AS FILED WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION ON AUGUST 29, 2016.

No. 811-23161

No. 333-212032

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

NuShares ETF Trust

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)

333 West Wacker Drive

Chicago, IL 60606

(Address of Principal Executive Office)

(312) 917-7700

(Registrant’s Telephone Number, including Area Code)

It is proposed that this filing will become effective (check appropriate box):

THE REGISTRANT HEREBY AMENDS THIS REGISTRATION STATEMENT ON SUCH DATE OR DATES AS MAY BE NECESSARY TO DELAY ITS EFFECTIVE DATE UNTIL THE REGISTRANT SHALL FILE A FURTHER AMENDMENT THAT SPECIFICALLY STATES THAT THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT SHALL THEREAFTER BECOME EFFECTIVE IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 8(A) OF THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, OR UNTIL THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT SHALL BECOME EFFECTIVE ON SUCH DATE AS THE COMMISSION, ACTING PURSUANT TO SAID SECTION 8(A), MAY DETERMINE.

The Information in this Prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This Prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and it is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any site where the offer or state is not permitted.

Preliminary Prospectus dated August 29, 2016

Subject to Completion

Prospectus

The Securities and Exchange Commission has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

Table of Contents

NOT FDIC OR GOVERNMENT INSURED     MAY LOSE VALUE     NO BANK GUARANTEE

Section 1     Fund Summary

NuShares Enhanced Yield U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF

Investment Objective

NuShares Enhanced Yield U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (the “ Fund ”) seeks to track the investment results, before fees and expenses, of the BofA Merrill Lynch Enhanced Yield US Broad Bond Index (the “ Enhanced Index ”).

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. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs 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.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Enhanced Index. The Fund generally uses a representative sampling strategy to achieve its investment objective, meaning it generally invests in a sample of the securities in the Enhanced Index whose risk, return and other characteristics resemble the risk, return and other characteristics of the Enhanced Index as a whole. Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets, exclusive of collateral held from securities lending, in component securities of the Enhanced Index and TBA transactions (as defined below) representing component securities.

The Enhanced Index is designed to broadly capture the U.S. investment grade fixed income market, as represented by the BofA Merrill Lynch US Broad Market Index (the “ Base Index ”). Unlike the Base Index, the Enhanced Index does not capitalization-weight component securities. Instead, the Enhanced Index first assigns component securities from the Base Index into a variety of categories based upon asset class, sector, credit quality, duration and maturity. The Enhanced Index then employs a rules-based methodology to allocate higher weights to categories with the potential for higher yields than the Base Index while seeking to maintain risk and credit quality at levels similar to those of the Base Index by limiting the amount of deviation between the two indices with respect to sector and category weights, tracking error, duration, and turnover. After assigning weights at the category level (negative weights for a category are not permitted), the Enhanced Index then distributes each category weight among the category’s individual component securities based on their relative market capitalizations. The Base Index and Enhanced Index are both rebalanced on a monthly basis.

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Section 1     Fund Summary

The Enhanced Index draws from the universe defined by the Base Index, which consists of U.S. dollar-denominated, investment grade taxable debt securities with fixed rate coupons that have at least one year to final maturity. The Enhanced Index is principally comprised of U.S. government securities (securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or its agencies or instrumentalities), debt securities issued by U.S. corporations, residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities, asset-backed securities, and U.S. dollar denominated debt securities issued by non-U.S. governments and corporations that are publicly offered for sale in the United States.

A significant portion of the bonds represented in the Enhanced Index are U.S. agency mortgage-backed pass-through securities, which are securities issued by entities such as the Government National Mortgage Association (“ Ginnie Mae ”), the Federal National Mortgage Association (“ Fannie Mae ”) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“ Freddie Mac ”) that are backed by pool of mortgages. Most transactions in mortgage-backed pass-through securities occur through standardized contracts for future delivery in which the exact mortgage pools to be delivered are not specified until a few days prior to settlement, referred to as “to-be-announced (TBA) transactions.” The Fund expects to enter into TBA transactions on a regular basis. Pending settlement of TBA transactions, the Fund will invest assets committed to such transactions in short-term, high-quality instruments. The Fund may also use an investment strategy called “dollar rolls” (also referred to as “mortgage rolls”), in which the Fund sells securities for delivery in the current month and simultaneously contracts with a counterparty to repurchase similar (same type, coupon and maturity) but not identical securities on a specified future date.

Under normal market conditions, the Fund will (i) invest at least 80% of the sum of its net assets and the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes in fixed income securities and (ii) invest at least 80% of the sum of its net assets and the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes in U.S. dollar-denominated securities that are publicly offered for sale in the United States. The Fund may invest up to 20% of its assets in securities and other instruments not included in the Enhanced Index (including fixed income securities, derivatives, other investment companies, including other exchange-traded funds (“ ETFs ”), and cash and cash equivalents) which the Fund’s sub-adviser believes will help the Fund track the Enhanced Index.

To the extent the Enhanced Index concentrates (i.e., holds 25% or more of its total assets) in the securities of a particular industry or group of industries, the Fund will concentrate its investments to approximately the same extent as the Index.

Principal Risks

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 alphabetically, include:

Bond Market Liquidity Risk —Dealer inventories of bonds, which provide an indication of the ability of financial intermediaries to “make markets” in those bonds, are at or near historic lows in relation to market size. This reduction in market making capacity has the potential to decrease liquidity and increase price volatility in the fixed income markets in which the Fund invests, particularly during periods of economic or market stress. Decreased liquidity may also lead to higher volatility in the market price of the Fund’s shares and wider bid-ask spreads. Although only certain institutional investors are entitled to redeem shares of the Fund (as described in more detail under “Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares” below), and although the Fund intends to redeem its shares primarily in-kind, if the Fund is forced to sell underlying investments at reduced prices or under unfavorable conditions to meet redemption requests or for other cash needs, the Fund may suffer a loss.

Call Risk —If an issuer calls higher-yielding debt instruments held by the Fund, performance could be adversely impacted.

Concentration Risk —To the extent that the Fund’s portfolio is concentrated in the securities of issuers in a particular market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class, the Fund may be adversely affected by the performance of those securities, may be subject to increased price volatility and may be more susceptible to adverse economic, market, political or regulatory occurrences affecting that market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class.

Credit Risk —Credit risk is the risk that an issuer of a debt security may 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.

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 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 breaches may allow an unauthorized party to gain access to Fund assets, customer data, or proprietary information, or cause the Fund and/or its service providers to suffer data corruption or lose operational functionality.

Section 1     Fund Summary

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Dollar Roll Transaction Risk —The use of dollar rolls can increase the volatility of the Fund’s share price, and it may have an adverse impact on performance unless the sub-adviser correctly predicts mortgage prepayments and interest rates.

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 portfolio will decline because of rising interest rates. The Fund may be subject to a greater risk of rising interest rates than would normally be the case due to the current period of historically low rates and the effect of potential government fiscal policy initiatives and resulting market reaction to those initiatives. When interest rates change, the values of longer-duration debt securities usually change more than the values of shorter-duration debt securities.

Investment Style Risk —The Fund invests in the securities included in, or representative of, the Enhanced Index regardless of their investment merit. The Fund does not attempt to outperform the Enhanced Index or take defensive positions in declining markets. As a result, the Fund’s performance may be adversely affected by a general decline in the market segments relating to the Enhanced Index.

Market Trading Risks —The Fund is an ETF, and as with all ETFs, Fund shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market price of a Fund share typically will approximate its net asset value (“ NAV ”), there may be times when the market price and the NAV diverge more significantly, particularly in times of market volatility or steep market declines. Thus, you may pay more or less than NAV when you buy Fund shares on the secondary market, and you may receive more or less than NAV when you sell those shares. Although the Fund’s shares are listed for trading on a national securities exchange, it is possible that an active trading market may not develop or be maintained, in which case transactions may occur at wider bid/ask spreads. Trading of the Fund’s shares may be halted by the activation of individual or market-wide trading halts (which halt trading for a specific period of time when the price of a particular security or overall market prices decline by a specified percentage).

Mortgage- and Asset-Backed Securities Risk —Mortgage- and asset-backed securities generally can be prepaid at any time, and prepayments that occur either more quickly or more slowly than expected can adversely impact the value of such securities. They are also subject to extension risk, which is the risk that rising interest rates could cause mortgages or other obligations underlying the securities to be prepaid more slowly than expected, thereby lengthening the duration of such securities, increasing their sensitivity to interest rate changes and causing their prices to decline. A mortgage-backed security may be negatively affected by the quality of the mortgages underlying such security, the credit quality of its issuer or guarantor, and the nature and structure of its credit support.

Non-U.S./Emerging Markets Risk —Non-U.S. issuers or U.S. issuers with significant non-U.S. operations may be subject to risks in addition to those of issuers located in or that principally operate in the United States as a result of, among other things, political, social and economic developments abroad and different legal, regulatory and tax environments. These additional risks may be heightened for securities of issuers located in, or with significant operations in, emerging market countries.

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.

Tracking Error Risk —Tracking error is the divergence of the Fund’s performance from that of the Enhanced Index. Tracking error may occur because of, for example, pricing differences, transaction costs, the Fund’s holding of uninvested cash, differences in timing of the accrual of distributions, changes to the Enhanced Index or the need to meet various new or existing regulatory requirements. This risk may be heightened during times of increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions. The Fund will attempt to replicate the return of the Enhanced Index by investing in fewer than all of the securities in the Index, or in some securities not included in the Index, potentially increasing the risk of divergence between the Fund’s return and that of the Index. Tracking error also may result because the Fund incurs fees and expenses, but the Enhanced Index does not.

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 readily available market quotations obtained from broker-dealers making markets in such instruments, cash flows and transactions for comparable instruments. 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.

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Section 1     Fund Summary

When-Issued, TBA, Delayed Delivery and Forward Commitment Transaction Risk —The Fund may purchase securities on a when-issued, to-be-announced (“ TBA ”), delayed delivery or forward commitment basis. The purchase price of the securities is typically fixed at the time of the commitment, but delivery and payment can take place a month or more after the date of the commitment. At the time of delivery of the securities, the value may be more or less than the purchase or sale price. Purchase of securities on a when-issued, TBA, delayed delivery or forward commitment basis may give rise to leverage, and may result in increased volatility of the Fund’s NAV. Default by, or bankruptcy of, a counterparty to a when-issued, TBA, delayed delivery transaction or forward commitment would expose the Fund to possible losses because of an adverse market action, expenses or delays in connection with the purchase or sale of the pools specified in such transaction.

Fund Performance

The Fund is new and therefore does not have 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 return based on net assets and comparing the Fund’s performance to a broad measure of market performance.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

The Fund is an exchange-traded fund, commonly referred to as an “ETF.” Shares of the Fund are listed on a national securities exchange and can only be bought and sold 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”).

