Nuveen High Yield Municipal Income ETF

 

Ticker
NHYM

Listing Exchange: NYSE Arca, Inc.

 

22 January
2025

 

This summary prospectus is designed to provide investors with key Fund information in a clear and concise format. Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund’s complete prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund’s prospectus, reports to shareholders and other information about the Fund online at www.nuveen.com/etf. You can also get this information at no cost by calling (888) 290-9881 or by sending an e-mail request to mutualfunds@nuveen.com. If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank or financial advisor), the prospectus, reports to shareholders and other information will also be available from your financial intermediary. The Fund’s prospectus and statement of additional information, both dated January 22, 2025, are incorporated by reference into this summary prospectus and may be obtained, free of charge, at the website or phone number noted above.
















 

Summary
Prospectus

   

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Investment Objective

The investment objective of the Fund is to provide high current income exempt from regular federal income taxes. Capital appreciation is a secondary objective when consistent with the Fund's primary objective.

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

The table below describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, when buying or selling shares of the Fund, which are not reflected in this table or the example that follows:

Annual Fund Operating Expenses

(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

     

 

 

 

Management Fees

0.35%

Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees

0.00%

Other Expenses1

0.00%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

0.35%

 

 

 

1 Other Expenses are estimated for the current fiscal year.

Example

The following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all your shares at the end of a period. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. The example does not reflect brokerage commissions that you may pay when you purchase and sell Fund shares. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

     

 

 

 

1 Year

$36

3 Years

$113

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. The Fund has not completed its first fiscal year, and therefore it does not have a portfolio turnover rate to report.

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of the sum of its net assets and the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes in municipal bonds that pay interest that is exempt from regular federal income tax. Regular federal income tax is different from, and does not include, the federal alternative minimum tax. These municipal bonds include obligations issued by U.S. states and their subdivisions, authorities, instrumentalities and corporations, as well as obligations issued by U.S. territories (such as Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam) that pay interest that is exempt from regular federal income tax. The Fund may invest without limit in municipal bonds that generate income subject to the alternative minimum tax on individuals. Income received from the Fund’s municipal bonds may affect the federal corporate alternative minimum tax for certain corporations. The Fund is a long-term bond fund and, as such, will generally maintain, under normal market conditions, an investment portfolio with an overall weighted average maturity of greater than 10 years.

Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 65% of its net assets in low- to medium-quality bonds rated BBB/Baa or lower at the time of purchase by at least one independent rating agency or, if unrated, judged by the Fund’s sub-adviser to be of comparable quality. Below investment grade municipal bonds (those rated BB/Ba or lower) are commonly referred to as “high yield” or “junk” bonds. The Fund may invest up to 10% of its net assets in distressed securities (municipal securities that are issued by entities that are experiencing financial difficulties).

The Fund may invest in all types of municipal bonds, including general obligation bonds, revenue bonds and participation interests in municipal leases. The Fund may invest in zero coupon bonds, which are issued at substantial discounts from their value at maturity and pay no cash income to their holders until they mature.

   

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The Fund’s sub-adviser uses a research-intensive investment process to identify high-yielding municipal bonds that offer attractive value in terms of their current yields, prices, credit quality, liquidity and future prospects. The sub-adviser may choose to sell municipal bonds with deteriorating credit or limited upside potential compared to other available bonds.

Principal Risks

The value of your investment in this Fund will change daily. You could lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. The principal risks of investing in the Fund listed below are presented alphabetically to facilitate your ability to find particular risks and compare them with the risks of other funds. The significance of any specific risk to an investment in the Fund will vary over time depending on the composition of the Fund’s portfolio, market conditions and other factors. Each risk summarized below is considered a “principal risk” of investing in the Fund, regardless of the order in which it appears.

Active Management Risk—The Fund’s sub-adviser actively manages the Fund’s investments. Consequently, the Fund is subject to the risk that the investment techniques and risk analyses employed by the Fund’s sub-adviser may not produce the desired results. This could cause the Fund to lose value or its investment results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives.

