/or debt, as defined by the Investment Company Act of 1940. Essentially, the asset coverage figure represents the ratio of the fund's total assets (including the assets attributable to the preferred shares or debt) to the liquidation value of the debt, or in the case of preferred stock, to the total liquidation value of the preferred stock and any debt.
- Asset-Backed Securities (ABS)
Securities whose value and income payments are derived from and collateralized (or "backed") by a specific pool of underlying assets. The pools of underlying assets can include credit cards, auto loans or mortgages, aircraft leases, royalty payments, among others.
- Assets
Net assets of a fund plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes.
- Auction Rate Bond
An auction rate bond is a security whose interest payments are adjusted periodically through an auction process, which process typically also serves as a means for buying and selling the bond. Auctions that fail to attract enough buyers for all the shares offered for sale are deemed to have “failed,” with current holders receiving a formula-based interest rate until the next scheduled auction.
- Automatic Investment Plan
See Systematic Investment Plan.
- Automatic Withdrawal Plan
See Systematic Withdrawal Plan.
- 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 market price and reinvested dividends and capital gains distributions, if any) over the time period being considered.
- Average Call Option % Coverage
Percentage of the fund’s underlying equities overwritten by call options; equals sum of notional values of call options divided by the market value of equities in the portfolio.
- Average Call Strike vs. Spot Price
Average ratio of call option strike price vs. its spot price, weighted by notional value of the call.
- Average Cost Basis Method
Calculating cost basis by determining the average price paid for Fund shares that may have been purchased at different times for different prices
- Average Coupon
Average Coupon is the average coupon rate, or amount of interest paid as expressed by a percentage, of all fixed-income investments in the Fund's portfolio.
- Average Days to Reset
Weighted average number of days until the coupon rate of the floating rate holdings portion of a fund’s portfolio is scheduled to reset.
- Average Effective Maturity
Average Effective Maturity is the weighted average of the effective maturity dates of the fixed-income securities in the fund's holdings. A bond's effective maturity takes into account the possibility that it may be called by the issuer before its stated maturity date. In this case, the bond trades as though it had a shorter maturity than its stated maturity.
- Average Life
The par-weighted average time (in years) to the principal repayment for non-callable securities and the par-weighted average time (in years) to the probable call/put for callable securities.
- Average Maturity
For a bond fund or defined portfolio, the average of the stated maturity dates of the fixed-income securities held. In general, the longer the average maturity, the greater the fund's or defined portfolio's sensitivity to interest-rate changes, which means greater price fluctuation. A shorter average maturity usually means a less sensitive, and consequently, less price volatile, portfolio.
- Average Price
An illustrative measure of a range of prices which is calculated by taking the sum of the values and dividing it by the number of prices being analyzed.
- Average Weighted Market Capitalization
Average weighted market capitalization is the portfolio weighted mean capitalizations of all equity securities.
- Balanced Fund
A fund that seeks to provide both current income and long-term growth of principal by investing in a combination of stocks, bonds, and other securities.
- Barclay BTOP50 Index
The BTOP50 Index seeks to replicate the overall composition of the managed futures industry with regard to trading style and overall market exposure. The BTOP50 employs a top-down approach in selecting its constituents. The largest investable trading advisor programs, as measured by assets under management, are selected for inclusion in the BTOP50. In each calendar year the selected trading advisors represent, in aggregate, no less than 50% of the investable assets of the Barclay CTA Universe.
- Basis Point
One one-hundredth of one percentage point, or 0.01%. For example, 25 basis points equals 0.25%.
- Bear Market
A prolonged period of declining market prices, typically defined as a decline of 20% or more from the market high.
- Benchmark
A standard, often an unmanaged index, used for comparative purposes in assessing an investment's performance.
- Beneficiary
A recipient of proceeds from a qualified retirement plan, from a will or trust, or from an insurance policy upon the death of the registered owner.
- Bequest
Property left to an heir under the terms of a will.
- Beta
Beta is a measure of the volatility, or systematic risk, of a security or a portfolio in comparison to the market as a whole.
- Bid Price
The price that a dealer or other prospective buyer is prepared to pay for securities or other assets.
- Bloomberg Barclays 1-10 Year Municipal Bond Index
An unmanaged index composed of investment-grade municipal bonds with maturity dates of more than one year and less than 10 years.
- Bloomberg Barclays 1-15 Year Blend Municipal Bond Index
An unmanaged index comprised of fixed-rate, investment-grade tax-exempt bonds with remaining maturities between 1 and 17 years.
- Bloomberg Barclays 1-3 Year Government/Credit Bond Index
An unmanaged index that includes all medium and larger issues of U.S. government, investment grade corporate, and investment-grade international dollar-denominated bonds that have maturities of between 1 and 3 years and are publicly issued.
- Bloomberg Barclays 3-Year Municipal Bond Index
An unmanaged index comprised of fixed-rate, investment-grade tax-exempt bonds with remaining maturities between two and four years. The index returns assume reinvestment of dividends but do not reflect any applicable sales charges. You cannot invest directly in an index.
- Bloomberg Barclays 7-Year Municipal Bond Index
An unmanaged index composed of a broad range of investment-grade municipal bonds with maturity dates of approximately seven years. Index returns assume reinvestment of distributions, but do not reflect any applicable sales charges or management fees. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
- Bloomberg Barclays Aggregate-Eligible Build America Bond Index
An unleveraged index that comprises all direct pay Build America Bonds that are SEC-regulated, taxable, dollar-denominated and have at least one year to final maturity, at least $250 million par amount outstanding, and are determined to be investment grade by Bloomberg Barclays.
- Bloomberg Barclays Credit/Mortgage Index
A market-weighted blend of the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Credit Index and the Bloomberg Barclays MBS Index. The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Credit Index includes both corporate and non-corporate sectors. The corporate sectors are industrial, utility, and finance, which include both U.S. and non-U.S. corporations. The non-corporate sectors are sovereign, supranational, foreign agency, and foreign local government. The Bloomberg Barclays Mortgage-backed Securities (MBS) Index is a market value-weighted index which covers the mortgage-backed securities component of the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. The index is composed of agency mortgage-backed pass-through securities of the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae), the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) with a minimum $150 million par amount outstanding and a weighted-average maturity of at least 1 year.
- Bloomberg Barclays Emerging Markets USD Aggregate Index
The Bloomberg Barclays Emerging Markets USD Aggregate Index is a flagship hard currency Emerging Markets debt benchmark that includes fixed and floating-rate U.S. dollar-denominated debt issued from sovereign, quasi-sovereign, and corporate EM issuers.
- Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Index
The Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Index is a flagship measure of global investment grade debt from twenty-four local currency markets. This multi-currency benchmark includes treasury, government-related, corporate and securitized fixed-rate bonds from both developed and emerging markets issuers.
- Bloomberg Barclays High Yield 2% Issuer Capped Index
The Bloomberg Barclays Corporate High Yield 2% Issuer Capped Index measures the USD-denominated, high-yield, fixed-rate corporate bond market and limits each issuer to 2% of the index.
- Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Municipal Index
The Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Municipal Bond Index is an unmanaged index consisting of noninvestment-grade, unrated or below Ba1 bonds.
- Bloomberg Barclays Intermediate Government Bond Index
An unmanaged index that includes all publicly issued, U.S. Treasury securities that have a remaining maturity of greater than or equal to 1 year and less than 10 years, are rated investment grade, and have $250 million or more of outstanding face value.
- Bloomberg Barclays Intermediate Government/Credit Bond Index
An unmanaged index that measures the performance of U.S. dollar denominated U.S. Treasuries, government-rated and investment grade U.S. corporate fixed-rate, non-convertible securities having $250 million or more of outstanding face value and a remaining maturity of greater than or equal to 1 year and less than 10 years.
- Bloomberg Barclays Municipal Bond Index
The Bloomberg Barclays Municipal Index covers the USD denominated long-term tax-exempt bond market. The index has four main sectors: state and local general obligation bonds, revenue bonds, insured bonds, and prerefunded bonds.
- Bloomberg Barclays Municipal Intermediate Index
The Bloomberg Barclays Municipal Intermediate Index is a subset of the Bloomberg Barclays Capital Municipal Bond Index including maturities of five to ten years.
- Bloomberg Barclays Municipal Short Index
The Bloomberg Barclays Municipal Short Index is a subset of the Bloomberg Barclays Capital Municipal Bond Index that measures the performance of investment-grade issues with maturities of one to five years.
- Bloomberg Barclays Tier 1 Capital Securities Index
An unmanaged index that includes securities that can generally be viewed as hybrid fixed-income securities that either receive regulatory capital treatment or a degree of “equity credit” from a rating agency.
- Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index
The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index is a broad-based flagship benchmark that measures the investment grade, U.S. dollar-denominated, fixed-rate taxable bond market. The index includes Treasuries, government-related and corporate securities, MBS (agency fixed-rate and hybrid ARM pass-throughs), ABS and CMBS (agency and nonagency)
- Bloomberg Barclays U.S. CMBS Investment Grade Index
The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. CMBS Investment Grade Index measures the market of U.S. Agency and U.S. Non-agency conduit and fusion CMBS deals with a minimum current deal size of $300m. The index is dividend into two subcomponents: the U.S. Aggregate-eligible component, which contains bonds that are ERISA eligible under the underwriter's exemption, and the non-U.S. Aggregate-eligible component, which consists of bonds that are not ERISA eligible.
- Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate Bond Index
The Bloomberg Barclays US Corporate Bond Index measures the investment grade, fixed-rate, taxable corporate bond market. It includes USD denominated securities publicly issued by US and non-US industrial, utility and financial issuers.
- Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High Yield Index
The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High Yield Bond Index measures the USD-denominated, high-yield, fixed-rate corporate bond market.
- Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate Investment Grade Index
The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate Investment Grade Index is a broad based benchmark that measures the investment grade, fixed-rate, taxable, corporate bond market.
- Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Government/Credit 1-3 Year Index
The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Government/Credit 1-3 Year Index is an unmanaged index considered representative of performance of short-term U.S. corporate bonds and U.S. government bonds with maturities from one to three years.
- Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Intermediate Government/Credit Bond Index
The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Intermediate Government/Credit Bond Index measures the non-securitized component of the U.S. Aggregate Index with maturities of 1 to 9.999 years.
- Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Long Corporate Index
The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Long Corporate Bond Index measures the investment grade, fixed-rate, taxable corporate bond market with maturities of 10+ years.
- Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Mortgage Backed Securities Index
The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) Index tracks agency mortgage backed pass-through securities.
- Bloomberg Barclays U.S. TIPS Index
An unmanaged index that includes all publicly issued, U.S. Treasury inflation-protected securities that have at least one year remaining to maturity, are rated investment grade, and have $250 million or more of outstanding face value.
- Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Treasury Bellwethers 10 Yr. Index
The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Treasury Bellwethers 10 Yr. Index is an unmanaged index representing the on-the-run (most recently auctioned) U.S. Treasury bond with 10 years’ maturity.
- Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Treasury Bellwethers 2 Yr. Index
The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Treasury Bellwethers 2 Yr. Index is an unmanaged index representing the on-the-run (most recently auctioned) U.S. Treasury bond with 2 years’ maturity.
- Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Treasury Bellwethers 3 Mo. Index
The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Treasury Bellwethers 3 Month Index is an unmanaged index representing the on-the-run (most recently auctioned) U.S. Treasury bill with 3 months’ maturity.
- Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Treasury Bellwethers 30 Yr. Index
The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Treasury Bellwethers 30 Yr. Index is an unmanaged index representing the on-the-run (most recently auctioned) U.S. Treasury bond with 30 years’ maturity.
- Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Treasury Index
The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Treasury Index measures U.S. dollar-denominated, fixed-rate, nominal debt issues by the U.S. Treasury.
- Bloomberg Barclays US Treasury Inflation-Linked Bond Index
The Bloomberg Barclays US Treasury Inflation-Linked Bond Index (Series-L) measures the performance of the US Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) market. Federal Reserve holdings of US TIPS are not index eligible and are excluded from the face amount outstanding of each bond in the index.
- Bloomberg Commodity Index (BCOM)
The Bloomberg Commodity Index (BCOM) is a broadly diversified commodity price index that tracks prices of futures contracts on physical commodities in the commodity markets.
- Blue-Sky Laws
State regulations designed to protect investors against securities fraud by requiring sellers of new issues to register their offerings and provide financial details.
- Bond
A type of IOU issued by corporations, governments, or government agencies. The issuer typically makes regular interest payments on the bond and promises to pay back, or redeem, the face value of the bond at a specified point in the future, called the maturity date. Bonds may be issued for terms of up to 30 years or more.
- Bond Fund
A closed-end fund or open-end mutual fund that invests in bonds. Taxable bond funds typically invest in corporate bonds and/or U.S. government debt. Some focus on domestic bonds, others invest in international debt, including bonds from emerging markets. Other bond funds invest in municipal bonds; their interest is usually free from federal income tax and may be free from state and local taxes as well.
- Bond Insurance
Insurance as to timely payment of interest and principal of a bond issue.
- Book Value
The net worth of a business based on accounting values. Calculated by subtracting all liabilities, including debt and preferred stocks from total assets, and dividing by the number of shares of common stock outstanding.
- Bottom-up Approach
An investment strategy that emphasizes evaluating individual companies' businesses before considering broad economic trends.
- Broker/Dealer
A financial firm registered with the Securities & Exchange Commission that trades investment securities such as stocks, bonds, ETFs, and closed-end funds to the public.
- Bull Market
A prolonged period of strongly rising security prices.
- Business Cycle
The regular ebb and flow of economic conditions over time, characterized by fluctuating employment levels, industrial productivity, and interest rates.
- C Shares
One of the Flexible Pricing Options offered by Nuveen Mutual Funds. An investor purchasing C shares does not pay an up-front sales charge so that the entire purchase amount is invested in fund shares. However, an investor pays ongoing 12b-1 distribution and service fees, as well as a sales charge (a Contingent Deferred Sales Charge, or "CDSC") if shares are redeemed within a certain period after purchase.
- Call Date
The date at which some bonds are redeemable by the issuer prior to the maturity date. In the event of a refunded security, a pre-refunded date will appear in place of any call date and will be indicated by an R = pre-refunded; or an E = escrowed to maturity.
- Call Option
The right but not the obligation to buy a given security within a particular time, or on a specified date, at a specified price.
- Call Premium
A dollar amount, usually stated as a percentage of the principal amount called, paid as a "penalty" or a "premium" for the exercise of a call provision.
- Call Price
The specified price at which a bond will be redeemed or called prior to maturity, typically either at a premium (above par value) or at par.
- Call Protection
A provision in a bond's indenture (the legal agreement between the borrower and the lender) setting a certain period of time during which the bond cannot be redeemed by the issuer.
- Call Provision
Clause in a debt instrument (such as a bond) which allows its issuer to redeem it before its maturity date, usually on one or more call dates specified in its indenture. Also called redemption provision.
- Call Risk
The possibility that callable bonds will be redeemed prior to maturity.
- Callable
Subject to payment of the principal amount (and accrued interest) prior to the stated maturity date, with or without payment of a call premium. Bonds can be callable under a number of different circumstances, including at the option of the issuer, or on a mandatory or extraordinary basis.
- Callable Bond
A bond whose issuer reserves the right to redeem (or "call") it before it is due. This feature represents a risk to the investor in that bonds are generally called when interest rates fall, and thus usually can't be replaced with a similarly yielding issue of the same quality.
- Capital Appreciation
An increase in the value or price of a security.
- Capital Gain Distribution
A payment to fund shareholders of net capital gains realized on the sale of the fund's portfolio securities. The net asset value of the fund is reduced by the amount of the distribution.
- Capital Gain/(Loss)
The difference between the sales price of a capital asset, such as a closed-end fund, mutual fund, stock, bond, or other security, and the cost basis of the asset. If the sales price is higher than the cost basis, there is a capital gain. If the sales price is lower than the cost basis, there is a capital loss. Short-term capital gain refers to a gain on assets owned for one year or less. Long-term capital gain refers to a gain on assets owned for more than one year. Net capital gains generated by a mutual fund from the sale of securities in its portfolio are distributed to shareholders, usually once a year in December.
- Capital Growth
See capital appreciation.
- Capital Structure
The specific mix of a company's debt and equity. Debt generally comes in the form of bond issues or notes payable, while equity is classified as common stock, preferred stock or retained earnings.
- Capitalization
A company's long-term debt plus its equity plus its retained earnings.
- Carry
The cost of borrowing funds to finance an underwriting or trading position. A positive carry happens when the rate on the securities being financed is greater than the rate on the funds borrowed. A negative carry is when the rate on the funds borrowed is greater than the rate on the securities that are being financed.
- Carry Trade
A strategy that involves borrowing at a comparatively low rate and investing in a security that pays a higher rate.
- Cash Equivalent
A short-term money-market instrument, such as a Treasury bill or repurchase agreement, of such high liquidity that it is virtually as good as cash.
- Cash Flow
The movement of money into or out of a business, project, or financial product. It is usually measured during a specified, limited period of time.
- Cash Reserves
Cash deposits as well as short-term bank deposits, money market instruments, and U.S. Treasury bills.
- Cash-flow based distribution
A fund that adopts a cash-flow based distribution policy seeks to establish a monthly distribution that roughly corresponds to the net cash flow received from investments in portfolio securities.
- Cboe Volatility Index (the “VIX”)
Cboe Volatility Index (the “VIX”) is a key measure of market expectations of near-term volatility conveyed by S&P 500 stock index option prices. Since its introduction in 1993, the VIX has been considered by many to be the world’s premier barometer of investor sentiment and market volatility.
- Certificate of Deposit (CD)
An FDIC-insured, interest-bearing debt instrument issued by a bank, which requires the depositor to keep the money invested for a stated period of time.
- Closed-end Fund
A closed end fund is a type of investment company that, like a mutual fund, uses a professional manager to invest the fund's assets in a diversified selection of securities. The fund is closed end, which means a limited number of shares are issued during an Initial Public Offering (IPO). Fund shares are then bought and sold on an exchange and may be purchased in regular brokerage accounts, retirement plan accounts, and trust or custodial accounts.
- Collateral
Assets or property pledged by a borrower to secure a loan. The assets or property may be seized by the lender if the borrower defaults.
- Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDOs)
Collateralized debt obligations are a type of asset-backed security constructed from a portfolio of fixed-income assets. CDOs usually are divided into different tranches having different ratings and paying different interest rates. Losses, if any, are applied in reverse order of seniority and so junior tranches generally offer higher coupons to compensate for added default risk.
- Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (CMBS)
Commercial mortgage-backed securities are backed by cash flows of a mortgage or pool of mortgages on commercial real estate. CMBS generally are structured to provide protection to the senior class investors against potential losses on the underlying mortgage loans. CMBS are typically characterized by the following: i) loans on multi-family housing, non-residential property, ii) payments based on the amortization schedule of 25–30 years with a balloon payment due usually after 10 years, and iii) restrictions on prepayments.
- Commercial Paper
Corporate promissory notes issued to provide short-term financing, sold at a discount and redeemed at face value.
- Commission
The fee an agent or broker receives for arranging the purchase or sale of a fund, closed-end fund share, stock, bond or other security.
- Commodity
A physical good, such as an agricultural product or metal, that is interchangeable with other goods of the same type. Commodity futures (contracts for the future delivery of a standardized amount of the commodity) are traded on exchanges such as the Chicago Board of Trade.
- Common Stock
A security that represents ownership in a company.
- Compounding
The growth that comes from investment income and gains on both the original principal and the reinvested income and capital gains of an investment.
- Concession
Fractional discount from the public offering price of new securities at which the underwriter sells the bonds to dealers not in the syndicate.
- Confirm
A record of recent transactions sent to you when distributions are paid or other business is transacted. Short for confirmation.
- Consumer Price Index (CPI)
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services.
- Contingent Capital Securities (CoCos)
Debt or capital securities of primarily non-U.S. issuers with loss absorption contingency mechanisms built into the terms of the security, for example a mandatory conversion into common stock of the issuer, or a principal write-down, which if triggered would likely cause the CoCo investment to lose value. Loss absorption mechanisms would become effective upon the occurrence of a specified contingency event, or at the discretion of a regulatory body. Specified contingency events, as identified in the CoCo’s governing documents, usually reference a decline in the issuer’s capital below a specified threshold level, and/or certain regulatory events. A loss absorption contingency event for CoCos would likely be the result of, or related to, the deterioration of the issuer’s financial condition and/or its status as a going concern. In such a case, with respect to CoCos that provide for conversion into common stock upon the occurrence of the contingency event, the market price of the issuer’s common stock received by the holder of the CoCo will have likely declined, perhaps substantially, and may continue to decline after conversion. CoCos rated below investment grade should be considered high yield securities, or “junk,” but often are issued by entities whose more senior securities are rated investment grade. CoCos are a relatively new type of security; and there is a risk that CoCo security issuers may suffer the sort of future financial distress that could materially increase the likelihood (or the market’s perception of the likelihood) that an automatic write-down or conversion event on those issuers’ CoCos will occur. Additionally, the trading behavior of a given issuer’s CoCo may be strongly impacted by the trading behavior of other issuers’ CoCos, such that negative information from an unrelated CoCo security may cause a decline in value of one or more CoCos held by the Fund. Accordingly, the trading behavior of CoCos may not follow the trading behavior of other types of debt and preferred securities. Despite these concerns, the prospective reward vs. risk characteristics of at least certain CoCos may be very attractive relative to other fixed-income alternatives.
- Convertible Bond
A corporate bond that can be exchanged for a specified amount of the company's common or preferred stock, usually at the option of the bondholder, at certain times during the life of the bond.
- Convexity
Similar to duration, convexity is a measure of a security’s sensitivity to interest rates. However, where duration provides a linear approximation, convexity is a quadratic approximation that measures how duration changes with changes in yield. Investors are particularly concerned with convexity in environments where yield movements are large or for asset classes that are especially sensitive to interest rates, such as US MBS pass-throughs.