The Fund issues and redeems shares at NAV only in blocks of 100,000 shares or multiples thereof (“ Creation Units ”). Only certain institutional investors (typically market makers or other broker-dealers) may purchase or redeem Creation Units. The Fund generally issues and redeems Creation Units in exchange for a designated portfolio of securities and/or cash that the Fund specifies each day.

Tax Information

The Fund’s distributions are taxable and will generally be taxed as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred account, such as an individual retirement account (“ IRA ”) or 401(k) plan (in which case you may be taxed upon withdrawal of your investment from such account).

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.

Section 1     Fund Summary

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Section 2     Additional Detail About the Fund’s Strategy, Holdings and Risks

This prospectus contains important information about investing in the Fund. Please read this prospectus carefully before you make any investment decisions. Additional information regarding the Fund is available at www.nuveen.com/etfs or by calling Nuveen Investor Services at (888) 290-9881.

The Fund is designed to track an index that is not representative of the market as a whole. The Fund is designed to be used as part of a broader asset allocation strategy, and thus an investment in the Fund should not be considered a complete investment program.

The Enhanced Index is a theoretical financial calculation, whereas the Fund is an actual investment portfolio. The performance of the Fund and the Enhanced Index may vary for a number of reasons, including transaction costs, asset valuations, corporate actions (such as mergers and spin-offs), and differences between the Fund’s portfolio and the Enhanced Index resulting from legal restrictions (such as tax diversification requirements) that apply to the Fund but not to the Enhanced Index. Over time, the Fund’s tracking error (i.e., the divergence of the Fund’s performance from that of the Enhanced Index) is generally expected to be less than 5%. Because the Fund uses a representative sampling strategy to track the Enhanced Index, it can be expected to have a larger tracking error than if it employed a replication strategy (i.e., an indexing strategy in which a fund invests in substantially all the securities in the index it seeks to track in approximately the same proportions as the index).

The Fund’s investment objective, which is described in the “Fund Summary” section, may be changed by the Fund’s Board of Trustees (the “ Board ”) without shareholder approval.

The Fund’s investment policies may be changed by the Board without shareholder approval unless otherwise noted in this prospectus or the statement of additional information.

The Fund has adopted policies whereby, under normal market conditions, it will (i) invest at least 80% of the sum of its net assets and the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes in fixed income securities and (ii) invest at least 80% of the sum of its net assets and the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes in U.S. dollar-denominated securities that are publicly offered for sale in the United States. If either policy changes, you will be notified at least 60 days in advance. For purposes of these policies, the Fund includes both direct investments and indirect investments (e.g., investments in an underlying fund, derivatives and synthetic instruments with economic characteristics similar to the underlying asset).

The Fund’s principal investment strategies are discussed in the “Fund Summary” section. These are the strategies that the Fund’s investment adviser and sub-adviser believe are most likely to be important in trying to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. This section provides more information about these strategies, as well as information about some additional strategies that the Fund’s sub-adviser uses, or may use, to achieve the Fund’s objective. The

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Section 2     Additional Detail About the Fund’s Strategy, Holdings and Risks

strategies described below are principal investment strategies unless otherwise noted. You should be aware that the Fund may also use strategies and invest in securities that are not described in this prospectus, but that are described in the statement of additional information. For a copy of the statement of additional information, call Nuveen Investor Services at (888) 290-9881 or visit the Fund’s website at www.nuveen.com/etfs.

The Enhanced Index

The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Enhanced Index. The Enhanced Index is designed to broadly capture the U.S. investment grade fixed income market, as represented by the Base Index. Unlike the Base Index, the Enhanced Index does not capitalization-weight component securities. Instead, the Enhanced Index first assigns component securities from the Base Index into a variety of categories (currently 38) based upon asset class, sector, credit quality, duration and maturity. The Enhanced Index then employs a rules-based methodology to allocate higher weights to categories with the potential for higher yields than the Base Index while seeking to maintain risk and credit quality at levels similar to those of the Base Index by utilizing the following constraints, which are current as the date of this prospectus:

After assigning weights at the category level (negative weights for a category are not permitted), the Enhanced Index then distributes each category weight among the category’s individual component securities based on their relative market capitalizations. The Base Index and Enhanced Index are both rebalanced on a monthly basis.

Effective Duration

The Enhanced Index attempts to maintain an effective duration of within 3 months (longer or shorter) of the effective duration of the Base Index. Historically, the effective duration of the Base Index has ranged between approximately three and six years. Generally, the longer the effective duration of a portfolio, the more sensitive that portfolio’s value will be to changes in interest rates. Effective duration incorporates a bond’s yield, coupon, final maturity and call features into one number that is designed to estimate how much the value of a bond will change with a given change in

Section 2     Additional Detail About the Fund’s Strategy, Holdings and Risks

7

interest rates. As a general rule, for every 1% increase or decrease in market interest rates, a bond’s price will change approximately 1% in the opposite direction for every year of the bond’s effective duration. For example, if a bond has an effective duration of 5 years and interest rates increase by 1%, the bond’s price would be expected to decline by approximately 5%. Effective duration is subject to a number of limitations. It is most useful when interest rate changes are small, rapid, and occur equally in short-term and long-term securities. In addition, it is difficult to calculate precisely for bonds with prepayment options, such as mortgage- and asset-backed securities, because the calculation requires assumptions about prepayment rates. Also, an increase in market interest rates will generally increase a bond’s effective duration, which in turn will make the value of the bond more sensitive to changes in interest rates and result in even steeper price declines in the event of further market interest rate increases. For these reasons, effective duration should not solely be relied upon to indicate potential price volatility in relation to changes in market interest rates.

The Enhanced Index draws from the universe defined by the Base Index, which consists of U.S. dollar-denominated, investment grade taxable fixed income securities with fixed rate coupons that have at least one year to final maturity. The Enhanced Index is principally comprised of U.S. government securities (securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or its agencies or instrumentalities), debt securities issued by U.S. corporations, residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities, asset-backed securities, and U.S. dollar denominated debt securities issued by non-U.S. governments and corporations that are publicly offered for sale in the United States.

The Fund may also invest in securities and other instruments that the Fund’s sub-adviser believes will help it track the Enhanced Index, such as shares of other investment companies (including other ETFs), derivative instruments (including forward contracts, futures contracts, options on futures contracts, options and swaps), and cash and cash equivalents.

Additional information about the Fund’s portfolio holdings can be found below.

U.S. Government Securities

U.S. government securities include U.S. Treasury obligations and securities issued or guaranteed by various agencies of the U.S. government, or by various instrumentalities which have been established or sponsored by the U.S. government. U.S. Treasury obligations are backed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. government. Securities issued or guaranteed by federal agencies and U.S. government sponsored instrumentalities may or may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.

Corporate Debt Securities

The Fund may invest in corporate debt securities issued by companies of all kinds, including those with small-, mid- and large-capitalizations. Corporate debt securities are usually issued by businesses to finance their operations. Notes, bonds, debentures and commercial paper are the most common types of corporate debt securities, with the primary difference being their maturities and secured or unsecured status. Commercial paper has the shortest term and is usually unsecured.

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Section 2     Additional Detail About the Fund’s Strategy, Holdings and Risks

Mortgage-Backed Securities

A mortgage-backed security is a type of pass-through security backed by an ownership interest in a pool of mortgage loans. Mortgage-backed securities may be guaranteed by, or secured by collateral that is guaranteed by, the U.S. government, its agencies, instrumentalities or sponsored corporations. Mortgage-backed securities may also be privately issued; these include commercial mortgage-backed securities.

Asset-Backed Securities

Asset-backed securities are securities issued by trusts and special purpose entities that are backed by pools of assets, such as automobile loans and credit-card receivables, and which pass through the payments on the underlying obligations to the security holders (less servicing fees paid to the originator or fees for any credit enhancement). Typically, the originator of the loan or accounts receivable transfers it to a specially created trust, which repackages it as securities with a minimum denomination and a specific term. The securities are then privately placed or publicly offered.

Dollar Rolls

The Fund may enter into mortgage “ dollar rolls ” in which the Fund sells mortgage-backed securities and simultaneously contracts with the same counterparty to repurchase similar (same type, coupon and maturity) but not identical securities on a specified future date. During the period between the sale and repurchase (the “ roll period ”), the Fund forgoes principal and interest paid on the mortgage-backed securities. However, the Fund would benefit to the extent of any difference between the price received for the securities sold and the lower forward price for the future purchase (often referred to as the “ drop ”) plus any fee income received. Unless such benefits exceed the income, capital appreciation and gain or loss due to mortgage prepayments that would have been realized on the securities sold as part of the mortgage dollar roll, the investment performance of the Fund will be less than what the performance would have been without the use of the mortgage dollar roll.

Non-U.S. Investments

The Fund may invest in U.S. dollar-denominated debt securities issued by non-U.S. governments and corporations. The Fund will classify a corporation as being a U.S. or non-U.S. issuer based on the determination of an unaffiliated, recognized financial data provider. Such determinations are based on a number of criteria, such as the issuer’s country of domicile, the primary exchange on which the issuer’s security trades, the location from which the majority of the issuer’s revenue comes, and the issuer’s reporting currency. The Fund may invest in debt securities issued by governments of emerging market countries and corporations located therein. Emerging market countries include any country other than Canada, the United States and the countries comprising the MSCI EAFE ^® Index (currently, 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).

Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments

The Fund may invest in cash and in U.S. dollar-denominated high-quality money market instruments and other short-term securities, including money market funds.

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Certain Other Investments

The Fund may invest in swaps, options and futures contracts in seeking performance that corresponds to the Enhanced Index and in managing cash flows.

Temporary Defensive Positions

In certain situations or market conditions, the Fund may temporarily depart from its normal investment policies and strategies, provided that the alternative is consistent with the Fund’s investment objective and is in the best interest of the Fund’s shareholders. For example, the Fund may make larger than normal investments in derivatives to maintain exposure to the Enhanced Index if it is unable to invest directly in a component security of the Index.

Borrowing Money

The Fund may borrow money from a bank as permitted by the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (“ 1940 Act ”), or other governing statute, by the rules thereunder, or by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“ SEC ”) or other regulatory agency with authority over the Fund, but only for temporary or emergency purposes. The Fund may also invest in reverse repurchase agreements, which are considered borrowings under the 1940 Act. Although the 1940 Act presently allows the Fund to borrow from any bank (including pledging, mortgaging or hypothecating assets) in an amount up to 33 1/3% of its total assets (not including temporary borrowings not in excess of 5% of its total assets), and there is no limit on the percentage of Fund assets that can be used in connection with reverse repurchase agreements, under normal circumstances any borrowings by the Fund will not exceed 10% of the Fund’s total assets.

Derivatives

The Fund may invest in derivatives. Generally, a derivative is a financial contract the value of which depends upon, or is derived from, the value of an underlying asset, reference rate or index. Derivatives generally take the form of contracts under which the parties agree to payments between them based upon the performance of a wide variety of underlying references, such as stocks, bonds, loans, commodities, interest rates, currency exchange rates, and various domestic and foreign indices. Examples of derivative instruments include forward currency contracts, currency and interest rate swaps, currency options, futures contracts, options on futures contracts and swap agreements.