Alternative Minimum Tax Risk—The Fund has no limit as to the amount that can be invested in alternative minimum tax bonds. Therefore, all or a portion of the Fund’s otherwise exempt-interest dividends may be taxable to those shareholders subject to the federal alternative minimum tax on individuals. Exempt-interest dividends may affect the federal corporate alternative minimum tax for certain corporations.

Call Risk—If, during periods of falling interest rates, an issuer exercises its right to prepay principal on its higher-yielding debt securities held by the Fund prior to the scheduled maturity date, the Fund may have to reinvest in securities with lower yields or higher risk of default, which may adversely impact the Fund’s performance.

Cash Redemption Risk—The Fund’s investment strategy may require it to effect redemptions, in whole or in part, in cash. In order to obtain the cash needed for a redemption, the Fund may be required to sell portfolio securities, which may cause the Fund to incur certain costs such as brokerage costs and recognize capital gains or losses that it might not have recognized if it had satisfied the redemption in-kind. Therefore, to the extent the Fund effects redemptions in cash, it may pay out higher annual capital gain distributions than if it satisfied redemptions entirely in-kind. These costs may decrease the Fund’s NAV to the extent not offset by a transaction fee payable by an authorized participant.

Credit Risk—Credit risk is the risk that an issuer or other obligated party of a debt security may be, or perceived (whether by market participants, rating agencies, pricing services or otherwise) to be, unable or unwilling to make interest and principal payments when due and the related risk that the value of a debt security may decline because of concerns about the issuer’s ability or willingness to make such payments. Because the Fund invests at least 65% of its assets in low- to medium-quality bonds, including high yield securities, the Fund’s credit risks are greater than those of funds that buy only investment grade securities.

Credit Spread Risk—Credit spread risk is the risk that credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield between securities that is due to differences in their credit quality) may increase when the market believes that bonds generally have a greater risk of default. Increasing credit spreads may reduce the market values of the Fund’s debt securities. Credit spreads often increase more for lower rated and unrated securities than for investment grade securities. In addition, when credit spreads increase, reductions in market value will generally be greater for longer-maturity securities.

Cybersecurity Risk—Cybersecurity risk is the risk of an unauthorized breach and access to Fund assets, customer data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, or the risk of an incident occurring that causes the Fund, its investment adviser or sub-adviser, custodian, transfer agent, distributor or other service provider, a financial intermediary or the issuers of securities held by the Fund to suffer a data breach, data corruption or lose operational functionality. Successful cyber-attacks or other cyber-failures or events affecting the Fund, its service providers or the issuers of securities held by the Fund may adversely impact the Fund or its shareholders. Additionally, a cybersecurity breach could affect the issuers in which the Fund invests, which may cause the Fund’s investments to lose value.

Distressed and Defaulted Securities Risk—Distressed securities are securities issued by entities that are experiencing financial difficulties at the time of investment and involve substantial additional risks to the risks of investing in high-yield securities. Investments in distressed securities are speculative and involve substantial risk that principal will not be repaid. Generally, the Fund will not be able to receive interest payments on such securities and may incur costs to protect its investment. A defaulted security is one in which the issuer has defaulted or become involved in bankruptcy or insolvency

   

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proceedings subsequent to the time of acquisition. It is unlikely that a liquid market will exist for the Fund to sell its holdings in distressed or defaulted securities or any securities received in exchange for such securities.

High Yield Securities Risk—High yield securities, which are rated below investment grade and commonly referred to as “junk” bonds, and unrated securities of comparable quality are high risk investments that may cause income and principal losses for the Fund. They generally are considered to be speculative with respect to the ability to pay interest and repay principal, have greater credit risk, are less liquid, are more likely to experience a default and have more volatile prices than investment grade securities.

Income Risk—The Fund’s income could decline during periods of falling interest rates or when the Fund experiences defaults on debt securities it holds.