- Correction
A relatively short-term drop in stock prices, usually defined as a decline of 10% or more from the stock market's high.
- Correlation
Statistical measure of how two securities move in relation to each other. Perfect positive correlation (a correlation co-efficient of +1) implies that as one security moves the other security will move in lockstep, in the same direction. Alternatively, perfect negative correlation (a correlation co-efficient of -1) means that securities will move by an equal amount in the opposite direction. If the correlation is 0, the movements of the securities are said to have no correlation; their movements in relation to one another are completely random.
- Cost Basis
The cost of an investment, used as the basis for calculating and reporting capital gains or losses. It is adjusted for stock splits, distributions, and return of capital.
- Coupon
The interest rate that an issuer promises to pay over the life of a debt security, such as a bond, expressed as a percentage of face value. Common practice is to pay half the annual rate semiannually.
- Covenant
A promise in an indenture, or any other formal debt agreement, that certain activities will or will not be carried out.
- Credit Rating
An evaluation of the creditworthiness of a debt security by an independent rating service such as Moody's, Fitch, or Standard & Poor's.
- Credit Risk
The potential for default by an issuer on its obligation to pay interest or principal on debt securities. U.S. government securities are usually considered to have very little credit risk.
- Credit Spread
The difference between the interest notes of securities that are identical in all material respects except for quality rating.
- Credit Suisse Leveraged Loan Index
Credit Suisse (“CS”) Leveraged Loan (“LL”) is an index designed to mirror the investable universe of the $US-denominated leveraged loan market.
- Current Distribution Rate
See Current market distribution rate.
- Current Market Distribution Rate
For a closed-end fund, the ratio of the most recent distribution paid by the fund divided by the market price of the fund as of the date of the calculation, multiplied by the number of distribution payments made in a year.
- Current Yield
The rate of return on a bond based on the ratio of the bond's coupon income to its market price assuming the investor holds the bond to maturity. The calculation assumes that coupon payments can be reinvested at the same rate as the current yield.
- CUSIP number
A nine-digit identifier used to uniquely identify every security publicly traded in the United States.
- Custodian
The bank or trust that holds assets (stocks, bonds, cash, and other securities) and handles payments and receipts for the fund's securities transactions.
- Cyclical Stocks
Stocks of companies whose main business experiences regular ups and downs in activity due to cyclical changes in the economy. The auto, chemical, paper, and steel industries, for example, are considered cyclical because their earnings tend to fall when the economy slows and increase when the economy is growing. Food and drug stocks are generally considered to be non-cyclical, since food and medical care needs continue no matter what economic conditions are.
- Dated Date (Or Issue Date)
The date of a bond issue from which the bondholder is entitled to receive interest, even though the bonds may actually be sold or delivered at some other date.
- Debt
Borrowings by the fund.
- Debt Securities
See fixed income securities.
- Declaration Date
The date a Board of Directors announces the amount of the dividend and/or capital gains distribution to be paid to shareholders.
- Defeasance
Termination of the rights and interests of the trustee and bondholders under a trust agreement or indenture upon final payment or provision for payment of all debt service and premiums, and other costs, as specifically provided for in the trust instrument.
- Deferred Sales Charge
See Contingent deferred sales charge.
- Defined Benefit Plan
A retirement plan that guarantees a certain benefit, usually based on average salary in the period before retirement and on the number of years of service. Employers bear the investment risk with defined benefit plans. Benefits in most cases are guaranteed up to a certain monthly limit by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, a federal agency.
- Defined Contribution Plan
A retirement plan offering a benefit that is dependent on total contributions made by the employer and the employee and on the investment returns earned by those contributions. Employees bear the investment risk with defined contribution plans.
- Defined Portfolio
Also called a Unit Investment Trust; a portfolio of securities that remains fixed, except under certain circumstances, for the life of the trust. Shares of this portfolio are offered to individual investors and called "units."
- Deflation
A decline in the prices of goods and services. The opposite of inflation.
- Derivative
A financial instrument whose value is based on, or "derived" from, that of another security, asset, or market index, including stocks, bonds, commodities and currencies. Common derivatives include swaps, options, and futures. Derivatives can be used to gain indirect exposure to certain securities and to manage risk.
- Direct Rollover
A distribution from a qualified plan or IRA account that is sent directly to the custodian of a Nuveen or other IRA account and that is reported to the IRS as a rollover.
- Discount
Amount (stated in dollars or a percent) by which the selling or purchase price of a security is less than its face amount. Also the amount by which the market price of a closed-end fund is less than the fund's Net Asset Value.
- Discount Bond
A bond that currently is selling below par or face value; e.g., a $1,000 bond selling for $950.
- Discount Rate
The interest rate charged by the Federal Reserve on short-term loans to member banks. Effectively, the floor rate for short-term interest rates in the economy.
- Disinflation
A slowing of the rate at which prices are increasing. Not the same as deflation, when prices actually drop.
- Distribution
The periodic payment made by a fund to common shareholders, which may include net investment income, capital gains and/or a return of capital.
- Distribution Rate
Distribution Rate for a closed-end fund is the most recent declared distribution paid by the fund divided by either the fund’s market price or its NAV as of the date shown, multiplied by the number of distribution payments made in a year.
- Distribution Schedule
The schedule describing when a fund makes income, principal, dividend, capital gains, and/or other distributions.
- Diversification
A strategy of spreading investments among many different securities or sectors to reduce the risk of owning any single investment.
- Dividend
Distribution of a portion of a company's earnings, decided by the Board of Directors / Trustees to the shareholder. The amount of a dividend is quoted in the amount each share receives.
- Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRIP)
A plan offered by a corporation or fund allowing investors to reinvest their cash dividends and capital gains distributions by purchasing additional shares or fractional shares on the dividend payment date.
- Dividend Yield
For a company's stock, the ratio of the dividends paid out by the company each year per share to the share's current market price.
- Dollar-cost Averaging
An investment strategy of making investments of equal amounts at regular intervals in the same fund. Because the shareholder buys more shares at lower prices and fewer shares at higher prices, the average cost of the shares purchased will generally be lower than the average price over the investment period. However, dollar-cost averaging does not ensure a profit or protect against a loss in a declining market.
- Dow Jones Conservative U.S. Portfolio Index
The Dow Jones Conservative U.S. Portfolio Index is a member of the Relative Risk Index Series and designed to measure a total portfolio of U.S. stocks, bonds, and cash, allocated to represent an investor's desired risk profile. The Dow Jones Conservative U.S. Portfolio Index risk level is set to 20% of the Dow Jones U.S. Stock CMAC Index's downside risk (past 36 months).
- Dow Jones Industrial Average
The best known U.S. index of stocks. A price-weighted average of 30 actively traded blue-chip stocks, primarily industrials including stocks that trade on the New York Stock Exchange. The Dow, as it is called, is a barometer of how shares of the largest US companies are performing. There are hundreds of investment indexes around the world for stocks, bonds, currencies, and commodities.
- Dow Jones Moderate U.S. Portfolio Index
The Dow Jones Moderate U.S. Portfolio Index is a member of the Relative Risk Index Series and designed to measure a total portfolio of U.S. stocks, bonds, and cash, allocated to represent an investor's desired risk profile. The Dow Jones Moderate U.S. Portfolio Index risk level is set to 60% of the Dow Jones U.S. Stock CMAC Index's downside risk (past 36 months).
- Dow Jones Moderately Aggressive U.S. Portfolio Index
The Dow Jones Moderately Aggressive U.S. Portfolio Index is a member of the Relative Risk Index Series and designed to measure a total portfolio of U.S. stocks, bonds, and cash, allocated to represent an investor's desired risk profile. The Dow Jones Moderately Aggressive U.S. Portfolio Index risk level is set to 80% of the Dow Jones U.S. Stock CMAC Index's downside risk (past 36 months).
- Dow Jones U.S. Select REIT Index
The index tracks the performance of publicly traded REITs and REIT-like securities and is designed to serve as a proxy for direct real estate investment, in part by excluding companies whose performance may be driven by factors other than the value of real estate. The index is a subset of the Dow Jones U.S. Select Real Estate Securities Index (RESI), which represents equity real estate investment trusts (REITs) and real estate operating companies (REOCs) traded in the U.S. Index returns assume reinvestment of distributions, but do not include the effects of any applicable sales charges or management fees.
- Downside Capture Ratio
Downside Capture Ratio represents the degree to which a strategy outperformed (less than 100%) or underperformed (greater than 100%) the benchmark in periods when the benchmark return was negative. The lower the downside capture ratio, the better.
- Duration
A measure of the price sensitivity of a fixed income security or portfolio to changes in interest rates. Duration is stated in years. For example, if a bond has a duration of four years, the price of the bond is expected to change by approximately 4% for every one percentage point change in interest rates. The shorter the duration, the less price variability expected in the security's price due to changes in interest rates.
- Duration (Effective Duration/Option-Adjusted Duration)
Duration is for a bond with an embedded option when the value is calculated to include the expected change in cash flow caused by the option as interest rates change. This measures the responsiveness of a bond’s price to interest rate changes, and illustrates the fact that the embedded option will also affect the bond’s price.
- Duration for Senior Loans
Duration for Senior Loans is based on the maximum reset period for loan interest payments, which is quarterly – or the equivalent of 0.25 years effective duration. As interest rates rise, bond prices fall.
- Earnings Growth Rate
The average annual rate of growth in earnings per share over the past five years for the stocks in a portfolio.
- Earnings Per Share
A measure of a company's financial performance, calculated by dividing its earnings by the number of common shares outstanding.
- EBITDA
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) is a measure of a company's operating performance. Essentially, it's a way to evaluate a company's performance without having to factor in financing decisions, accounting decisions or tax environments.
- Effective Duration
Effective duration (sometimes called option-adjusted duration) is a more refined calculation than the basic "modified duration" which is often used, and recognizes that the probability that a bond will be called or stay outstanding until maturity will vary if market interest rates change. Effective duration requires the use of a model for pricing bonds that adjusts the price of the bond to reflect changes in the value of the bond's "embedded options" (e.g., the right of the issuer to call the bond prior to maturity, or a sinking fund schedule) based on the probability that the option will be exercised. The model makes several assumptions so effective durations may not be comparable to the durations of funds outside the Nuveen fund complex.
- Effective Duration / Option-adjusted Duration / OAD
Effective duration (sometimes called option-adjusted duration, or “OAD”) is the duration for a bond with an embedded option when the value is calculated to include the expected change in cash flow caused by changes in market interest rates. This measures the responsiveness of a bond's price to market interest rate changes. OAD uses a bond pricing model to estimate how much the price of a bond will change as a result of a uniform shift in market interest rates for all dates on which the bond will make coupon or principal payments. The model adjusts the price for changes in the value of any embedded options. The particular model used to calculate OAD for the funds makes several assumptions, and is subjective, and may not be comparable to OADs calculated by others. A fund’s average OAD will be equal to the market value-weighted average of each bond’s OAD in the portfolio. A fund’s average OAD will also reflects the impact of portfolio-based leverage through any investments in residual certificates of tender option bond (TOB) trusts, but does not reflect the impact of any “structural” leverage (e.g., borrowing, or the issuance of preferred shares) that may be employed by a given fund.