The Fund may use derivatives for a variety of reasons to help the Fund track the Enhanced Index, including as a substitute for investing directly in securities and currencies, as part of a hedging strategy (that is, for the purpose of reducing risk to the Fund), to manage the effective duration of the Fund’s portfolio, or for other purposes related to the management of the Fund. Derivatives permit the Fund to increase or decrease the level of risk, or change the character of the risk, to which its portfolio is exposed in much the same way as the Fund can increase or decrease the level of risk, or change the character of the risk, of its portfolio by making investments in specific securities. However, derivatives may entail investment exposures that are greater than their cost would suggest. As a result, a small investment in derivatives could have a large impact on the Fund’s performance.

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Section 2     Additional Detail About the Fund’s Strategy, Holdings and Risks

Investment Companies and Other Pooled Investment Vehicles

The Fund may invest in securities of other open-end or closed-end investment companies, including ETFs. As a shareholder in an investment company or other pooled investment vehicle, the Fund will bear its ratable share of that vehicle’s expenses, and would remain subject to payment of the Fund’s management fees with respect to assets so invested. Shareholders would therefore be subject to duplicative expenses to the extent the Fund invests in an investment company or other pooled investment vehicle. In addition, the Fund will incur brokerage costs when purchasing and selling shares of ETFs. Securities of investment companies or other pooled investment vehicles may be leveraged, in which case the value and/or yield of such securities will tend to be more volatile than securities of unleveraged vehicles.

Generally, investments in other investment companies (including ETFs) are subject to statutory limitations prescribed by the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. These limitations include a prohibition on the Fund acquiring more than 3% of the voting shares of any other investment company, and a prohibition on investing more than 5% of the Fund’s total assets in the securities of any one investment company or more than 10% of its total assets, in the aggregate, in investment company securities. Subject to certain conditions, the Fund also may invest in money market funds beyond the statutory limits described above.

Zero Coupon Bonds

The Fund may invest in zero coupon bonds. Zero coupon bonds pay no cash income to their holders until they mature. When held to maturity, their entire return comes from the difference between their purchase price and their maturity value. Zero coupon bonds are issued at substantial discounts from their value at maturity.

A description of the Fund’s policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of the Fund’s portfolio holdings is available in the Fund’s statement of additional information. In addition, the identities and quantities of the securities held by each Fund are disclosed on the Fund’s website.

Risk is inherent in all investing. Investing in the Fund involves risk, including the risk that you may receive little or no return on your investment or even that you may lose part or all of your investment. Therefore, before investing you should consider carefully the principal risks and certain other risks that you assume when you invest in the Fund. These risks are listed alphabetically below. Because of these risks, you should consider an investment in the Fund to be a long-term investment.

Principal Risks

Bond market liquidity risk: Primary dealer inventories of bonds appear to be low relative to the size of the fixed income market. These inventories are a core indication of dealers’ capacity to “make a market” in fixed income securities. This reduction in market making capacity has the potential to decrease liquidity and increase price volatility in the fixed income markets in

Section 2     Additional Detail About the Fund’s Strategy, Holdings and Risks

11

which the Fund invests, particularly during periods of economic or market stress. Decreased liquidity may also lead to higher volatility in the market price of the Fund’s shares and wider bid-ask spreads. Although only certain institutional investors are entitled to redeem shares of the Fund (as described in more detail under “Investing in the Fund—Purchase and Redemption of Creation Units” below), and although the Fund intends to redeem its shares primarily in-kind, if the Fund is forced to sell underlying investments to meet redemption requests or for other cash needs, this decreased liquidity may have to accept a lower price to sell a security, sell other securities to raise cash, or 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, those sales could further reduce the bonds’ prices.

Call risk: Debt securities are subject to call risk. Many bonds may be redeemed at the option of the issuer, or “called,” before their stated maturity date. In general, an issuer will call its bonds if they can be refinanced by issuing new bonds which bear a lower interest rate. The Fund is subject to the possibility that during periods of falling interest rates, a bond issuer will call its high yielding bonds. The Fund would then be forced to invest the unanticipated proceeds at lower interest rates, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income.

Concentration risk : To the extent that the Fund’s portfolio is concentrated in the securities of issuers in a particular market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class, the Fund may be adversely affected by the performance of those securities, may be subject to increased price volatility and may be more susceptible to adverse economic, market, political or regulatory occurrences affecting that market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class.

Credit risk: Credit risk is the risk that an issuer of a debt security held by the Fund, or to which the Fund otherwise has exposure, may be unable or unwilling to make interest and principal payments 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. Debt securities are subject to varying degrees of credit risk, which are often reflected in credit ratings. The credit rating of a debt security may be lowered if the issuer suffers adverse changes in its financial condition, which can lead to greater volatility in the price of the security and in shares of the Fund, and can also affect the bond’s liquidity and make it more difficult for the Fund to sell if necessary. When the Fund purchases unrated securities, it will depend on the sub-adviser’s analysis of credit risk without the assessment of an independent rating organization, such as Moody’s or Standard & Poor’s.

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 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: Intentional cybersecurity breaches include: unauthorized access to systems, networks or devices (such as through “hacking” activity); infection from computer viruses or other malicious software code; and attacks that shut down, disable, slow, or otherwise disrupt operations,

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Section 2     Additional Detail About the Fund’s Strategy, Holdings and Risks

business processes, or website access or functionality. In addition, unintentional incidents can occur, such as the inadvertent release of confidential information (possibly resulting in the violation of applicable privacy laws).

A cybersecurity breach could result in the loss or theft of customer data or funds, the inability to access electronic systems (“denial of services”), loss or theft of proprietary information or corporate data, physical damage to a computer or network system, or costs associated with system repairs. Such incidents could cause the Fund, the Fund’s adviser or sub-adviser, a financial intermediary, or other service providers to incur regulatory penalties, reputational damage, additional compliance costs or financial loss. In addition, such incidents could affect issuers in which the Fund invests, and thereby cause the Fund’s investments to lose value.

Income risk: The Fund’s income could decline during periods of falling interest rates because the Fund generally will have to invest the proceeds from sales of Creation Units, as well as the proceeds from maturing portfolio securities (or portfolio securities that have been called, see “Call risk” above, or prepaid, see “Mortgage- and asset-backed securities risk” below), in lower-yielding securities. In addition, the Fund’s income could decline when the Fund experiences defaults on debt securities it holds.

Interest rate risk: Debt securities held by the Fund will fluctuate in value with changes in interest rates. In general, debt securities will increase in value when interest rates fall and decrease in value when interest rates rise. The Fund may be subject to a greater risk of rising interest rates than would normally be the case due to the current period of historically low rates and the effect of potential government fiscal policy initiatives and resulting market reaction to those initiatives. Longer-term debt securities are generally more sensitive to interest rate changes. Rising interest rates also may lengthen the duration of debt 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.

Investment style risk: The Fund invests in the securities included in, or representative of, the Index regardless of their investment merit. The Fund does not attempt to outperform the Index or take defensive positions in declining markets. As a result, the Fund’s performance may be adversely affected by a general decline in the market segments relating to the Index.

Market trading risks : As with all ETFs, Fund shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market price of a Fund share typically will approximate its NAV, there may be times when the market price and the NAV diverge more significantly, particularly in times of market volatility or steep market declines. Thus, you may pay more or less than NAV when you buy Fund shares on the secondary market, and you may receive more or less than NAV when you sell those shares. Although the Fund’s shares are listed for trading on a national securities exchange, it is possible that an active trading market may not develop or be maintained, in which case transactions may occur at wider bid/ask spreads. Trading of the Fund’s shares may be halted by the activation of individual or market-wide trading halts (which halt trading for a specific period of time when the price of a particular security or overall market prices decline by a specified percentage).

Mortgage- and asset-backed securities risk: The value of mortgage- and asset-backed securities can fall if the owners of the underlying mortgages or

Section 2     Additional Detail About the Fund’s Strategy, Holdings and Risks

13

other obligations pay off their mortgages or other obligations sooner than expected, which could happen when interest rates fall or for other reasons. Mortgage- and asset-backed securities are also subject to extension risk, which is the risk that rising interest rates could cause mortgages or other obligations underlying the securities to be prepaid more slowly than expected, which would, in effect, convert a short- or medium-duration mortgage- or asset-backed security into a longer-duration security, increasing its sensitivity to interest rate changes and causing its price to decline.

A mortgage-backed security may be negatively affected by the quality of the mortgages underlying such security and the structure of its issuer. For example, if a mortgage underlying a certain mortgage-backed security defaults, the value of that security may decrease.

Mortgage-backed securities issued by a private issuer, such as commercial mortgage-backed securities, generally entail greater risk than obligations directly or indirectly guaranteed by the U.S. government or a government-sponsored entity.

Non-U.S./emerging markets risk: Non-U.S. issuers or U.S. issuers with significant non-U.S. operations may be subject to risks in addition to or different than those of issuers that are located in or principally operated in the United States due to political, social and economic developments abroad, different regulatory environments and laws, potential seizure by the government of company assets, higher taxation, withholding taxes on dividends and interest and limitations on the use or transfer of portfolio assets.

Other non-U.S. investment risks include the following:

Other investment companies risk: When the Fund invests in other investment companies, including ETFs, shareholders bear both their proportionate share of Fund expenses and, indirectly, the expenses of the other investment companies. Furthermore, the Fund is exposed to the risks to which the other investment companies may be subject. For index-based ETFs, while such ETFs seek to achieve the same returns as a particular market index, the performance of an ETF may diverge from the performance of such index (commonly known as tracking error).

Service provider operational risk: The Fund’s service providers, such as the Fund’s administrator, custodian or transfer agent, may experience

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Section 2     Additional Detail About the Fund’s Strategy, Holdings and Risks

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.

Tracking error risk: Tracking error is the divergence of the Fund’s performance from that of the Enhanced Index. Tracking error may occur because of, for example, pricing differences, transaction costs, the Fund’s holding of uninvested cash, differences in timing of the accrual of distributions, changes to the Enhanced Index or the need to meet various new or existing regulatory requirements. This risk may be heightened during times of increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions. The Fund will attempt to replicate the Index return by investing in fewer than all of the securities in the Enhanced Index, or in some securities not included in the Index, potentially increasing the risk of divergence between the Fund’s return and that of the Index. Tracking error also may result because the Fund incurs fees and expenses, but the Enhanced Index does not.

Valuation risk: The debt securities in which the Fund may invest typically are valued by a pricing service utilizing a range of market-based inputs and assumptions, including readily available market 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 sell a portfolio security at the price established by the pricing service, which could result in a 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.