Interest Rate Risk—Interest rate risk is the risk that the value of the Fund’s fixed-rate securities will decline because of rising interest rates. Changing interest rates may have unpredictable effects on markets, result in heightened market volatility and detract from the Fund’s performance to the extent that it is exposed to such interest rates. Fixed-rate securities may be subject to a greater risk of rising interest rates than would normally be the case due to the effect of potential government fiscal policy initiatives and resulting market reaction to those initiatives. Higher periods of inflation could lead to government fiscal policies which raise interest rates. When interest rates change, the values of fixed-rate securities with longer durations or maturities usually change more than the values of fixed-rate securities with shorter durations or maturities. Conversely, fixed-rate securities with shorter durations or maturities will be less volatile but may provide lower returns than fixed-rate securities with longer durations or maturities. Rising interest rates also may lengthen the duration of securities with call features, since exercise of the call becomes less likely as interest rates rise, which in turn will make the securities more sensitive to changes in interest rates and result in even steeper price declines in the event of further interest rate increases. The Fund is also subject to the risk that the income generated by its investments may not keep pace with inflation.

Market Risk—The market value of the Fund’s investments may go up or down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably and for short or extended periods of time, due to the particular circumstances of individual issuers or due to general conditions impacting issuers more broadly. Global economies and financial markets have become highly interconnected, and thus economic, market or political conditions or events in one country or region might adversely impact the value of the Fund’s investments whether or not the Fund invests in such country or region. Events such as war, terrorism, natural and environmental disasters and the spread of infectious illnesses or other public health emergencies may have a severe negative impact on the global economy, could cause financial markets to experience extreme volatility and losses, and could result in the disruption of trading and the reduction of liquidity in many instruments. Additionally, to the extent the rate of inflation increases, the value of the Fund’s assets may decline.

Municipal Bond Market Liquidity Risk—Inventories of municipal bonds held by brokers and dealers have decreased in recent years, lessening their ability to make a market in these securities. This reduction in market making capacity has the potential to decrease the Fund’s ability to buy or sell bonds, and increase bond price volatility and trading costs, particularly during periods of economic or market stress. In addition, recent federal banking regulations may cause certain dealers to reduce their inventories of municipal bonds, which may further decrease the Fund’s ability to buy or sell bonds. Municipal bonds may also be thinly traded or have a limited trading market, making it difficult for the Fund to value the bonds accurately. As a result, the Fund may be forced to accept a lower price to sell a security, to sell other securities to raise cash, or to give up an investment opportunity, any of which could have a negative effect on performance. If the Fund needed to sell large blocks of bonds to raise cash (such as to meet heavy shareholder redemptions), those sales could further reduce the bonds’ prices and hurt performance. The increased presence of non-traditional participants (such as proprietary trading desks of investment banks and hedge funds) or the reduced presence of traditional participants (such as individuals, insurance companies, banks and life insurance companies) in the municipal markets may lead to greater volatility in the markets because non-traditional participants may trade more frequently or in greater volume. The Fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in unrated bonds. The market for these bonds may be less liquid than the market for rated bonds of comparable quality.

Municipal Lease Obligations Risk—Participation interests in municipal leases pose special risks because many leases and contracts contain “non-appropriation” clauses that provide that the governmental issuer has no obligation to make future payments under the lease or contract unless money is appropriated for this purpose by the appropriate legislative body.

Municipal Securities Risk—The values of municipal securities held by the Fund may be adversely affected by local political and economic conditions and developments. Adverse conditions in an industry significant to a local economy

   

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could have a correspondingly adverse effect on the financial condition of local issuers. Accordingly, revenue bonds, which may be repaid only from a specific facility or source, are subject to more economic risk than general obligation bonds, which may be repaid from any revenue source. In addition, the amount of public information available about municipal bonds is generally less than for certain corporate equities or bonds, meaning that the investment performance of the Fund may be more dependent on the analytical abilities of the Fund’s sub-adviser than funds that invest in stock or other corporate investments.

Service Provider Operational Risk—The Fund’s service providers, such as the Fund’s administrator, custodian or transfer agent, may experience disruptions or operating errors that could negatively impact the Fund. Although service providers are required to have appropriate operational risk management policies and procedures, and to take appropriate precautions to avoid and mitigate risks that could lead to disruptions and operating errors, it may not be possible to identify all of the operational risks that may affect the Fund or to develop processes and controls to completely eliminate or mitigate their occurrence or effects.