- Effective Leverage
Effective leverage is the fund’s effective economic leverage, and includes both structural leverage and the leverage effects of certain derivative investments in the fund’s portfolio. Currently, the leverage effects of Tender Option Bond (TOB) inverse floater holdings and the effects of investments in a leveraged Public-Private Investment Partnership are included in Effective Leverage values, in addition to any Structural Leverage.
- Emerging Markets
Countries with developing economies, such as Brazil or Thailand, as distinguished from economically developed countries such as Japan or the U.S. Emerging market economies often tend to be more volatile than developed economies due to political or financial instability.
- Equity Security
A type of security representing an ownership share in a corporation. Common stock, traditional preferred stock, and convertible securities are all equity securities. Debt securities do not represent ownership.
- Equity Shelf Program
A type of public offering used in accordance with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registration requirements. This program allows corporations to offer and sell securities for several years without a separate prospectus for each offering. Corporations with equity shelf programs are required to file annual and quarterly reports with the SEC.
- ERISA
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 which created rules covering qualified retirement savings plans.
- ESG
ESG stands for Environmental, Social, Governance and is typically used to describe investment approaches that examine companies’ exposure to ESG-related risks and opportunities and focuses on those likely to have a material impact.
- ETN (Exchange-Traded Note)
A type of unsecured, unsubordinated debt security. This type of debt security differs from other types of bonds and notes because units or shares of ETNs are traded on an exchange with their price based on the performance of a market index minus applicable fees. No periodic coupon payments are distributed and no principal protections exist.
- Excess Spread
The net amount of interest payments from the underlying assets after bondholders and expenses are paid and after all losses are covered. Excess spread may be paid into a reserve account and used as a partial credit enhancement or it may be released to the seller or the originator of the assets.
- Exchange Privilege
The right to exchange from one product to another without an additional sales charge.
- Ex-Dividend Date
The first date on which the holder of a security is not entitled to receive the next interest payment. Index users will see the accrued interest of a security show as negative once it starts trading exdividend, and the expected coupon payment is discounted back to the current index settlement date.
- Exempt Facilities Bond
Refers to those types of privately owned or privately used facilities which are authorized to be issued on a tax-exempt basis under the Internal Revenue Code. The Tax Reform Act of 1986 amended prior law to exclude the following types of facilities from those which can be financed on a tax-exempt basis: sports facilities; convention and trade show facilities; air and water pollution control facilities; privately owned airport, dock, wharf and mass-commuting facilities; and most parking facilities, among others.
- Expense Ratio
The percentage of a fund's average net assets used to pay fund expenses. The expense ratio takes into account various fees, including management fees, administrative fees, and any 12b-1 fees.
- Face Value
A bond's stated redemption value at maturity. Most bonds have a face value, or par value, of $1,000.
- FANG
FANG is the acronym for four high performing technology stocks in the market as of 2017 – Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Google (now Alphabet, Inc.).
- Fed Funds Rate
The interest rate which is charged by banks to lend to other banks needing overnight loans. The Federal Reserve Board sets the target for this rate which is the most sensitive indicator of the direction of short-term interest rates.
- Federal Reserve System
The central bank of the United States, which has regulated credit in the economy since its inception in 1913. It includes the Federal Reserve Bank, 14 district banks, and the member banks of the Federal Reserve.
- Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)
A regulatory body created after the merger of the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) and the New York Stock Exchange’s regulation committee. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is responsible for governing business between brokers, dealers and the investing public. By consolidating these two regulators, FINRA aims to eliminate regulatory overlap and cost inefficiencies.
- Fiscal Year
An accounting period of 365 days (366 in leap years) for which a fund prepares financial statements and performance data. It is not necessarily the same as the calendar year (January 1 through December 31).
- Fixed Rate Preferred
Preferred shares issued by a closed-end fund featuring fixed rate dividends, with a fixed term and mandatory redemption. “Fixed Rate Preferred” includes the following securities: MuniFund Term Preferred (MTP)
- Fixed-Income Fund
A fund whose objective is to provide current income by investing in fixed-income securities.
- Fixed-Income Security
A security that pays a specific rate of interest or dividends. Fixed-income securities include bonds, CDs, and preferred stock (preference share).
- Fixed-Rate Securities
Securities that have a single fixed coupon rate through its life.
- Fixed-to-Fixed Floating
Securities that are currently in the “fixed” portion of their schedule and will eventually switch to variable. This excludes securities that are within 1 year of converting to floating, and includes securities where the underlying index reset period is less than 1 year.
- Fixed-to-Fixed Securities
Securities that step from one fixed rate coupon to another based on a schedule. This includes securities where the underlying index reset period is greater than 1 year.
- Floating Rate Floor
Floating rate securities often have minimum values the reference index interest rate cannot fall below. This is designed to protect holders of the security against losses in declining interest rate environments.
- Floating Rate Securities
Bonds whose coupon rates adjust periodically based on a specified reset mechanism. Floating rate securities include most bank loans and some preferred stock.
- Floating Rate Spread
Coupon rates for floating rate securities are typically determined by contractually designated value above (or occasionally below) a variable reference index rate, such as LIBOR or Prime. This value is known as the floating rate spread.
- Forward Commitment
A purchase or sale of a security at a specified price with delivery and cash settlement at a specified future date.
- Forward Contract
A forward contract is a customized contract between two parties to buy or sell an asset at a specified price on a future date. A forward contract can be used for hedging or speculation, although its non-standardized nature makes it particularly apt for hedging.
- Forward Interest Rate Swap
A contractual agreement between two counterparties under which one party agrees to make periodic payments to the other for an agreed period of time based on a fixed rate, while the other party agrees to make periodic payments based on a floating rate of interest based on an underlying index. Alternatively, both series of cash flows to be exchanged could be calculated using floating rates of interest but floating rates that are based upon different underlying indexes.
- Forward Swap
An agreement to enter into a swap at some date in the future.
- Free Cash Flow
A measure of financial performance calculated as operating cash flow minus capital expenditures. Free cash flow (FCF) represents the cash that a company is able to generate after laying out the money required to maintain or expand its asset base. Free cash flow is important because it allows a company to pursue opportunities that enhance shareholder value. Without cash, it's tough to develop new products, make acquisitions, pay dividends and reduce debt. .
- Front-End Load
See up-front sales charge.
- FTSE Currency-Hedged World Government Bond Index
An unmanaged market-capitalization weighted index that tracks the performance of the government bond markets of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Index returns assume reinvestment of distributions, but do not reflect any applicable sales charges or management fees. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
- FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Index
FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Index is designed to track the performance of listed real estate companies and REITS worldwide.
- FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate Index
FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate Index is a free-float adjusted, market capitalization-weighted index designed to track the performance of listed real estate companies in both developed and emerging countries worldwide.
- FTSE NAREIT All Equity REITs Index
The FTSE NAREIT All Equity REITs index contains all tax-qualified REITs with more than 50 percent of total assets in qualifying real estate assets other than mortgages secured by real property that also meet minimum size and liquidity criteria.
- FTSE Non-U.S. World Government Bond 1-3 Year Index
The Index is an index of fixed rate government bonds with a maturity of one year or longer and amounts outstanding of at least U.S. $25 million. Index returns assume reinvestment of distributions, but do not reflect any applicable sales charges or management fees.
- FTSE Non-U.S. World Government Bond Index
A market-weighted index designed to reflect the performance of the government fixed-income markets of 20 non-U.S. developed countries as of January 1999. Index returns assume reinvestment of distributions, but do not reflect any applicable sales charges or management fees. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
- Full Faith and Credit
An unconditional commitment to pay interest and principal on debt securities, usually securities issued or guaranteed by the U. S. Treasury and tax-exempt municipal general obligation bonds.
- Fund Abbreviation
An abbreviation of a fund's name, commonly used in newspaper listings.
- Fund Net Assets
The total value of a fund's securities, cash, and other holdings, minus any outstanding debts.
- Fund Number
The number assigned by Nuveen to each of its mutual fund portfolios.
- Fundamental Analysis
The study of a company's business and financial condition to help forecast future movements in its stock price. Analysts consider the company's past record of earnings and sales as well as company assets, management, and markets to predict trends that could affect a company's stock. Also known as bottom-up analysis.
- FundPreferred®
Preferred stock issued by Nuveen taxable closed-end fund. The stock is rated AAA, and dividends are paid weekly; the dividend rate is reset every 7 or 28 days.
- Futures
See futures contracts
- Futures Contracts
Exchange-traded, standardized agreements to buy or sell specific amounts of financial instruments or physical commodities for an agreed upon price at a specified time in the future.
- ICE BofAML – Credit Suisse Index Blend
An index comprised 60% of the ICE BofAML U.S. High Yield Master II Index and 40% Credit Suisse Leveraged Loan Index.
- ICE BofAML 3-Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index
The ICE BofAML 3-Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index is 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.
- ICE BofAML Current 10-Year U.S. Treasury Index
A one-security index comprised of the most recently issued 10-year U.S. Treasury note.
- ICE BofAML Current 30-Year U.S. Treasury Index
A one-security index comprised of the most recently issued 30-year U.S. Treasury bond.
- ICE BofAML Preferred Stock Fixed Rate Index
The ICE BofAML Preferred Stock Fixed Rate Index is designed to replicate the total return of a diversified group of investment-grade preferred securities.
- ICE BofAML REIT Preferred Securities Index
The ICE BofAML REIT Preferred Securities Index is a subset of The BofA Merrill Lynch Fixed Rate Preferred Securities Index including all real estate investment trust securities
- ICE BofAML U.S. 50% Corporate and 50% High Yield Index
An index that tracks the performance of U.S. dollar denominated investment grade and sub-investment grade corporate debt publicly issued in the U.S. domestic market
- ICE BofAML U.S. Corporate Index
Tracks the performance of U.S. dollar denominated investment grade corporate debt publicly issued in the US domestic market.
- ICE BofAML U.S. High Yield Index
Tracks the performance of U.S. dollar denominated below investment grade corporate debt publicly issued in the U.S. domestic market.
- ICE BofAML U.S. High Yield Master II Index
The ICE BofAML High Yield Master II Index tracks the performance of U.S. Dollar-denominated below investment- grade corporate debt publicly issued in the U.S. domestic market.
- ICE BofAML U.S. Preferred, Bank Capital & Capital Trust Securities Index
Tracks the performance of U.S. dollar denominated fixed rate preferred securities, fixed-to-floating rate, perpetual callable and capital securities, perpetual callable and variable coupon private placements issued in the U.S. domestic market.
- In the money
In the money means that a call option’s strike price is below the market price of the underlying asset or that the strike price of a put options is above the market price of the underlying asset.
- Income Dividend
Payments to fund shareholders of dividends and interest earned by securities held by a fund. Income dividends are paid after deducting operating expenses.
- Indenture
The formal contract governing a corporate bond that explains the bond's maturity, coupon rate, call privileges, and other rights and obligations.