When-issued, TBA, delayed delivery and forward commitment transaction risk: The Fund may purchase securities on a when-issued, TBA, delayed delivery or forward commitment basis. The purchase price of the securities is typically fixed at the time of the commitment, but delivery and payment can take place a month or more after the date of the commitment. At the time of delivery of the securities, the value may be more or less than the purchase or sale price. Purchase of securities on a when-issued, TBA, delayed delivery or forward commitment basis may give rise to leverage, and may result in increased volatility of the Fund’s NAV. Default by, or bankruptcy of, a counterparty to a when-issued, TBA or delayed delivery transaction would expose the Fund to possible losses because of an adverse market action, expenses or delays in connection with the purchase or sale of the pools specified in such transaction.

Non-Principal Risks

Derivatives risk: The use of derivatives presents risks different from, and possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in traditional securities. Derivatives can be highly volatile, illiquid and difficult to value, and there is the risk that changes in the value of a derivative held by the Fund will not correlate with the asset, index or rate underlying the derivative contract.

The use of derivatives can lead to losses because of adverse movements in the price or value of the underlying asset, index or rate, which may be magnified by certain features of the contract. A derivative transaction also involves the risk that a loss may be sustained as a result of the failure of the

Section 2     Additional Detail About the Fund’s Strategy, Holdings and Risks

15

counterparty to the contract to make required payments. These risks are heightened when derivatives are used as a substitute for a position or security, rather than solely to hedge (or offset) the risk of a position or security held by the Fund.

In addition, when the Fund engages in certain derivative transactions, it is effectively leveraging its investments, which could result in exaggerated changes in the net asset value of the Fund’s shares and can result in losses that exceed the amount originally invested. The success of the Fund’s derivatives strategies will depend on the sub-adviser’s ability to assess and predict the impact of market or economic developments on the underlying asset, index or rate and the derivative itself, without the benefit of observing the performance of the derivative under all possible market conditions.

The Fund may also enter into over-the-counter (“ OTC ”) transactions in derivatives. Transactions in the OTC markets generally are conducted on a principal-to-principal basis. The terms and conditions of these instruments generally are not standardized and tend to be more specialized or complex, and the instruments may be harder to value. An OTC derivative transaction between the Fund and a counterparty that is not cleared through a central counterparty also involves the risk that a loss may be sustained as a result of the failure of the counterparty to make required payments. The payment obligation for a cleared derivative transaction is guaranteed by a central counterparty, which exposes the Fund to the creditworthiness of the central counterparty. In addition, certain derivative instruments and markets may not be liquid, which means the Fund may not be able to close out a derivatives transaction in a cost-efficient manner.

Swap agreements may involve fees, commissions or other costs that may reduce the Fund’s gains from a swap agreement or may cause the Fund to lose money.

Futures contracts are subject to the risk that an exchange may impose price fluctuation limits, which may make it difficult or impossible for the Fund to close out a position when desired.

Financial firm exit risk: Only certain institutional investors are eligible to purchase and redeem shares directly from the Fund at NAV. In addition, efficient trading in the Fund’s shares on the secondary market depends on the participation of firms acting as market makers and/or liquidity providers in the market place. To the extent these firms exit the business or otherwise significantly reduce their business activities and no other entities step forward to perform these functions, the Fund’s shares may trade at a material discount to NAV.

Global economic risk: Global economies and financial markets are becoming increasingly interconnected, which increases the possibilities that conditions in one country or region might adversely impact issuers in a different country or region. An example is the June 2016 United Kingdom referendum to leave the European Union (“ EU ”), which resulted in depreciation in the value of the British pound, short term declines in the stock markets and ongoing economic and political uncertainty. The United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU may take an extended period, and there is considerable uncertainty about the potential trade, economic and market consequences of the exit. Other countries may also depart the EU, voluntarily or otherwise. The negative impact of the United Kingdom’s departure from the EU, as well as any future departures by other countries, could be significant, not only to the United Kingdom and European economies, but also to the broader global

16

Section 2     Additional Detail About the Fund’s Strategy, Holdings and Risks

economy. Such departures could potentially result in increased market volatility and illiquidity, and lower economic growth for companies that rely significantly on Europe for their business activities and revenues, which could negatively impact the value of a fund’s investments. Similarly, major economic or political disruptions outside of Europe, particularly in large economies like China’s, may have global negative economic and market repercussions.

Privately-issued securities risk: The Fund may invest in privately-issued securities, including those that are normally purchased pursuant to Rule 144A or Regulation S of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “ 1933 Act ”). Privately-issued securities typically may be resold only to qualified institutional buyers, or in a privately negotiated transaction, or to a limited number of purchasers, or in limited quantities after they have been held for a specified period of time and other conditions are met for an exemption from registration. Because there may be relatively few potential purchasers for such securities, especially under adverse market or economic conditions or in the event of adverse changes in the financial condition of the issuer, the Fund may find it more difficult to sell such securities when it may be advisable to do so or it may be able to sell such securities only at prices lower than if such securities were more widely held and traded. At times, it also may be more difficult to determine the fair value of such securities for purposes of computing the Fund’s NAV due to the absence of an active trading market. There can be no assurance that a privately-issued security that is deemed to be liquid when purchased will continue to be liquid for as long as it is held by the Fund.

Zero coupon bonds risk: As interest on zero coupon bonds is not paid on a current basis, the values of the bonds are subject to greater fluctuations than are the value of bonds that distribute income regularly and may be more speculative than such bonds. Accordingly, the values of zero coupon bonds may be highly volatile as interest rates rise or fall. In addition, while zero coupon bonds generate income for purposes of generally accepted accounting standards, they do not generate cash flow and thus could cause the Fund to be forced to liquidate securities at an inopportune time in order to distribute cash, as required by tax laws.

Section 2     Additional Detail About the Fund’s Strategy, Holdings and Risks

17

Section 3     Fund Management

Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC (the “ Adviser ”), the Fund’s investment adviser, has overall responsibility for management of the Fund, oversees the management of the Fund’s portfolio, manages the Fund’s business affairs and provides certain clerical, bookkeeping and other administrative services. In addition, the Adviser arranges for sub-advisory, transfer agency, custody, fund administration and all other non-distribution related services necessary for the Fund to operate. The Adviser is a subsidiary of Nuveen Investments, Inc. ( “Nuveen” ). Nuveen is an operating division of TIAA Global Asset Management (“ TGAM ”), the investment management arm of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (“ TIAA ”). TIAA is a life insurance company founded in 1918 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and is the companion organization of College Retirement Equities Fund (“ CREF ”). As of June 30, 2016, TGAM managed approximately $871 billion in assets, of which approximately $130 billion was managed by the Adviser. The Adviser is located at 333 West Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60606.

The Adviser has selected its affiliate, Teachers Advisors, Inc. (the “ Sub-Adviser ”), to serve as sub-adviser to the Fund, responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio. As of June 30, 2016, the Sub-Adviser, a subsidiary of TGAM, managed approximately $101 billion in assets. The Sub-Adviser is located at 730 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017-3206.

The portfolio managers for the Fund are Jayesh D. Bhansali and Lijun (Kevin) Chen.

Additional information about the portfolio managers’ compensation, other accounts managed by the portfolio managers and the portfolio managers’ ownership of securities in the Fund is provided in the statement of additional information.

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Section 3     Fund Management

As compensation for the investment advisory services it provides to the Fund, the Adviser is entitled to receive a management fee from the Fund based on a percentage of the Fund’s average daily net assets, at an annual rate of 0.20%.

The Adviser is responsible for substantially all other expenses of the Fund, except any future distribution and/or service fees, interest expenses, taxes, acquired fund fees and expenses, fees incurred in acquiring and disposing of portfolio securities, fees and expenses of the independent trustees (including any trustees’ counsel fees), certain compensation expenses of the Fund’s chief compliance officer, litigation expenses and extraordinary expenses.

Information regarding the Board’s approval of the investment management agreements will be available in the Fund’s first semi-annual or annual report following the Fund’s commencement of operations.

The Fund is an ETF, which differs from a mutual fund in important ways. Shares of a mutual fund are purchased and redeemed by all shareholders directly from the issuing fund at NAV. By contrast, most investors will buy and sell shares of the Fund through a broker on a national securities exchange, where the Fund’s shares are listed and trade throughout the day at market prices like shares of other publicly traded securities. The Fund does not impose any minimum investment for shares of the Fund purchased on an exchange or otherwise in the secondary market. The Fund’s shares trade under the trading symbol listed on the cover of this prospectus.

Purchasing or selling shares of the Fund on an exchange or other secondary market typically involves two types of costs. When purchasing or selling shares of the Fund through a broker, you may incur a brokerage commission. The commission is frequently a fixed amount and may be a significant proportional cost for investors seeking to buy or sell small amounts of shares. In addition, you may incur the cost of the “spread,” that is, any difference on the exchange between the bid price and the ask price for a share of the Fund. The spread will vary over time based on the Fund’s trading volume and market liquidity, and is generally lower if the Fund has high trading volume and market liquidity, and higher if the Fund has low trading volume and market liquidity (which is often the case for funds that are newly launched or small in size). The Fund’s spread may also be impacted by the liquidity of the underlying securities held by the Fund, particularly for newly launched or smaller funds or in instances of significant volatility of the underlying securities.

The Fund’s primary listing exchange is the NYSE Arca (the “ Listing Exchange ”).The Listing Exchange is open for trading Monday through Friday and is closed on weekends and the following holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

Book Entry

Shares of the Fund are held in book-entry form, which means that no stock certificates are issued. The Depository Trust Company (“ DTC ”) or its nominee is the record owner of all outstanding shares of the Fund and is recognized as the owner of all shares for all purposes.

Investors owning shares of the Fund are beneficial owners as shown on the records of DTC or its participants. DTC serves as the securities depository for shares of the Fund. DTC participants include securities brokers and dealers, banks, trust companies, clearing corporations and other institutions that directly or indirectly maintain a custodial relationship with DTC. As a beneficial owner of shares, you are not entitled to receive physical delivery of stock certificates or to have shares registered in your name, and you are not considered a registered owner of shares. Therefore, to exercise any right as an owner of shares, you must rely upon the procedures of DTC and its participants. These procedures are the same as those that apply to any other securities that you hold in book-entry or “street name” form.

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Section 4     Investing in the Fund

Share Trading Prices

The trading prices of the Fund’s shares on the Listing Exchange generally differ from the Fund’s NAV and are affected by market forces such as the supply of and demand for the Fund’s shares as well as the securities held by the Fund, economic conditions and other factors. The price you pay or receive when you buy or sell your shares in the secondary market may be more or less than the NAV of such shares.

Information regarding the intraday value of shares of the Fund, also known as the “indicative optimized portfolio value” (“ IOPV ”), is disseminated every 15 seconds throughout each trading day by the Listing Exchange or by market data vendors or other information providers. The IOPV is generally based on the current market value of the Fund’s portfolio holdings, less accrued expenses, divided by the number of shares of the Fund outstanding, as of the time of the prior day’s NAV calculation. The IOPV does not necessarily reflect the precise composition of the current portfolio of securities held by the Fund at a particular point in time or the best possible valuation of the current portfolio. Therefore, the IOPV should not be viewed as a “real-time” update of the Fund’s NAV, which is computed only once a day. The IOPV is generally determined by using both current market quotations and/or price quotations obtained from broker-dealers and other market intermediaries that may trade in the portfolio securities held by the Fund. The IOPV is calculated by a third-party retained by an affiliate of the Adviser. The Fund, the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser, Nuveen Securities, LLC, the Fund’s distributor (the “ Distributor ”), and their respective affiliates are not involved in, or responsible for, the calculation or dissemination of the IOPV and make no representation or warranty as to its accuracy.