Tax Risk—Income from municipal bonds held by the Fund could be declared taxable because of, among other things, unfavorable changes in tax laws, adverse interpretations by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) or state tax authorities, or noncompliant conduct of a bond issuer or other obligated party. Investments in taxable municipal bonds utilized by the Fund may cause the Fund to have taxable investment income.

Unrated Security Risk—Unrated securities determined by the Fund’s sub-adviser to be of comparable quality to rated securities which the Fund may purchase may pay a higher interest rate than such rated securities and be subject to a greater risk of illiquidity or price changes. Less public information is typically available about unrated securities or issuers than rated securities or issuers.

U.S. Territory Risk—The Fund’s investments may include municipal bonds issued by U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam that pay interest exempt from regular federal income tax. Accordingly, the Fund may be adversely affected by local political and economic conditions and developments within these U.S. territories.

Valuation Risk—The debt securities in which the Fund invests typically are valued by a pricing service utilizing a range of market-based inputs and assumptions, including price quotations obtained from broker-dealers making markets in such instruments, cash flows and transactions for comparable instruments. There is no assurance that the Fund will be able to buy or sell a portfolio security at the price established by the pricing service, which could result in a gain or loss to the Fund. Pricing services generally price debt securities assuming orderly transactions of an institutional “round lot” size, but some trades may occur in smaller, “odd lot” sizes, often at lower prices than institutional round lot trades. Over certain time periods, such differences could materially impact the performance of the Fund, which may not be sustainable. Alternative pricing services may incorporate different assumptions and inputs into their valuation methodologies, potentially resulting in different values for the same securities. As a result, if the Fund were to change pricing services, or if the Fund’s pricing service were to change its valuation methodology, there could be a material impact, either positive or negative, on the Fund’s net asset value.

Zero Coupon Bonds Risk—Because interest on zero coupon bonds is not paid on a current basis, the values of zero coupon bonds will be more volatile in response to interest rate changes than the values of bonds that distribute income regularly. Although zero coupon bonds generate income for accounting purposes, they do not produce cash flow, and thus the Fund could be forced to liquidate securities at an inopportune time in order to generate cash to distribute to shareholders as required by tax laws.

Fund Performance

The Fund is new and therefore does not have a performance history for a full calendar year. When this prospectus is updated after a full calendar year of operations, a bar chart and table will be included that will provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing the variability of the Fund’s returns based on net assets and comparing the Fund’s performance to a broad measure of market performance. Updated performance information is available at www.nuveen.com/etf or by calling (800) 257-8787.

   

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Management

Investment Adviser

Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC

Sub-Adviser

Nuveen Asset Management, LLC

Portfolio Managers

     

Name

Title

Portfolio Manager of Fund Since

Daniel J. Close, CFA

Senior Managing Director and Head of Nuveen Municipals

January 2025

Steven M. Hlavin

Managing Director

January 2025

Stephen J. Candido, CFA

Managing Director

January 2025

Michael McElduff

Senior Director

January 2025

Nicholas Mueller

Managing Director

January 2025

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

The Fund is an actively managed ETF. Shares of the Fund are listed on a national securities exchange and can only be bought and sold in the secondary market through a broker-dealer at market prices. Because Fund shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (at a “premium”) or less than NAV (at a “discount”). An investor may also incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase Fund shares (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for Fund shares (ask) when buying and selling shares in the secondary market (the “bid/ask spread”). Recent information regarding the Fund, including its NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid/ask spreads, is available on the Fund’s website at www.nuveen.com/etf.

Tax Information

The Fund intends to make interest income distributions that are exempt from regular federal income tax. However, all or a portion of these distributions may be subject to the federal alternative minimum tax and state and local taxes on individuals. Exempt-interest dividends may affect the federal corporate alternative minimum tax for certain corporations. In addition, a portion of the Fund’s distributions may be subject to regular federal and state income taxes.

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank or financial advisor), the Fund’s investment adviser or its affiliates may pay the intermediary for marketing activities and presentations, educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems or other services related to the sale or promotion of Fund shares. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other financial intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

 

NPM-NHYM-0125P

   

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