- Individual Retirement Account (IRA)
A retirement plan that allows individuals to contribute money on a tax-deferred basis to a retirement account each year.
- Industrial Revenue Bond
A security issued by a state, political subdivision or certain agencies or authorities, for certain specific purposes, but backed by the credit of a private enterprise.
- Inflation
A rise in the prices of goods and services, often equated with loss of purchasing power.
- Inflation Linked Swap
A contractual agreement between two counterparties under which one party agrees to make periodic interest payments to the other for an agreed period of time based on a fixed rate (alternatively, a floating rate based on an interest rate index), while the other party agrees to make periodic payments based on a floating rate of interest based on the Consumer Price Index.
- Initial Public Offering (IPO)
A company or closed-end fund's first public offering of common stock.
- Initial Sales Charge
The sales charge paid by the investor at the time of purchase of a fund. Also known as a front-end load.
- Institutional MuniFund Term Preferred (IMTP)
Preferred shares issued by a closed-end fund featuring floating rate dividends based on a predetermined formula or spread to an index rate, with a fixed-term and mandatory redemption. Issued via private placement to multiple institutional buyers.
- Insurance
A contract (policy) in which an individual or entity receives financial protection or reimbursement against losses from an insurance company. The company pools clients' risks to make payments more affordable for the insured.
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
The Internal Revenue Service, created in 1913 to administer the collection of federal income taxes.
- Intrinsic Value
Analysts calculate intrinsic value by forecasting a company’s future net cash flows and discounting those cash flows back to today’s value. The present value of those future cash flows is that company’s intrinsic value.
- Inverse Floater
Inverse Floating Rate Securities are derivative securities designed to produce high levels of tax-exempt income representing the difference between interest paid on an underlying municipal bond and short-term interest rates, less certain expenses, times a leverage ratio. This income varies inversely with the short-term rates based on the leverage ratio. Inverse floating rate securities also result in the fund experiencing leveraged exposure to both upward and downward changes in the value of the underlying bonds.
- Inverted, Or Negative, Yield Curve
The interest rate structure which exists when short-term interest rates exceed long-term interest rates.
- Investment Adviser
An individual or organization that manages a portfolio and makes day-to-day investment decisions regarding the purchase or sales of securities.
- Investment Company
A company that is primarily engaged in the business of investing, reinvesting, or trading in securities such as mutual funds, closed-end funds, and unit investment trusts. Investment companies are governed by rules established in the Investment Company Act of 1940.
- Investment Company Act of 1940
The Investment Company Act of 1940 was established by Congress to set standards for regulating investment companies, which include mutual funds, closed-end funds, and unit investment trusts.
- Investment Horizon
The length of expected time to keep a sum of money invested.
- Investment Objective
The financial goal that an investor or a fund pursues. A growth fund, for example, typically seeks to provide long-term growth (as opposed to current income).
- Investment Style
A broad indicator of a fund's investment emphasis. For stock funds, the investment style often indicates whether a fund emphasizes stocks of large-, medium, or small-capitalization companies or whether it emphasizes stocks with growth or value characteristics or a blend of these characteristics. For fixed income funds, style may indicate whether it emphasizes investment-grade or junk bonds, domestic or international securities, or how much interest rate risk it takes.
- Investment-Grade
Securities whose issuers are judged by an independent rating service such as Fitch, Standard & Poor's or Moody's Investors Service to have adequate to exceptional ability to pay interest and repay principal. Fitch, Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investors Service designate bonds in their top four categories (AAA/Aaa, AA/Aa, A/A, and BBB/Baa) as investment grade. Bonds rated in the lower categories are considered to be non-investment-grade.
- IRS (Internal Revenue Service)
The IRS (Internal Revenue Service), created in 1913, is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury which administers and enforces U.S. federal tax laws.
- Macaulay Duration
The weighted average term to maturity of the cash flows from a bond. The weight of each cash flow is determined by dividing the present value of the cash flow by the price, and is a measure of bond price volatility with respect to interest rates.
- Managed Assets
Managed Assets are the total assets, minus the sum of its accrued liabilities (other than Fund liabilities incurred for the express purpose of creating effective leverage). Total assets for this purpose shall include assets attributable to the use of effective leverage (whether or not those assets are reflected in the financial statements for purposes of generally accepted accounting principles).
- Managed Distribution Policy
A fund that adopts a "managed distribution policy" undertakes to pay periodic (typically monthly or quarterly) distributions to common shareholders of either a static amount per common share, or a static percentage of some recent common share NAV or a trailing average of the common shares’ NAV. The goal of a fund’s managed distribution program is to provide common shareholders with relatively consistent and predictable cash flow by systematically converting its expected long-term return potential into regular distributions. As a result, regular distributions throughout the year will likely include a portion of expected long-term and/or short-term gains (both realized and unrealized), along with net investment income, and may from time to time also include a return of capital. Often, a fund seeks to establish a relatively stable managed distribution rate that roughly corresponds to the projected net total return from its investment strategy over an extended period of time. However, you should not draw any conclusions about a fund’s past or future investment performance from its current distribution rate. Funds that pay distributions that include elements such as capital gains or returns of capital are required by law to provide contemporaneous notice containing a description of the extent to which distributions are comprised of such elements.
- Management Company
The firm that organizes, manages, and administers an open-end mutual fund, a closed-end fund, an ETF, or other investment vehicle.
- Management Fee
The amount a fund pays to its investment adviser for the investment management associated with overseeing the fund's portfolio.
- Market Timing
An investment strategy based on predicting market trends. The goal is to anticipate trends, buying before the market goes up and selling before the market goes down. Because mutual fund investors who follow this strategy often rapidly buy and sell fund shares, many fund companies, including Nuveen, impose restrictions on these types of investors in order to prevent disruption of normal portfolio operations and to help keep trading costs low for all fund investors.
- Market Yield (also known as Dividend Yield or Current Yield)
An investment's current annualized dividend divided by its current market price.
- Maturity
The time (in years) for which an instrument remains outstanding. The term refers to a finite period at the end of which the instrument will no longer exist and the principal is repaid with interest.
- Maturity Date
The date on which the face value of a bond must be repaid.
- Maximum Average Call Strike vs. Spot
Maximum average ratio (of call option strike price vs. spot price) during the month.
- Maximum Weighted Average Days to Expiration
Maximum average days to expiration during the month, for all call options.
- Median Market Capitalization
The midpoint of market capitalization of the stocks in a portfolio.
- Micro-Cap Stocks
Usually stocks with a market value of $250 million or less.
- Min Avg. Call Strike vs. Spot
Minimum average ratio (of call option strike price vs. spot price) during the month.
- Min. Wtd. Avg Days to Expiration
Minimum average days to expiration during the month, for all call options in the fund.
- Minimum Investment
The smallest investment permitted when opening a new fund account or making an additional purchase.
- Modified Duration
A measure of the effect that a 100bp change in interest rates will have on the price of a bond.
- Money Market Fund
A fund designed to provide safety of principal and current income by investing in high quality, short-term debt securities such as bank certificates of deposit, commercial paper, and U.S. Treasury bills. The price per share of government and retail money market funds is fixed at $1.00, although that value is not typically guaranteed. Money market funds have the lowest risk of any type of mutual fund.
- Morningstar Aggressive Target Risk Index
An index that represents a portfolio of global equities, bonds and traditional inflation hedges such as commodities and TIPS. This portfolio is held in a static allocation appropriate for U.S. investors who seek above-average exposure to equity market risk and returns.
- Morningstar Aggressive Target Risk Index
The Morningstar Target Risk Index family is designed to meet the benchmarking needs of target risk investors by offering an objective yardstick for performance comparison. Aggressive Index is 95% Global Equity Exposure and 5% Global Bond Exposure
- Morningstar Moderately Aggressive Target Risk Index
An index that represents a portfolio of global equities, bonds and traditional inflation hedges such as commodities and TIPS. This portfolio is held in a static allocation appropriate for U.S. investors who seek a slightly above-average exposure to equity market risk and returns.
- Morningstar Moderately Aggressive Target Risk Index
The Morningstar Target Risk Index family is designed to meet the benchmarking needs of target risk investors by offering an objective yardstick for performance comparison. Aggressive Index is 80% Global Equity Exposure and 10% Global Bond Exposure
- Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS)
Mortgage-backed securities (MBS) are bonds backed by pools of mortgages, usually with similar characteristics, and which return principal and interest in each payment. MBS are composed of residential mortgages (RMBS) or commercial mortgages (CMBS). RMBS are further divided into Agency RMBS [link to that glossary definition] and non-agency RMBS ], depending on the issuer.
- MSCI AC (All Country) World Small Cap Index
An unmanaged index designed to measure the performance of the small cap sector of global equity markets.
- MSCI ACWI (All Country World Index)
MSCI ACWI Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index that is designed to measure the equity market performance of developed and emerging markets. The MSCI ACWI consists of 46 country indexes comprising 23 developed and 23 emerging market country indexes. The developed market country indexes included are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. The emerging market country indexes included are: Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Russia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey* and United Arab Emirates.
- MSCI ACWI ex USA Index
MSCI ACWI ex USA Index captures large and mid cap representation across 22 of 23 Developed Markets (DM) countries (excluding the US) and 23 Emerging Markets (EM) countries*. With 1,853 constituents, the index covers approximately 85% of the global equity opportunity set outside the US.
- MSCI All Cap World Index
Captures large, mid, small and micro cap representation across 23 Developed Markets (DM) countries. With 11,640 constituents, the index is comprehensive, covering approximately 99% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in each country.
- MSCI China Index
MSCI China Index is designed to capture large- and mid-cap segments with H shares, B shares, red chips, P chips and foreign listings (e.g., ADRs) of Chinese stocks. The MSCI China Index represents approximately 85% of China free float-adjusted market capitalization and evolves to reflect the changing equity market.
- MSCI EAFE Index
MSCI EAFE Index (Europe, Australasia, Far East) is a free float-adjusted market capitalization index that is designed to measure the equity market performance of developed markets, excluding the US & Canada. The MSCI EAFE Index consists of the following 21 developed market country indexes: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
- MSCI Emerging Markets Index
MSCI Emerging Markets Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization index that is designed to measure equity market performance of emerging markets. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index consists of the following 23 emerging market country indexes: Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Russia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and United Arab Emirates.
- MSCI Europe Index
MSCI Europe Index captures large- and mid-cap representation across 15 developed markets countries in Europe.
- MSCI Japan Index
A capitalization-weighted index, adjusted for free float. The index is designed to reflect the sectoral diversity of the Japanese equity markets.
- MSCI U.S. REIT Index
MSCI US REIT Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index that is comprised of Equity REIT securities. The MSCI US REIT Index includes securities with exposure to core real estate (e.g. residential and retail properties) as well as securities with exposure to other types of real estate (e.g. casinos, theaters).
- MSCI USA Growth Index
MSCI USA Growth Index captures large- and mid-cap securities exhibiting overall growth style characteristics in the U.S.
- MSCI USA Mid Cap Growth Index
MSCI USA Mid Cap Growth Index captures mid-cap securities exhibiting overall growth style characteristics in the U.S.