Householding

Householding is an option available to certain Fund investors. Householding is a method of delivery, based on the preference of the individual investor, in which a single copy of certain shareholder documents can be delivered to investors who share the same address, even if their accounts are registered under different names. Please contact your broker-dealer if you are interested in enrolling in householding and receiving a single copy of prospectuses and other shareholder documents, or if you are currently enrolled in householding and wish to change your householding status.

Investments by Registered Investment Companies

Section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act restricts investments by registered investment companies in the securities of other investment companies, including shares of the Fund. Registered investment companies are permitted to invest in the Fund beyond the limits set forth in section 12(d)(1), subject to certain terms and conditions set forth in an SEC exemptive order applicable to the Fund, including that such investment companies enter into an agreement with the Fund.

Creation and Redemption

Only certain institutional investors who have entered into agreements with the Distributor (“ Authorized Participants ”) may purchase and redeem shares directly from the Fund at NAV and only in block-size Creation Units of 100,000 shares or multiples thereof. Except when aggregated in Creation Units, shares are not redeemable by the Fund. An Authorized Participant

Section 4     Investing in the Fund

21

must be either a DTC participant or a member of the Continuous Net Settlement System of the National Securities Clearing Corporation (“ NSCC ”).

Creation Units generally are issued and redeemed in exchange for a specified basket of securities approximating the holdings of the Fund and/or a designated amount of cash (the “ Basket ”). Each day the Listing Exchange is open for trading (a “ Business Day ”), prior to the opening of trading, the Fund publishes that day’s Basket through NSCC or other method of public dissemination

Orders from Authorized Participants to create or redeem Creation Units may only be placed on a Business Day and are subject to approval by the Distributor. The prices at which creations and redemptions occur are based on the next calculation of NAV after an order is received and deemed acceptable by the Distributor.

Information about the procedures regarding creation and redemption of Creation Units (including the cut-off times for receipt of creation and redemption orders) is included in the Fund’s statement of additional information.

Legal Matters

To the extent the Fund engages in in-kind transactions, the Fund intends to comply with the U.S. federal securities laws in accepting securities for deposit and satisfying redemptions with redemption securities by, among other means, assuring that any securities accepted for deposit and any securities used to satisfy redemption requests will be sold in transactions that would be exempt from registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “ 1933 Act ”). Further, an Authorized Participant that is not a “qualified institutional buyer,” as such term is defined under Rule 144A of the 1933 Act, will not be able to receive restricted securities eligible for resale under Rule 144A.

Because new shares may be created and issued on an ongoing basis, at any point during the life of the Fund, a “distribution,” as such term is used in the 1933 Act, may be occurring. Broker-dealers and other persons are cautioned that some activities on their part may, depending on the circumstances, result in their being deemed participants in a distribution in a manner that could render them statutory underwriters subject to the prospectus delivery and liability provisions of the 1933 Act. Any determination of whether one is an underwriter must take into account all the relevant facts and circumstances of each particular case.

Broker-dealers should also note that dealers who are not “underwriters” but are participating in a distribution (as contrasted to ordinary secondary transactions), and thus dealing with shares that are part of an “unsold allotment” within the meaning of Section 4(a)(3)(C) of the 1933 Act, would be unable to take advantage of the prospectus delivery exemption provided by Section 4(a)(3) of the 1933 Act. For delivery of prospectuses to exchange members, the prospectus delivery mechanism of Rule 153 under the 1933 Act is available only with respect to transactions on a national securities exchange.

Costs Associated with Creations and Redemptions

Authorized Participants are charged standard creation and redemption transaction fees (set forth in the table below) to offset transfer and other transaction costs associated with the issuance and redemption of Creation

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Section 4     Investing in the Fund

Units. The standard creation and redemption transaction fees are charged to an Authorized Participant on the Business Day such Authorized Participant creates or redeems a Creation Unit; such fees are the same regardless of the number of Creation Units purchased or redeemed by the Authorized Participant on such day. Creations and redemptions for cash (when cash creations and redemptions (in whole or in part) are available or specified) are also subject to an additional variable charge (up to the maximum amounts shown in the table below), which is intended to compensate the Fund for brokerage, tax, foreign exchange, execution, market impact and other costs and expenses related to cash transactions. From time to time, the Adviser may cover the cost of any transaction fees when believed to be in the best interests of the Fund.

The following table shows, as of the date of this prospectus, the approximate value of one Creation Unit, standard fees and maximum additional charges for creations and redemptions (as described above):

The Distributor distributes Creation Units for the Fund on an agency basis. The Distributor does not maintain a secondary market in shares of the Fund. The Distributor has no role in determining the policies of the Fund or the securities that are purchased or sold by the Fund. The Distributor’s principal address is 333 West Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60606.

Distribution and Service Plan

The Fund has adopted a Distribution and Service Plan in accordance with Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act pursuant to which payments at an annual rate of up to 0.25% of the Fund’s average daily net assets may be made for the sale and distribution of the Fund’s shares. No payments pursuant to the Distribution and Service Plan will be made through at least November 30, 2017. Additionally, the implementation of any such payments would require approval by the Board prior to implementation. Because these fees would be paid out of a Fund’s assets on an on-going basis, if payments are made in the future, these fees would increase the cost of your investment and might cost you more over time than paying other types of sales charges.

Other Payments by the Distributor and the Adviser

The Distributor, the Adviser and/or its affiliates may make payments to broker-dealers, registered investment advisers, banks or other intermediaries (together, “intermediaries”) related to marketing activities and presentations, educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems, or their making shares of the Fund and certain other NuShares ETFs available to their customers generally and in certain investment programs. Such payments, which may be significant to the intermediary, are not made by the Fund. Rather, such payments are

Section 4     Investing in the Fund

23

made by the Distributor, the Adviser and/or its affiliates from their own resources, which come directly or indirectly in part from fees paid by the NuShares ETFs complex. Payments of this type are sometimes referred to as “revenue-sharing payments.” A financial intermediary may make decisions about which investment options it recommends or makes available, or the level of services provided, to its customers based on the payments it is eligible to receive. Therefore, such payments to an intermediary create conflicts of interest between the intermediary and its customers and may cause the intermediary to recommend the Fund or other NuShares ETFs over another investment. More information regarding these payments is contained in the Fund’s statement of additional information.

The Fund does not impose any restrictions on the frequency of purchases and redemptions (“ frequent trading ”); however, the Fund reserves the right to reject or limit purchases at any time as described in the statement of additional information. In determining that no restrictions on frequent trading were necessary, the Board evaluated the risks of frequent trading to the Fund and its shareholders. The Board considered that the Fund’s shares can only be purchased and redeemed directly from the Fund in Creation Units by Authorized Participants, and that the vast majority of trading in the Fund’s shares occurs on the secondary market. Because secondary market trades do not involve the Fund directly, the Board concluded that such trades were unlikely to cause many of the harmful effects of frequent trading, including dilution, disruption of portfolio management, increases in the Fund’s trading costs and the realization of capital gains. With respect to purchases and redemptions by Authorized Participants directly from the Funds that are effected in-kind (i.e., for securities), the Board concluded that those trades do not have the potential to cause the harmful effects that may result from frequent cash trades. To the extent that the Fund may effect the purchase or redemption of Creation Units in exchange wholly or partially for cash, the Board recognized that such trades could result in dilution to the Fund and increased transaction costs, which could negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. However, the Board noted that direct trading by Authorized Participants is critical to ensuring that the Fund’s shares trade at or close to NAV. In addition, the Board recognized that the Fund imposes fixed and variable transaction fees on purchases and redemptions of Creation Units to cover the custodial and other costs incurred by the Funds in effecting trades.

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Section 4     Investing in the Fund

Section 5     General Information

As a Fund shareholder, you are entitled to your share of the Fund’s income and net realized gains on its investments. The Fund pays out substantially all of its net earnings to its shareholders as dividends and distributions.

The Fund may earn interest from debt securities. These amounts, net of expenses and taxes (if applicable), are passed along to Fund shareholders as dividends. Dividends, if any, are declared and paid monthly.

The Fund will generally realize short-term capital gains or losses whenever it sells assets held for one year or less. Net short-term capital gains will generally be treated as ordinary income when distributed to shareholders. The Fund will generally realize long-term capital gains or losses whenever it sells assets held for more than one year. Net capital gains (the excess of the Fund’s net long-term capital gains over its net short-term capital losses) are distributed to shareholders once a year at year end.

The Fund reserves the right to declare special distributions if, in its reasonable discretion, such action is necessary or advisable to preserve its status as a regulated investment company or to avoid imposition of income or excise taxes on undistributed income or realized gains.

Your broker is responsible for distributing any dividends and capital gain distributions to you.

Dividend Reinvestment Service

No dividend reinvestment service is provided by the Fund. Broker-dealers may make available the DTC book-entry Dividend Reinvestment Service for use by beneficial owners of the Fund for reinvestment of their dividend distributions. Beneficial owners should contact their broker to determine the availability and costs of the service and the details of participation therein. Brokers may require beneficial owners to adhere to specific procedures and timetables. If this service is available and used, dividend distributions of both income and realized gains will be automatically reinvested in additional whole shares of the Fund purchased in the secondary market.

As with any investment, you should consider how your investment in shares of the Fund will be taxed. The tax information in this prospectus is provided as general information, based on current law. There is no guarantee that shares of the Fund will receive certain regulatory or accounting treatment. You should consult your own tax professional about the tax consequences of an investment in shares of the Fund. Unless your investment in Fund shares is made through a tax-exempt entity or tax-deferred retirement account, such as an IRA, you need to be aware of the possible tax consequences when the Fund makes distributions, you sell Fund shares, or (for Authorized Participants only) you purchase or redeem Creation Units.

Taxes and Tax Reporting

The Fund intends to qualify each year for treatment as a regulated investment company. If it meets certain minimum distribution requirements, a regulated investment company is not subject to tax at the fund level on

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25

income and gains from investments that are timely distributed to shareholders. However, the Fund’s failure to qualify as a regulated investment company or to meet minimum distribution requirements would result (if certain relief provisions were not available) in fund-level taxation and, consequently, a reduction in income available for distribution to shareholders.

The Fund will make distributions that may be taxed as ordinary income (which may be taxable at different rates, depending on the sources of the distributions) or capital gains (which may be taxable at different rates, depending on the length of time the Fund holds its assets). Distributions from the Fund’s long-term capital gains are generally taxable as capital gains, while distributions from short-term capital gains and net investment income are generally taxable as ordinary income. The tax you pay on a given capital gains distribution depends generally on how long the Fund has held the portfolio securities it sold and not on how long you have owned your Fund shares. Since the Fund’s income is derived primarily from interest income, it is not expected that the Fund will distribute “qualified dividend income” or income that would qualify for the dividends -received deduction for corporate shareholders.

Early in each year, you will receive a statement from the firm through which you hold your Fund shares detailing the amount and nature of all distributions that you were paid during the prior year. The tax status of your distributions is the same whether you reinvest them or elect to receive them in cash. The sale of shares in your account may produce a gain or loss, and is a taxable event. Any capital gain or loss realized upon a sale of Fund shares is generally treated as a long-term gain or loss if you held the shares you sold for more than one year. Any capital gain or loss realized upon a sale of Fund shares held for one year or less is generally treated as a short-term gain or loss, except that any capital loss on a sale of shares held for six months or less is treated as a long-term capital loss to the extent of capital gain dividends paid with respect to such shares. The ability to deduct capital losses may be limited depending on your circumstances.

In general, your distributions are subject to federal income tax for the year in which they are paid. Certain distributions paid in January, however, may be treated as paid on December 31 of the prior year. Distributions are generally taxable even if they are paid from income or gains earned by the Fund before your investment (and thus were included in the price you paid for your shares).

Dividends and distributions from the Fund and capital gain on the sale of Fund shares are generally taken into account in determining a shareholder’s “net investment income” for purposes of the Medicare contribution tax applicable to certain individuals, estates and trusts.

The Fund may include cash when paying the redemption price for Creation Units in addition to, or in place of, the delivery of a basket of securities. The Fund may be required to sell portfolio securities in order to obtain the cash needed to distribute redemption proceeds. This may cause the Fund to recognize investment income and/or capital gains or losses that it might not have recognized if it had completely satisfied the redemption in-kind. As a result, the Fund may be less tax efficient if it includes such a cash payment than if the in-kind redemption process were used.

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Section 5     General Information

Non-U.S. Income Tax Considerations

Investment income that the Fund receives from its non-U.S. investments may be subject to non U.S. income taxes, which generally will reduce Fund distributions. However, the United States has entered into tax treaties with many non-U.S. countries that may entitle you to certain tax benefits.

Distributions (other than capital gain dividends) paid to individual shareholders that are neither citizens nor residents of the U.S. or to foreign entities will generally be subject to a U.S. withholding tax at the rate of 30%, unless a lower treaty rate applies. The Fund may, under certain circumstances, report all or a portion of a dividend as an “interest-related dividend” or a “short-term capital gain dividend,” which would generally be exempt from this 30% U.S. withholding tax, provided certain other requirements are met.

Please note that if you do not furnish the Fund with your correct Social Security number or employer identification number, you fail to provide certain certifications to the Fund, you fail to certify whether you are a U.S. citizen or a U.S. resident alien, or the Internal Revenue Service notifies the Fund to withhold, federal law requires the Fund to withhold federal income tax from your distributions and redemption proceeds at the applicable withholding rate.

Buying or Selling Shares Close to a Record Date

Buying Fund shares shortly before the record date for a taxable dividend or capital gain distribution is commonly known as “buying the dividend.” The entire distribution may be taxable to you even though a portion of the distribution effectively represents a return of your purchase price.

Cost Basis Method

You may elect a cost basis method to apply to shares held in your account with your financial intermediary. The cost basis method you select will determine the order in which such shares are sold and how your cost basis information is calculated and subsequently reported to you and to the Internal Revenue Service. Please consult your tax advisor to determine which cost basis method best suits your specific situation. Please contact your financial intermediary for instructions on how to make your election. If you do not make an election, your financial intermediary will choose its own default cost basis method.

Taxes on Creation and Redemption of Creation Units

An Authorized Participant having the U.S. dollar as its functional currency for U.S. federal income tax purposes that exchanges securities for Creation Units generally will recognize a gain or loss equal to the difference between (i) the sum of the market value of the Creation Units at the time of the exchange and any amount of cash received by the Authorized Participant in the exchange and (ii) the sum of the exchanger’s aggregate basis in the securities surrendered and any amount of cash paid for such Creation Units. An Authorized Participant who redeems Creation Units will generally recognize a gain or loss equal to the difference between the exchanger’s basis in the Creation Units and the sum of the aggregate U.S. dollar market value of the securities plus the amount of any cash received for such Creation Units. The Internal Revenue Service, however, may assert that a loss that is realized by an Authorized Participant who does not mark-to-market its holdings upon an exchange of securities for Creation Units may not be currently deducted under the rules governing “wash sales,” or on the basis that there has been no significant change in economic position.

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Gain or loss recognized by an Authorized Participant upon an issuance of Creation Units in exchange for securities, or upon a redemption of Creation Units, may be capital or ordinary gain or loss depending on the circumstances. Any capital gain or loss realized upon an issuance of Creation Units in exchange for securities will generally be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the securities have been held for more than one year. Any capital gain or loss realized upon the redemption of a Creation Unit will generally be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the Fund shares comprising the Creation Unit have been held for more than one year. Otherwise, such capital gains or losses are treated as short-term capital gains or losses.

Persons exchanging securities for Creation Units should consult their own tax advisors with respect to the tax treatment of any creation or redemption transaction and whether the wash sales rules apply and when a loss might be deductible. If you purchase or redeem Creation Units, you will be sent a confirmation statement showing how many Fund shares you purchased or redeemed and at what price.

The foregoing discussion summarizes some of the consequences under current U.S. federal tax law of an investment in the Fund. It is not a substitute for personal tax advice. You may also be subject to state and local taxation on Fund distributions and sales of shares. Consult your personal tax advisor about the potential tax consequences of an investment in shares of the Fund under all applicable tax laws

The Fund’s NAV is determined as of the close of trading (normally 4:00 p.m. New York time) on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) on each Business Day. NAV is generally based on prices at the time of the close of trading on the NYSE; However, trading in U.S. government securities, money market instruments and certain fixed-income securities is substantially completed each day at various times prior to the close of trading on the NYSE, and the values of such securities used in computing the NAV of the Fund are generally determined as of such times. The Fund’s NAV per share is calculated by taking the value of the Fund’s total assets, including interest or dividends accrued but not yet collected, less all liabilities, and dividing by the total number of shares outstanding. The Fund’s latest NAV per share is available on the Fund’s website at www.nuveen.com/etfs.

In determining NAV, portfolio instruments generally are valued using prices provided by independent pricing services or obtained from other sources, such as broker-dealer quotations. Exchange-traded instruments generally are valued at the last reported sales price or official closing price on an exchange, if available. Independent pricing services typically value non-exchange-traded instruments utilizing a range of market-based inputs and assumptions, including readily available market quotations obtained from broker-dealers making markets in such instruments, cash flows, and transactions for comparable instruments. In pricing certain instruments, the pricing services may consider information about an instrument’s issuer or market activity provided by the Adviser or Sub-Adviser.

If a price cannot be obtained from a pricing service or other pre-approved source, or if, in the judgment of the Adviser, a price is unreliable, a portfolio instrument will be valued at its fair value as determined in good faith by the

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Section 5     General Information

Board or its appointee. The Adviser may determine that a price is unreliable in various circumstances. For example, a price may be deemed unreliable if it has not changed for an identified period of time, or has changed from the previous day’s price by more than a threshold amount, and recent transactions and/or broker dealer price quotations differ materially from the price in question.

The Board has adopted valuation procedures for the Fund and has appointed the Adviser’s Valuation Committee with the day-to-day responsibility for fair value determinations. All fair value determinations made by the Valuation Committee are subject to review and ratification by the Board of Trustees. As a general principle, the fair value of a portfolio instrument is the amount that an owner might reasonably expect to receive upon the instrument’s current sale. A range of factors and analysis may be considered when determining fair value, including relevant market data, interest rates, credit considerations and/or issuer specific news. However, fair valuation involves subjective judgments, and it is possible that the fair value determined for a portfolio instrument may be materially different from the value that could be realized upon the sale of that instrument.

Information showing the number of days the market price of the Fund’s shares was greater than a Fund’s NAV per share (i.e., at a premium) and the number of days it was less than the Fund’s NAV per share (i.e., at a discount) for various time periods will be made available on the Fund’s website at www.nuveen.com/etfs beginning at the end of the calendar quarter following the Fund’s inception date.

Brown Brothers Harriman (“ BBH ”) is the administrator, custodian and transfer agent for the Fund.

The Enhanced Index is sponsored by Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (“BofA Merrill Lynch”). BofA Merrill Lynch is not affiliated with the Fund, the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser, the Distributor, BBH or any of their respective affiliates. The Adviser has entered into a license agreement with BofA Merrill Lynch to use the Enhanced Index.

The Fund is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by BofA Merrill Lynch. BofA Merrill Lynch has not passed on the legality or suitability of, or the accuracy or adequacy of descriptions and disclosures relating to, the Product, nor makes any representation or warranty, express or implied, to the owners of Product or any member of the public regarding the Product or the advisability of investing in the Product, particularly the ability of the Enhanced Index to track performance of any market or strategy. BofA Merrill Lynch’s only relationship to the Adviser is the licensing of certain trademarks and trade names and the Enhanced Index or components thereof. The Enhanced Index is determined, composed and calculated by BofA Merrill Lynch without regard to the Adviser or the Fund or its holders. BofA Merrill Lynch has no obligation to take the needs of the Adviser or the shareholders

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of the Fund into consideration in determining, composing or calculating the Enhanced Index. BofA Merrill Lynch is not responsible for and has not participated in the determination of the timing of, prices of, or quantities of the Fund to be issued or in the determination or calculation of the equation by which the Fund is to be priced, sold, purchased, or redeemed. BofA Merrill Lynch has no obligation or liability in connection with the administration, marketing, or trading of the Fund.

BOFA MERRILL LYNCH DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE ACCURACY AND/OR THE COMPLETENESS OF THE ENHANCED INDEX OR ANY DATA INCLUDED THEREIN AND BOFA MERRILL LYNCH SHALL HAVE NO LIABILITY FOR ANY ERRORS, OMISSIONS, UNAVAILABILITY, OR INTERRUPTIONS THEREIN. BOFA MERRILL LYNCH MAKES NO WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED BY ADVISER, SHAREHOLDERS OF THE FUND OR ANY OTHER PERSON OR ENTITY FROM THE USE OF THE ENHANCED INDEX OR ANY DATA INCLUDED THEREIN. BOFA MERRILL LYNCH MAKES NO EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE, WITH RESPECT TO THE ENHANCED INDEX OR ANY DATA INCLUDED THEREIN. WITHOUT LIMITING ANY OF THE FOREGOING, IN NO EVENT SHALL BOFA MERRILL LYNCH HAVE ANY LIABILITY FOR ANY SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, OR LOST PROFITS, EVEN IF NOTIFIED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

“BofA Merrill Lynch” and the “BofA Merrill Lynch Enhanced Yield US Broad Bond Index ^sm ” are trademarks of Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated or its affiliates and have been licensed for use by the Adviser.