- MSCI USA Mid Cap Value Index
MSCI USA Mid Cap Value Index captures mid-cap U.S. securities exhibiting overall value style characteristics.
- MSCI USA Small Cap Index
MSCI USA Small Cap Index is designed to measure the performance of the small-cap segment of the U.S. equity market.
- MSCI USA Value Index
MSCI USA Value Index captures large- and mid-cap U.S. securities exhibiting overall value style characteristics.
- MSCI World ex USA Small Cap Index
MSCI World ex USA Small Cap Index is a free-float adjusted market capitalization-weighted index that is designed to measure the equity market performance of smaller capital stocks in developed markets, excluding the U.S. market.
- MSCI World Index
MSCI World Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index that is designed to measure the equity market performance of developed markets. The MSCI World index consists of the following 23 developed market country indexes: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
- Multi-Strategy
Multi-Strategy is the term used when several different asset classes are blended within a portfolio. Generally both equity and debt investments are used in different measures to try to achieve a targeted mix of income and growth.
- Municipal Bond
Bonds issued by US local authorities that can be either tax-exempt or taxable to end investors.
- Municipal Bond Fund
A mutual fund that seeks to provide income exempt from federal income tax by investing in a portfolio of municipal bonds.
- MuniFund Preferred Shares in Variable Rate Demand Mode (VRDM-MFP)
Preferred shares issued by a closed-end fund designated in a variable rate demand mode featuring floating rate dividends set by a remarketing agent via a weekly remarketing, with a fixed term, mandatory redemption, and an unconditional put option. Issued via private placement.
- MuniFund Preferred Shares in Variable Rate Mode (VRM-MFP)
Preferred shares issued by a closed-end fund designated in a variable rate mode featuring floating rate dividends based on a predetermined formula or spread to an index rate, with a fixed term and mandatory redemption. Issued via private placement.
- MuniFund Preferred Shares in Variable Rate Remarketed Mode (VRRM-MFP)
Preferred shares issued by a closed-end fund designated in a variable rate remarketed mode featuring floating rate dividends set by a remarketing agent via a daily remarketing, with a fixed term and mandatory redemption. Issued via private placement.
- MuniFund Term Preferred (MTP)
Preferred shares issued by a closed-end fund featuring fixed rate dividends, with a fixed term and mandatory redemption. Listed and trade on NYSE.
- Mutual Fund
An open-end investment fund that pools the assets of individuals and organizations to invest in a professionally managed portfolio of securities. See open-end mutual fund.
- NASDAQ
The first electronic stock market listing over 5000 companies. The Nasdaq stock market comprises two separate markets, namely the Nasdaq National Market, which trades large, active securities and the Nasdaq Smallcap Market that trades emerging growth companies.
- NASDAQ 100 Index
The Nasdaq-100 Index includes 100 of the largest domestic and international non-financial companies listed on The Nasdaq Stock Market based on market capitalization. The Index reflects companies across major industry groups including computer hardware and software, telecommunications, retail/wholesale trade and biotechnology. It does not contain securities of financial companies including investment companies.
- NASDAQ Composite Index
The NASDAQ Composite Index measures all NASDAQ domestic and international based common type stocks listed on The Nasdaq Stock Market.
- Negative Convexity
A characteristic of callable or pre-payable securities that causes investors to have their principal returned sooner than expected in a declining interest rate environment or later than expected in a rising interest rate environment. In the former scenario, investors may have to reinvest their funds at lower rates ("call risk"); in the latter, they may miss an opportunity to earn higher rates ("extension risk"). The word "convexity" refers to the convex shape of the curve that portrays the security's price as a function of different yields.
- Net Asset Value (NAV)
A fund’s Net Assets is equal to its total assets (securities, cash and accrued earnings) less its total liabilities.
- 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.
- Net Assets
The net market value of all securities held in a portfolio and other assets, less liabilities.
- Net Exposure
Net exposure provides an indication of the portfolio'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 portfolio’s sensitivity to market movements.
- New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
One of the oldest and largest stock exchanges in the U.S. operated by a board of directors, responsible for listing securities, setting policies and supervising the stock exchange and its member activities. The NYSE also oversees the transfer of members' seats on the Exchange, judging whether a potential applicant is qualified to be a specialist.
- Nikkei 225
Nikkei 225 is also known as the Nikkei Stock Average and is comprised of 225 stocks selected from domestic common stocks in the 1st section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
- Nominal Interest Rate
The interest rate unadjusted for inflation. Not taking into account inflation gives a less meaningful and realistic number.
- Non-Agency RMBS
Non-agency RMBS do not have U.S. government agency guarantees. Non-agency RMBS may have credit enhancement built into the structure to help shield investors from borrower delinquencies. The spectrum of non-agency residential mortgage loans includes traditional jumbo loans (prime), alternative-A loans (Alt-A), and home equity loans.
- Non-Deliverable Forward (NDF)
An outright forward or futures contract in which counterparties settle the difference between the contracted NDF price or rate and the prevailing spot price or rate on an agreed notional amount. It is used in various markets such as foreign exchange and commodities.
- Non-Investment Grade
Also called “below investment grade”. Securities that are considered vulnerable to nonpayment to a small or large extent, and depend upon favorable business, financial, and/or economic conditions for the issuer to be able to meet its financial commitment. Long-term non-investment grade ratings range from BB (S&P, Fitch) or Ba1 (Moody’s), which are considered the least speculative or vulnerable, to C or Ca, which are considered the most speculative and vulnerable to default. For more information, see Moody’s, S&P, or Fitch definitions and discussion.
- Par Value
The face value of a bond or stock as printed on the certificate or charter. Bonds generally have a par value of $1,000.
- Payable Date
The day on which a portfolio pays its distributions to shareholders.
- Payment Default Risk (Or Default Risk)
Although bond issuers promise to make regular interest payments on the bond and promise to pay back, or redeem, the face value of the bond at the maturity date, an issuer may sometimes fail to meet its obligations. Payment default risk refers to the risk that a specific issuer may not be able to meet these obligations.
- Payout Ratio
Measures the percentage of a company’s earnings paid out to shareholders in the form of dividends.
- Portfolio Allocation
The proportion of assets invested in different asset classes such as stocks, bonds and cash equivalents.
- Portfolio Diversification
See diversification.
- Portfolio Turnover
A measure of the trading activity in a fund's portfolio of investments -- that is, how often securities are bought and sold by the fund.
- Positive Carry
Positive carry is a strategy of holding two offsetting positions, one of which creates an incoming cash flow that is greater than the obligations of the other.
- PPIP Eligible Assets (See "Public Private Investment Program")
PPIP Eligible Assets include CMBS and RMBS issued prior to 2009 that were originally rated AAA or that received an equivalent rating by two or more nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (“NRSROs”) without ratings enhancement and that are secured directly by actual mortgage loans, leases or other assets and not other securities (other than certain swap positions, as determined by the U.S. Treasury).
- Preferred Stock
Traditionally, a class of non-voting stock with a dividend that is paid at a rate which is fixed for some period. Although preferred stock ranks below most debt in seniority in a company's capital structure, it has preference over a company's common stock in the payment of dividends and the liquidation of assets. Preferred securities are often rated by credit rating agencies such as Fitch, Moody's, and Standard & Poor's. See taxable preferred securities.
- Premium
The amount by which a bond's market price exceeds its par value. Also, the amount by which a closed-end fund's market price per share exceeds its Net Asset Value per share.
- Pre-Refunding
A procedure used by state and local governments to refinance municipal bonds to lower interest expenses. The issuer sells new bonds with a lower yield and uses the proceeds to buy U.S. Treasury securities, which serve as collateral for existing bonds and the interest from which is used to make payments on those existing, higher-yielding bonds. Because of this collateral, prerefunding generally raises a bond's credit rating and thus its value.
- Price/Book Ratio
The price per share of a stock divided by its book value (i.e., net worth) per share. For a fund, the ratio is the weighted average price/book ratio of the stocks in the fund's portfolio.
- Price/Earnings Ratio (P/E Ratio)
The ratio of a stock's current price to its per-share earnings over the past year. For a fund, the ratio is the weighted average P/E of the stocks in the fund's portfolio. A forward P/E uses estimated earnings for the next four quarters in the denominator. P/E is often an indicator of market expectations about corporate prospects; usually, the higher the P/E, the greater the expectations for a company's future growth in earnings.
- Price-To-Sales
The price per share of a stock divided by the previous 12 months sales per share.
- Primary Market
The primary market is the market for new issues of securities, such as closed-end funds. Primary is distinguished from the secondary market where previously issued securities are bought and sold.
- Prime Loans/Jumbo Loans
Prime loans are also referred to as traditional jumbo loans given their high loan balances which exceed industry standards for conforming agency loans. Prime loans represent the largest segment of the non-agency RMBS market and are typically characterized by the following: i) full documentation, single family, owner occupied, ii) affluent, financially sophisticated borrowers, iii) generally high credit scores (720 or higher), and iv) geographic concentration.
- Private Activity Bond
Under the 1986 amendments to the Internal Revenue Code, PABs are defined as any municipal obligation, irrespective of the purpose for which it is issued or the source of payment, if more than 10% of the proceeds of the issue will finance property that will be used by a nongovernmental person in a trade or business, and the payment of debt service on more than 10% of the proceeds of the issue will be secured by property used in a private trade or business or payments in respect of such property, or derived from payments in respect of property used in a private trade or business. These two tests - the "private business use test" and the "private payment or security test" - must be examined in connection with the issuance of any municipal security.
- Private Placement
The sale of equity or debt securities to a limited number of investors, rather than through a public offering, often at the initial stages of a company's operations.
- Prospectus
The official legal document that describes an investment offering and offers its units or shares for sale. By law, a prospectus must be given to all investors before they invest, or in connection with their purchase confirmation.
- Proxy
An authorization that allows one person to act for another. For example, shareholders who are unable to attend a company's annual meeting may authorize the company's management to vote the shareholder's shares via a proxy.
- Public Offering Price (POP)
The purchase price of one mutual fund share, including any up-front sales charge.
- Public-Private Investment Program (PPIP)
The Public-Private Investment Program was created by the U.S. Treasury, in conjunction with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Board of Governors of the U.S. Federal Reserve. PPIP calls for the creation of public-private investment funds, such as the Master PPIP Fund, through which privately raised capital and U.S. Treasury capital are pooled together to facilitate the purchase of PPIP Eligible Assets.
- Put Option
The right, but not the obligation, to sell a given security or other financial instrument within a particular time or on a specified date at a specified price.
- R2 (R-squared)
A measurement of investment risk that shows how closely the portfolio's performance correlates with the performance of a benchmark and thus indicates how closely that performance is linked to the broad market. A high R2 signifies that the portfolio's fluctuations generally reflect market moves, while a low R2 indicates that other factors tend to drive fund performance.
- Real Asset Income Blend
Real Asset Income Blend comprises a weighting of 28% S&P Global Infrastructure Index, 21% FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Index, 18% Wells Fargo Hybrid & Preferred Securities REIT Index, 15% Bloomberg Barclays Global Capital Securities Index and 18% Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate HY Index.