Listing Exchange

Shares of the Fund are not sponsored, endorsed or promoted by NYSE Arca. NYSE Arca makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, to the owners of shares of the Fund or any member of the public regarding the ability of the Fund to track the total return performance of the Enhanced Index or the ability of the Enhanced Index to track fixed income performance. NYSE Arca is not responsible for, nor has it participated in, the determination of the compilation or the calculation of the Enhanced Index, nor in the determination of the timing of, prices of or quantities of shares of the Funds to be issued, nor in the determination or calculation of the equation by which the shares are redeemable. NYSE Arca has no obligation or liability to owners of shares of the Fund in connection with the administration, marketing or trading of shares of the Fund. NYSE Arca does not guarantee the accuracy and/or the completeness of the Enhanced Index or any data included therein. NYSE Arca makes no warranty, express or implied, as to results to be obtained by the Trust, on behalf of the Fund as licensee, licensee’s customers and counterparties, owners of shares of the Fund or any other person or entity, from the use of the Enhanced Index or any data included therein in connection with the rights licensed as described herein or for any other use.

NYSE Arca makes no express or implied warranties and hereby expressly disclaims all warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose with respect to the Enhanced Index or any data included therein. Without limiting any of the foregoing, in no event shall NYSE Arca have any liability for any direct, indirect, special, punitive, consequential or any other damages (including lost profits) even if notified of the possibility of such damages.

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Section 5     General Information

NuShares ETFs

Several additional sources of information are available to you, including the codes of ethics adopted by the Fund, Nuveen, the Adviser and the Sub-Adviser. The statement of additional information, incorporated by reference into this prospectus, contains detailed information on the policies and operation of the Fund included in this prospectus. Additional information about the Fund’s investments will be available in the annual and semi-annual reports to shareholders. In the Fund’s annual report, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance during its last fiscal year. The Fund’s most recent statement of additional information, annual and semi-annual reports and certain other information are available, free of charge, by calling Nuveen Investor Services at (888) 290-9881, on the Fund’s website at www.nuveen.com/etfs, or through your financial advisor. Shareholders may call the toll free number above with any inquiries.

You may also obtain this and other Fund information directly from the Securities and Exchange Commission ( “SEC” ). Reports and other information about the Fund are available on the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov or in person at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, D.C. Call the SEC at (202) 551-8090 for room hours and operation. You may also request Fund information by sending an e-mail request to publicinfo@sec.gov or by writing to the SEC’s Public Reference Section at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, D.C. 20549-1520. The SEC may charge a copying fee for this information.

Distributed by

Nuveen Securities, LLC

333 West Wacker Drive

Chicago, Illinois 60606

(800) 257-8787

www.nuveen.com/etfs

No person has been authorized to give any information or to make any representations other than those contained in this prospectus in connection with the offer of Fund shares, and, if given or made, the information or representations must not be relied upon as having been authorized by the Fund. Neither the delivery of this prospectus nor any sale of Fund shares shall under any circumstance imply that the information contained herein is correct as of any date after the date of this prospectus. Please read and keep this prospectus for future reference.

Dealers effecting transactions in Fund shares, whether or not participating in this distribution, are generally required to deliver a prospectus. This is in addition to any obligation of dealers to deliver a prospectus when acting as underwriters.

The Fund is a series of NuShares ETF Trust, whose Investment Company Act file number is 811-23161.

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Preliminary Statement of Additional Information dated August 29, 2016

Subject to Completion

THE INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION IS NOT COMPLETE AND MAY BE CHANGED. WE MAY NOT SELL THESE SECURITIES UNTIL THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT FILED WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION IS EFFECTIVE. THIS STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION IS NOT AN OFFER TO SELL THESE SECURITIES AND IT IS NOT SOLICITING AN OFFER TO BUY THESE SECURITIES IN ANY STATE WHERE THE OFFER OR SALE IS NOT PERMITTED.

NUVEEN

    , 2016

NuShares Enhanced Yield U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF

Ticker Symbol: NUAG

Listing Exchange: NYSE Arca

STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

This Statement of Additional Information ( “SAI” ) is not a prospectus. This SAI relates to, and should be read in conjunction with, the prospectus dated [                ], 2016, for NuShares Enhanced Yield U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (the “Fund” ), a series of NuShares ETF Trust (the “Trust” ), as such prospectus may be revised from time to time (the “Prospectus” ). Capitalized terms used herein that are not defined have the same meaning as in the Prospectus, unless otherwise noted. A Prospectus may be obtained without charge from the Fund by visiting the Fund’s website at www.nuveen.com/etfs , or by calling (888) 290-9881.

The Fund’s audited financial statements for the most recent fiscal year (when available) are incorporated in this SAI by reference to the Fund’s most recent Annual Report to Shareholders. When available, you may obtain a copy of the Fund’s Annual Report at no charge by request to the Fund at the address, website, or phone number noted above.

GENERAL INFORMATION

The Fund is a diversified series of NuShares ETF Trust (the “Trust” ), an open-end management investment company organized as a Massachusetts business trust on February 20, 2015. Each series of the Trust represents shares of beneficial interest in a separate portfolio of securities and other assets, with its own objective and policies. Currently, the Fund is the sole series of the Trust authorized and outstanding. The Fund is an exchange-traded fund (“ ETF ”) within the NuShares family of ETFs (the “ NuShares ETFs ”). The investment objective of the Fund is to track the investment results, before fees and expenses, of the BofA Merrill Lynch Enhanced Yield US Broad Bond Index (the “Index” ). The Fund’s investment adviser is Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC ( “Nuveen Fund Advisors” or the “Adviser” ). The Fund’s sub-adviser is Teachers Advisors, Inc. ( “TAI” or the “Sub-Adviser” ). The Adviser has agreed to pay all organizational and offering expenses of the Trust.

The Fund issues and redeems shares at its net asset value per share ( “NAV” ) only in large block aggregations of a specified number of shares ( “Creation Units” ). Only certain institutional investors who have entered into agreements with the Fund’s distributor (“ Authorized Participants ”) may purchase and redeem shares directly from the Fund at NAV. Currently, a Creation Unit generally consists of 100,000 shares, though this may change upon notice to Authorized Participants. A Creation Units is not expected to consist of less than 25,000 shares. Except when aggregated in Creation Units, shares of the Fund are not redeemable securities. See “Purchase and Redemption of Creation Units” later in this SAI for more information.

The shares have been approved for listing and secondary trading on the NYSE Arca, a national securities exchange (the “Exchange” ). The shares will trade on the Exchange at market prices, which may differ from the shares’ NAVs.

The Fund intends to qualify each year for treatment as a regulated investment company (a “ RIC ”) under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “ Code ”), so that it will not be subject to federal income tax on income and gains that are timely distributed to Fund shareholders. The Fund will invest its assets, and otherwise conduct its operations, in a manner that is intended to satisfy the qualifying income, diversification and distribution requirements necessary to establish and maintain eligibility for such treatment.

GENERAL R ISKS

An investment in the Fund should be made with an understanding that the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities may fluctuate in accordance with changes in the financial condition of an issuer or counterparty, changes in specific economic or political conditions that affect a particular security or issuer and changes in general economic or political conditions. The Fund may not outperform other investment strategies over short- or long-term market cycles and the Fund may decline in value. Fund shares may trade above or below their NAV. An investor in the Fund could lose money over short or long periods of time. The price of the securities and other investments held by the Fund and thus the value of the Fund’s portfolio is expected to fluctuate in accordance with general economic conditions, interest rates, political events, and other factors.

Investor perceptions may also impact the value of Fund investments and the value of an investment in Fund shares. These investor perceptions are based on various and unpredictable factors, including expectations regarding government, economic, monetary and fiscal policies, inflation and interest rates, economic expansion or contraction, and global or regional political, economic or banking crises. Issuer-specific conditions may also affect the value of the Fund’s investments. The financial condition of an issuer of a security or counterparty to a contract may cause it to default or become unable to pay interest or principal due on the security or contract. The Fund cannot collect interest and principal payments if the issuer or counterparty defaults. Accordingly, the value of an investment in the Fund may change in response to issuer or counterparty defaults and changes in the credit ratings of the Fund’s portfolio securities.

Although the Fund attempts to invest in liquid securities and instruments, there can be no guarantee that a liquid market for such securities and instruments will be made or maintained or that any such market will be or remain liquid. The price at which securities may be sold and the value of the Fund’s shares will be adversely affected if trading markets for the Fund’s portfolio securities are limited or absent, or if bid/ask spreads are wide.

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Events in the financial sector have resulted, and may continue to result, in an unusually high degree of volatility in the financial markets, both domestic and foreign. Domestic and foreign fixed income and equity markets experienced extreme volatility and turmoil starting in late 2008 and volatility has continued to be experienced in the markets. Issuers that have exposure to the real estate, mortgage and credit markets have been particularly affected, and well-known financial institutions have experienced significant liquidity and other problems. Some of these institutions have declared bankruptcy or defaulted on their debt. It is uncertain whether or for how long these conditions will continue. These events and possible continuing market turbulence may have an adverse effect on Fund performance.

CONTINUOUS OFFERING

The method by which Creation Units are created and Fund shares are subsequently traded may raise certain issues under applicable securities laws. Because new Creation Units are issued and sold by the Trust on an ongoing basis, at any point a “distribution,” as such term is used in the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “1933 Act” ), may occur. Broker-dealers and other persons are cautioned that some activities on their part may, depending on the circumstances, result in their being deemed participants in a distribution in a manner which could render them statutory underwriters and subject them to the prospectus delivery and liability provisions of the 1933 Act.

For example, a broker-dealer firm or its client may be deemed a statutory underwriter if, after placing an order for Creation Units with Nuveen Securities, LLC (the “ Distributor ”), the broker-dealer or its client breaks them down into constituent shares and sells such shares directly to customers, or if the broker-dealer or its client chooses to couple the creation of a supply of new shares with an active selling effort involving solicitation of secondary market demand for shares. A determination of whether one is an underwriter for purposes of the 1933 Act must take into account all the facts and circumstances pertaining to the activities of the broker-dealer or its client in the particular case, and the examples mentioned above should not be considered a complete description of all the activities that could lead to a categorization as an underwriter.

Broker-dealer firms should also note that dealers who are not “underwriters” but are effecting transactions in shares, whether or not participating in the distribution of shares, are generally required to deliver a prospectus. This is because the prospectus delivery exemption in Section 4(3) of the 1933 Act is not available in respect of such transactions as a result of Section 24(d) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “ 1940 Act ” ). Firms that incur a prospectus-delivery obligation with respect to shares of the Fund are reminded that pursuant to Rule 153 under the 1933 Act, a prospectus-delivery obligation under Section 5(b)(2) of the 1933 Act owed to an exchange member in connection with a sale on the Exchange is satisfied by the fact that the Fund’s Prospectus is available at the Exchange upon request. The prospectus delivery mechanism provided in Rule 153 is only available with respect to transactions on an exchange.