- Real Estate Company
A real estate company generally derives at least 50% of its revenue from the ownership, construction, financing, management or sale of commercial, industrial or residential real estate, or has at least 50% of its assets invested in such real estate.
- Real Estate Investment Trust Act of 1960
Congress passed this federal law in 1960, which officially authorized Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). Its purpose was to allow small investors to pool their investments in real estate in order to get the same benefits as might be obtained by direct ownership, while also diversifying their risks and obtaining professional management.
- Real Interest Rate
The amount by which the nominal interest rate is higher than the inflation rate. The real rate of interest is approximated by taking the nominal interest rate and subtracting inflation. The real interest rate is the growth rate of purchasing power derived from an investment.
- Real Rate of Return
The return on an investment after it is adjusted for the effects of inflation.
- Record Date
The date that determines which shareholders will be paid the dividend or capital gain or other distribution. Only investors who are officially shareholders on the books at the opening of business on the record date will receive the distribution on the payment date.
- Redemption Price
The price at which a holder can redeem (sell) an open end fund's shares, determined by deducting any applicable contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) from the net asset value (NAV) per share.
- Regulatory Leverage
Regulatory Leverage consists of preferred shares or debt issued by the fund. Both of these are part of a fund’s capital structure. Regulatory leverage is sometimes referred to as “’40 Act Leverage” and is subject to asset coverage limits set in the Investment Company Act of 1940.
- Reinvestment Privilege
The right of shareholders to use income and/or capital gain distributions to purchase additional shares of the fund without paying a sales charge.
- REIT
A real estate investment trust (REIT) is a company that owns and, usually, operates income-producing commercial real estate, such as apartments, shopping centers, offices, hotels and warehouses, or mortgage loans secured by such properties.
- REOC (real estate operating company)
A real estate investment company. Unlike a REIT, a REOC is not required to pay out at least 99% of its dividends.
- Replacement Value
The value of an asset as determined by the estimated cost of replacing it.
- Repurchase Agreement (Repo)
A contract under which one party "sells" securities to another party with an agreement to buy back or "repurchase" the securities at a fixed price on a future date. Repos are usually very short-term in nature and are, in effect, a form of borrowing that is backed by collateral, with interest equal to the difference between the selling and repurchase prices.
- Residential Mortgage Backed Securities (RMBS)
Securities comprised of a pool of mortgage loans created by banks and other financial institutions. The cash flows from each of the pooled mortgages is packaged by a special-purpose entity into classes and tranches, which then issues securities and can be purchased by investors.
- Responsible Investment (RI)
Responsible Investment (RI) is an approach to investing that aims to incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into investment decisions, to better manage risk and generate sustainable, long-term returns.
- Return of Capital
A distribution received from a fund investment that is not from net income or realized capital gains but rather represents either an unrealized gain or a return of a part of the original investment, or both. A return of capital is not taxable unless it exceeds the investment.
- Revenue Bond
A municipal bond that is backed by the revenue from the project being financed. Revenue bonds are considered to be less securely backed than general obligation bonds, and thus may trade with higher yields.
- Rights Of Accumulation (ROA)
A way for a shareholder to qualify for a reduced sales charge by adding the value of shares already owned to the amount of a new purchase.
- Rights Offering (Issue)
Issuing rights to a company's existing shareholders to buy a proportional number of additional securities at a given price (usually at a discount) within a fixed period.
- Risk-Adjusted Returns
A concept that refines an investment's return by measuring how much risk is involved in producing that return, which is generally expressed as a number or rating. Risk-adjusted returns are applied to individual securities and investment funds and portfolios.
- Rollover
A tax-free transfer of cash or other assets from one retirement plan to another. An IRA holder may shift assets from a present IRA to another. Distributions from a qualified retirement plan may also be rolled over to an IRA or to another employer's plan.
- Rollover IRA
An individual retirement account that is established for the sole purpose of receiving a distribution from a qualified plan.
- Roth IRA
An individual retirement plan that bears many similarities to the Traditional IRA. Contributions are never deductible and qualified distributions are tax-free.
- Russell 1000® Growth Index
The Russell 1000® Growth Index measures the performance of those Russell 1000 companies with a greater-than-average growth orientation.
- Russell 1000® Index
The Russell 1000® Index measures the performance of the large cap segment of the U.S. equity universe which includes approximately 1000 of the largest securities based on a contribution of their market cap and current index measurement.
- Russell 1000® Value Index
The Russell 1000® Value Index measures the performance of those Russell 1000 companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values.
- Russell 2000® Growth Index
The Russell 2000® Growth Index measures the performance of those Russell 2000 companies with a greater-than-average growth orientation.
- Russell 2000® Index
The Russell 2000® Index measures the performance of the small cap segment of the U.S. equity universe which includes approximately 2000 of the smallest securities based on a contribution of their market cap and current index measurement.
- Russell 2000® Value Index
The Russell 2000® Value Index measures the performance of those Russell 2000 companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values.
- Russell 2500™ Index
The Russell 2500™ Index measures the performance of the 2,500 smallest companies in the Russell 3000® Index.
- Russell 2500™ Value Index
The Russell 2500™ Value Index measures the performance of those Russell 2500 companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values.
- Russell 3000® Index
The Russell 3000 Index measures the performance of the largest 3000 U.S. companies representing approximately 98% of the investable U.S. equity market.
- Russell 3000® Value Index
The Russell 3000 Index measures the performance of the largest 3000 U.S. companies representing approximately 98% of the investable U.S. equity market with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values.
- Russell Midcap® Growth Index
The Russell Midcap Growth Index measures the performance of the smallest 800 companies in the Russell 1000® Index with a greater-than-average growth orientation.
- Russell Midcap® Index
The Russell Midcap Index measures the performance of the smallest 800 companies in the Russell 1000® Index.
- Russell Midcap® Value Index
The Russell Midcap Value Index measures the performance of the smallest 800 companies in the Russell 1000® Index with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values.with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values.
- S&P 500 Dividend Only Stocks Index
An unmanaged index that includes only the S&P 500® Index stocks that pay dividends. The index returns assume reinvestment of dividends, but do not reflect any applicable sales charges.
- S&P 500 Index
The S&P 500 is widely regarded as the best single gauge of large-cap U.S. equities. The index includes 500 leading companies and captures approximately 80% coverage of available market capitalization.
- S&P 500® Dividend Aristocrats®
The S&P 500® Dividend Aristocrats® measure the performance S&P 500 companies that have increased dividends every year for the last 25 consecutive years. The Index treats each constituent as a distinct investment opportunity without regard to its size by equally weighting each company.
- S&P Global Infrastructure Index
The S&P Global Infrastructure Index is designed to track 75 companies from around the world chosen to represent the listed infrastructure industry while maintaining liquidity and tradability. To create diversified exposure, the index includes three distinct infrastructure clusters: energy, transportation, and utilities.
- S&P GSCI
The S&P GSCI is the first major investable commodity index. It is one of the most widely recognized benchmarks that is broad-based and production weighted to represent the global commodity market beta. The index is designed to be investable by including the most liquid commodity futures, and provides diversification with low correlations to other asset classes.
- S&P MIDCAP 400® Index
The S&P MidCap 400® provides investors with a benchmark for mid-sized companies. The index, which is distinct from the large-cap S&P 500®, measures the performance of mid-sized companies, reflecting the distinctive risk and return characteristics of this market segment.
- S&P Municipal Bond California Index
The S&P Municipal Bond California Index is a broad, market value-weighted index that seeks to measure the performance of bonds issued within California.
- S&P Municipal Bond High Yield Index
The S&P Municipal Bond High-Yield Index consists of bonds in the S&P Municipal Bond Index that are not rated or are rated below investment grade.
- S&P Municipal Bond Index
The S&P Municipal Bond Index is a broad, market value-weighted index that seeks to measure the performance of the U.S. municipal bond market.
- S&P Municipal Bond Intermediate Index
The S&P Municipal Bond Intermediate Index consists of bonds in the S&P Municipal Bond Index with a minimum maturity of 3 years and a maximum maturity of 15 years.
- S&P Municipal Bond Short Index
The S&P Municipal Bond Short Index consists of bonds in the S&P Municipal Bond Index with a minimum maturity of 6 months and a maximum maturity of 4 years.
- S&P Municipal Bond Short Intermediate Index
The S&P Municipal Bond Short Intermediate Index consists of bonds in the S&P Municipal Bond Index with a min maturity of 1 year and a max of 7.999 years.
- S&P Municipal Yield Index
The Index is structured so that 70% of the market value of the index consists of bonds that are either not rated or are rated below investment grade, 20% are rated BBB/Baa, and 10% are rated single A.
- S&P Short Duration Municipal Yield Index
The index consists of bonds maturing in 1 to 12 years and is structured so that 70% of the market value of the index consists of bonds that are either not rated or are rated below investment grade, 20% are rated BBB/Baa, and 10% are rated single A.
- S&P Taxable Municipal Bond Index
The S&P Taxable Municipal Bond Index is a broad benchmark index designed to measure the performance of the investment grade U.S. taxable municipal bond market.
- Sales Charge
A fee paid when at fund purchas. Depending on which option best meets a cleint's needs when buying a mutual fund, this fee must be paid either at the time of purchase (A shares) or on an on-going basis (C shares). The sales charge help cover selling costs as well as the cost of paying a financial advisor a commission for advising the purchase. The prospectus for each fund has specific details.
- Sarbanes-Oxley Act
In response to numerous corporate failures arising from corporate mismanagement and fraud, Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Generally recognized as one of the most significant market reforms since the passage of the securities legislation of the 1930s, the act is intended to help protect investors and restore investor confidence by improving the accuracy, reliability, and transparency of corporate financial reporting and disclosures, and reinforce the importance of corporate ethical standards.
- SEC Yield
A standardized measure of the current net market yields on a fund's investment portfolio. It is based on the net investment income for the 30-day period ending on the last day of the previous month divided by the highest offering price on that last day.
- Secondary Market
After an initial public offering (IPO) of a security such as stock or a closed-end fund, the shares may be traded on an exchange or over the counter. The market for shares after an IPO is called the secondary market.
- Section 1256 Contracts
Section 1256 contracts include regulated futures contracts, certain foreign currency contracts and nonequity options (e.g. options on futures contracts). These contracts, named after the Internal Revenue Code section which defines them, must generally be “marked-to-market” (treated as if though sold for fair market value on the last day of the tax year) and are subject to a special characterization rule which treats gains and losses as 60% long-term capital and 40% short-term capital.
- Sector Diversification
Indicates the percentage of a portfolio's total net assets invested in each of the major industry classifications that comprise the market in which the fund invests.
- Sector Fund
A fund that invests primarily in a particular sector of the market, such as technology, precious metals, or health care. Sector funds are often more volatile than those which invest in a more diversified range of industries.
- Sector Rotation
Shifting of investment assets from one sector of the economy to another during a particular economic cycle.
- Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The federal agency created by the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 which administers the laws governing the securities markets. The SEC regulates the registration and distribution of shares of closed-end funds, mutual funds, and ETFs.
- Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA)
SIFMA is a United States industry trade group representing securities firms, banks, and asset management companies.
- Securitization (or Securitized)
A security is a transferable ownership interest in some underlying asset. This includes investments such as stocks and bonds. Securitization is a process by which pooled assets or obligations (such as a mortgages or credit card debt) are converted into securities that can be traded by various retail and institutional investors. This process allows for the transfer of risks and cash flows from the obligation originator to a new set of investors. This generally increases the liquidity and ownership interests of these securities, while distributing risk among a larger set of investors.
- Senior Loan
A loan that takes priority over other debts of the issuer.
- Settlement Date
The date on which a trade (bonds, equities, foreign exchange, commodities, etc.) settles. That is, the actual day on which transfer of cash or assets is completed and is usually two days after the trade was done.
- Sharpe Ratio (Risk-Adjusted Return)
Sharpe Ratio (Risk-Adjusted Return) is a risk-adjusted return measure calculated using standard deviation and excess return to determine reward per unit of risk. The higher the Sharpe Ratio, the better the historical risk-adjusted performance.
- Short
A security position created by selling borrowed securities, giving the investor "negative exposure" to that security, in anticipation of a market decline.
- Short Position
A security the Fund does not own but has sold through the delivery of a borrowed security.
- Short-Term Capital Gain
A profit on the sale of a security or a mutual fund share held for one year or less.
- Signature Guarantee
A stamp or seal by a bank or brokerage firm or other financial intermediary that is a member of an Approved Medallion Guarantee Program (or other acceptable guarantor) on correspondence that authenticates your signature. A signature guarantee is required by the transfer agent for Nuveen defined portfolios and mutual funds in order to process certain types of account activity (e.g. change of account registration) that you request. A notary public cannot provide a signature guarantee.
- Sinking Fund
Separate accumulation by a bond issuer of cash or investments (including earnings on investments) in a fund in accordance with the terms of a trust agreement or indenture, funded by periodic deposits by the issuer (or other entity responsible for debt service), for the purpose of assuring timely availability of moneys for payment of debt service. Usually used in connection with term bonds.
- Small Capitalization Stocks
The range of values varies, but stocks of companies whose market value is between $250 million and $2 billion generally fall into this group. Small-cap companies tend to grow faster than large-cap companies and typically use any profits for expansion rather than for paying dividends. They also are more volatile than large-cap companies and have a higher failure rate. The Russell 2000â Index, which includes the smallest companies of the Russell 3000â Index, is a commonly used index for small to mid-cap companies.
- Sovereign Debt
Debt issued by a country's national government, often in a foreign currency.
- Spread
(1) The difference between the price at which an issue is purchased from an issuer and that at which it is reoffered by the underwriters to the first holders. (2) The difference in price or yield between two securities. The securities can be in different markets, or within the same securities market between different credits, sectors or other relevant factors.
- Spread Duration
Spread duration is the percent price change given a 100 basis point move in spread over a benchmark, and is typically quoted in connection with mortgage-backed securities (MBS). Option-adjusted spread (OAS) is first computed using an input quote. OAS is then shifted by a small amount positive and negative, and the bond is re-priced using the adjusted OAS, then normalized price differential (between down and up OAS move) is the spread duration. The spread duration of a MBS portfolio is the market value (MV)-weighted average of spread duration of each cash bond. This measure excludes the effect of cash, leverage and derivatives.
- SRI
SRI stands for Socially Responsible Investing and is a term often used interchangeably with ESG. Legacy SRI approaches have typically emphasized a negative exclusionary approach.
- Standard Deviation
Standard Deviation (Risk) is a statistical measure of the historical volatility of a mutual fund or portfolio; the higher the number, the greater the risk.
- State Municipal Bond Fund
Municipal bond funds whose objective is to provide current income that is exempt from regular federal, state and, in some cases, local income taxes by investing in a portfolio of municipal bonds from a single state.
- Statement Of Additional Information (SAI)
A document that supplements a mutual fund's prospectus that includes further information about the fund and its operations.
- Street Name Account
An investor's account which is held in the name of a brokerage firm (in part to facilitate payment and delivery of securities).
- Structural Leverage
Structural Leverage consists of preferred shares or debt issued by the fund. Both of these are part of a fund’s capital structure. Structural leverage is sometimes referred to as “’40 Act Leverage” and is subject to asset coverage limits set in the Investment Company Act of 1940. Structural leverage contrasts with "effective leverage", which is generated by features embedded within portfolio securities, or via derivatives.
- Subprime
Subprime mortgage borrowers typically have smaller loan balances, imperfect credit histories and higher debt to income ratios. Subprime loans tend to be originated several hundred basis points above conforming agency loans. Subprime are typically characterized by the following: i) full documentation, single family, owner occupied; ii) loan balance significantly lower than agency limit, iii) lower credit scores (640 or lower), iv) cash-out refinancings, and v) prepayment penalties.
- Swap
An agreement between two parties to exchange a single payment or a series of cash flows over some period based on specified securities, indexes or other financial measures. There are many different kinds of swaps, including currency swaps, asset swaps, credit default swaps, and equity swaps. One of the most common swaps is an interest rate swap in which one party agrees to make a fixed rate payment in exchange for a floating rate payment for the counterparty.
- Syndicate
A group of banks or other financial companies that agree to underwrite and distribute a security such as a common stock, bond, loan or a closed-end fund.
- Systematic Investment Plan
An arrangement which permits regular investments in a mutual fund through payroll deductions, automatic transfers from a checking account, or automatic exchanges from another mutual fund.
- Systematic Withdrawal Plan
An arrangement that enables an investor to make regular withdrawals automatically from their mutual fund in the form of a check or an electronic transfer to a checking account.
- Tax Deferred
Income on which taxes can be postponed until a later date. Contributions to a 401(k) plan and earnings on those contributions, for example, are not taxed until they are withdrawn from the account, but when withdrawn, they are fully taxed at the tax rate applicable at the time of withdrawal.
- Tax Equalization
The practice of a fund treating a portion of a redemption payout made to a redeeming shareholder, which represents his proportionate part of the fund's undistributed net investment income and/or capital gains, as a distribution of income or gain for the fund's tax purposes. Such amounts are referred to as the equalization debits (or payments) and will be considered a distribution by the fund to shareholders of net investment income and capital gain for purposes of the calculation of the Fund’s dividends paid deduction.
- Tax Loss Carry-Forward
A tax benefit that allows an individual or a mutual fund to offset current profits with past losses.
- Tax Year
The period (typically 12-months) used by an individuals or companies to report income for income tax purposes. For most individuals, their tax year is the calendar year.
- Taxable Equivalent Distribution Rate
For a closed end fund, the taxable equivalent distribution rate represents the yield that must be earned on a fully taxable investment in order to equal the distribution rate on the fund on an after-tax basis. The taxable equivalent distribution rate for municipal bond funds shown is based on the fund's current distribution rate (on share price) on the indicated date and a federal income tax rate of 28% plus, for a state-specific municipal fund, a state or city tax rate if appropriate. It is calculated by dividing the tax-exempt distribution rate by 1 minus the tax rate. The taxable equivalent distribution rate for a fund that invests in securities whose dividend are qualified for qualified taxable income (QTI) treatment is based on the fund's current distribution rate on the indicated date and the difference between a federal income tax rate of 28% and the 15% federal tax rate applicable to QTI.
- Taxable Equivalent Yield
The yield an investor would have to realize on a fully taxable investment to equal the stated yield on a tax-exempt investment, at a specified assumed tax rate. It is calculated by dividing the tax-exempt yield by 1 minus the tax rate.
- Taxable Municipal Bond
A municipal bond whose interest is fully taxable under the federal income tax; that is, its interest is not excluded from the gross income of its owners for federal income tax purposes, like it is for most municipal bonds. Certain municipal bonds are taxable because they are issued for purposes which the federal government deems not to provide a significant benefit to the public at large.
- Taxable Preferred Securities
Taxable preferred securities do not qualify for the dividends-received deduction for corporations; nor do they qualify for qualified dividend income (QDI) treatment. These securities often offer an additional yield spread versus other types of preferred securities of equivalent quality and duration, due their tax treatment. They are usually junior liabilities of an issuer and pay either fixed or adjustable dividends.
- Tax-Exempt Bond
See municipal bond.
- Technical Analysis
Analysis of the supply and demand for securities using charts and graphs to identify price trends that may foretell future price movements.
- Tender Option Bonds (TOB)
Floating rate, puttable security issued by a special purpose trust into which a municipal bond has been deposited, for the purpose of creating a leveraged investment in that bond, which is referred to as a "residual interest certificate", "inverse floating rate security", or "inverse floater". The effective leverage created by this technique is sometimes referred to as "TOB-based leverage".
- Term Preferred Shares (TPS)
Taxable preferred shares issued by a closed-end fund featuring a fixed term and mandatory redemption. Issued via registered offering or private placement.
- Ticker
Letters that identify a security for trading purposes. For example, a closed-end fund typically has a three-letter ticker, a mutual fund ticker symbol is usually four letters followed by an "X." The "X" indicates that the security is a mutual fund.
- Top-Down Approach
An approach to investing in which the investor first looks at general trends in the economy and then chooses specific industries and particular companies that will benefit from these broad trends.
- TOPIX Index
A measure of the overall trend in the Japanese stock market, and is used as a benchmark for investment in Japanese stocks.
- Total Investment Exposure
Total Investment Exposure: Total investment exposure is a fund’s assets managed by the Adviser, including assets that are attributable to financial leverage. For these purposes, financial leverage includes a fund’s use of preferred stock and borrowings and 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.
- Total Return
When measuring performance, is the actual rate of return of an investment or a pool of investments over a given evaluation period. Total return includes interest, capital gains, dividends and distributions realized over a given period of time.
- Tracking Error
Tracking Error represents the standard deviation of the difference between the performance of the investment strategy and the benchmark. This provides a historical measure of the variability of the investment strategy’s returns relative to its benchmark.
- Trade Date
The actual date on which your units or shares are purchased or sold.
- Traditional IRA
A personal, tax-deferred retirement account that allows contributions to be made from current income. Contributions may be tax-deductible subject to certain earned-income limitations and age restrictions.
- Transfer Agent
An institution, usually a bank, used by an issuer of units or shares to maintain its unitholder and shareholder records and perform all account transactions.
- Transfer Of Assets
A change in ownership of an asset, or a movement of funds and/or assets from one account to another. A transfer may involve an exchange of funds when it involves a change in ownership, such as when an investor sells a real estate holding.
- Treasury Bill, Note, Bond
Negotiable debt obligations issued by the U.S. government and backed by its full faith and credit. Treasury bills are short-term securities with maturities of one year or less. Treasury notes are intermediate-term securities with maturities of 1 to 10 years. Treasury bonds are long-term securities with maturities of 10 years longer.
- Triple Tax-Exempt Fund
A municipal bond fund whose dividends and interest are exempt from regular Federal, state and local income taxes within a particular state and locality.
- Turnover Rate
See Portfolio Turnover