INVESTMENT RESTRICTIONS

In addition to the investment objectives and policies set forth in the Prospectus and under “Investment Policies and Techniques” below, the Fund is subject to the investment restrictions set forth below. The investment restrictions set forth in numbers (1) through (7) below are fundamental and cannot be changed with respect to the Fund without approval by the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of the Fund as defined in the 1940 Act, i.e. , by the lesser of the vote of (a) 67% of the shares of the Fund present at a meeting where more than 50% of the outstanding shares are present in person or by proxy, or (b) more than 50% of the outstanding shares of the Fund.

The Fund may not:

(1) Concentrate its investments in a particular industry, as the term “concentrate” is used in the 1940 Act, except as may be necessary to approximate the composition of the Index.

(2) Borrow money or issue senior securities, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, as interpreted or modified from time to time by any regulatory authority having jurisdiction.

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(3) With respect to 75% of its total assets, purchase securities of an issuer (other than (i) securities issued by other investment companies, (ii) securities issued by the U.S. government, its agencies, instrumentalities or authorities, or (iii) repurchase agreements fully collateralized by U.S. government securities) if (a) such purchase would, at the time, cause more than 5% of the Fund’s total assets taken at market value to be invested in the securities of such issuer; or (b) such purchase would, at the time, result in more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer being held by the Fund.

(4) Purchase or sell physical commodities, unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other instruments; but this restriction shall not prohibit the Fund from investing in options on commodity indices, commodity futures contracts and options thereon, commodity-related swap agreements, other commodity-related derivative instruments, and investment companies that provide exposure to commodities.

(5) Purchase or sell real estate unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other instruments; but this restriction shall not prevent the Fund from purchasing or selling securities or other instruments backed by real estate or interests therein or of issuers engaged in real estate activities.

(6) Act as an underwriter of another issuer’s securities, except to the extent that the Fund may be deemed to be an underwriter within the meaning of the 1933 Act in connection with the purchase and sale of portfolio securities.

(7) Make loans, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, as interpreted or modified from time to time by any regulatory authority having jurisdiction.

Except with respect to the limitation set forth in number (2) above, the foregoing restrictions and limitations will apply only at the time of purchase of securities, and the percentage limitations will not be considered violated unless an excess or deficiency occurs or exists immediately after and as a result of an acquisition of securities, unless otherwise indicated.

For purposes of applying the limitation set forth in number (1) above, according to the current interpretation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “ SEC ”), the Fund would be concentrated in an industry if 25% or more of its net assets, based on current market value at the time of purchase, were invested in that industry. For purposes of this limitation, issuers of the following securities will not be considered to be members of any industry: securities of the U.S. government and its agencies or instrumentalities; except as set forth in the following sentence, securities of state, territory, possession or municipal governments and their authorities, agencies, instrumentalities or political subdivisions; securities of foreign governments; and repurchase agreements collateralized by any such obligations. To the extent that the income from a municipal bond is derived from a specific project, the securities will be deemed to be from the industry of that project. This limitation also does not place a limit on investment in issuers domiciled in a single jurisdiction or country.

Where a security is guaranteed by a governmental entity or some other facility, such as a bank guarantee or letter of credit, such a guarantee or letter of credit would be considered a separate security and would be treated as an issue of such government, other entity or bank.

For purposes of applying the limitations set forth in numbers (1) and (3) above, an issuer shall be deemed the sole issuer of a security when its assets and revenues are separate from other governmental entities and its securities are backed only by its assets and revenues. Similarly, in the case of a non-governmental user, such as an industrial corporation or a privately owned or operated hospital, if the security is backed only by the assets and revenues of the non-governmental user, then such non-governmental user would be deemed to be the sole issuer. Where a security is also backed by the enforceable obligation of a superior or unrelated governmental entity or other entity (other than a bond insurer), it shall also be included in the computation of securities owned that are issued by such governmental or other entity.

For purposes of applying the limitations set forth in number (2) above, under the 1940 Act as currently in effect, the Fund is not permitted to issue senior securities, except that the Fund may borrow from any bank if immediately after such borrowing the value of the Fund’s total assets is at

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least 300% of the principal amount of all of the Fund’s borrowings ( i.e. , the principal amount of the borrowings may not exceed 33  ¹ / ₃ % of the Fund’s total assets). In the event that such asset coverage shall at any time fall below 300%, the Fund shall, within three calendar days thereafter (not including Sundays and holidays), reduce the amount of its borrowings to an extent that the asset coverage of such borrowing shall be at least 300%.

For purposes of applying the limitation set forth in number (7) above, there are no limitations with respect to unsecured loans made by the Fund to an unaffiliated party. However, if the Fund loans its portfolio securities, the obligation on the part of the Fund to return collateral upon termination of the loan could be deemed to involve the issuance of a senior security within the meaning of Section 18(f) of the 1940 Act. In order to avoid violation of Section 18(f), the Fund may not make a loan of portfolio securities if, as a result, more than one-third of its total asset value (at market value computed at the time of making a loan) would be on loan.

In addition to the foregoing fundamental investment policies, the Fund is also subject to the following non-fundamental restrictions and policies, which may be changed by the Fund’s Board of Trustees (the “ Board ”) without a shareholder vote.

The Fund may not:

(1) Invest in illiquid securities if, as a result of such investment, more than 15% of the Fund’s net assets would be invested in illiquid securities.

(2) Acquire any securities of registered open-end investment companies or registered unit investment trusts in reliance on subparagraph (F) or subparagraph (G) of Section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act.

(3) Invest directly in futures, options on futures and swaps to the extent that the Adviser would be required to register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ( “CFTC” ) as a commodity pool operator. See “Investment Policies and Techniques—Derivatives—Limitations on the Use of CFTC-Regulated Futures, Options on Futures and Swaps.”

For purposes of number (1) above, “illiquid securities” will have the same meaning as given in guidance provided by the staff of the SEC. The Fund will monitor portfolio liquidity on an ongoing basis and, in the event more than 15% of a Fund’s net assets are invested in illiquid investments, the Fund will seek to reduce its holdings of illiquid securities in an orderly fashion in order to maintain adequate liquidity.

The Fund has adopted a non-fundamental investment policy pursuant to Rule 35d-1 under the 1940 Act (the “Name Policy” ) whereby the Fund, under normal market conditions, will (i) invest at least 80% of the sum of its net assets and the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes in fixed income securities and (ii) invest at least 80% of the sum of its net assets and the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes in U.S. dollar-denominated securities that are publicly offered for sale in the United States. As a result, the Fund must provide shareholders with a notice, meeting the requirements of Rule 35d-1(c), at least 60 days prior to any change of its Name Policy. For purposes of the Name Policy, the Fund considers the term “investments” to include both direct investments and indirect investments ( e.g. , investments in an underlying fund, derivatives and synthetic instruments with economic characteristics similar to the underlying asset). If, subsequent to an investment, the 80% requirement is no longer met, the Fund’s future investments will be made in a manner that will bring the Fund into compliance with this policy.

INVESTMENT POLI CIES AND TECHNIQUES

The following information supplements the discussion of the Fund’s investment objective, principal investment strategies, policies and techniques that appears in the Prospectus for the Fund. Additional information concerning principal investment strategies of the Fund, and other investment strategies that may be used by the Fund, is set forth below in alphabetical order. Additional information concerning the Fund’s investment restrictions is set forth above under “Investment Restrictions.”

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If a percentage limitation on investments by the Fund stated in this SAI or the Prospectus is adhered to at the time of an investment, a later increase or decrease in percentage resulting from changes in asset value will not be deemed to violate the limitation except in the case of the limitations on borrowing.

References in this section to the Adviser also apply, to the extent applicable, to the Sub-Adviser of the Fund.

Asset-Backed Securities

The Fund may invest in asset-backed securities. Asset-backed securities are securities that are secured or “backed” by pools of various types of assets on which cash payments are due at fixed intervals over set periods of time. Asset-backed securities are created in a process called securitization. In a securitization transaction, an originator of loans or an owner of accounts receivables of a certain type of asset class sells such underlying assets in a “true sale” to a special purpose entity, so that there is no recourse to such originator or owner. Payments of principal and interest on asset-backed securities typically are tied to payments made on the pool of underlying assets in the related securitization. Such payments on the underlying assets are effectively “passed through” to the asset-backed security holders on a monthly or other regular, periodic basis. The level of seniority of a particular asset-backed security will determine the priority in which the holder of such asset-backed security is paid, relative to other security holders and parties in such securitization. Examples of underlying assets include consumer loans or receivables, home equity loans, automobile loans or leases, and time shares, though other types of receivables or assets also may be used.

While asset-backed securities typically have a fixed, stated maturity date, low prevailing interest rates may lead to an increase in the prepayments made on the underlying assets. This may cause the outstanding balances due on the underlying assets to be paid down more rapidly. As a result, a decrease in the originally anticipated interest from such underlying securities may occur, causing the asset-backed securities to pay-down in whole or in part prior to their original stated maturity date. Prepayment proceeds would then have to be reinvested at the lower prevailing interest rates. Conversely, prepayments on the underlying assets may be less than anticipated, causing an extension in the duration of the asset-backed securities.

Delinquencies or losses that exceed the anticipated amounts for a given securitization could adversely impact the payments made on the related asset-backed securities. This is a reason why, as part of a securitization, asset-backed securities are often accompanied by some form of credit enhancement, such as a guaranty, insurance policy, or subordination. Credit protection in the form of derivative contracts may also be purchased. In certain securitization transactions, insurance, credit protection, or both may be purchased with respect to only the most senior classes of asset-backed securities, on the underlying collateral pool, or both. The extent and type of credit enhancement varies across securitization transactions.

The ratings and creditworthiness of asset-backed securities typically depend on the legal insulation of the issuer and transaction from the consequences of a sponsoring entity’s bankruptcy, as well as on the credit quality of the underlying receivables and the amount and credit quality of any third-party credit enhancement supporting the underlying receivables or the asset-backed securities. Asset-backed securities and their underlying receivables generally are not issued or guaranteed by any governmental entity.

Asset Coverage Requirements

To the extent required by SEC guidelines, the Fund will only engage in transactions that expose it to an obligation to another party if it owns either (a) an offsetting position for the same type of financial asset or (b) cash or liquid securities, designated on the Fund’s books or held in a segregated account, with a value sufficient at all times to cover its potential obligations not covered as provided in (a). Examples of transactions governed by these asset coverage requirements include, for example, options written by the Fund, futures contracts and options on futures contracts, forward currency contracts, swaps, and when-issued and delayed delivery transactions. Assets used as offsetting positions, designated on the Fund’s books, or held in a segregated account cannot be sold while the positions requiring cover are open unless replaced with other appropriate assets. As a result, the

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commitment of a large portion of assets to be used as offsetting positions or to be designated or segregated in such a manner could impede portfolio management or the ability to meet redemption requests or other current obligations.

In the case of futures contracts or forward contracts that are not contractually required to cash settle, the Fund must set aside liquid assets equal to such contracts’ full notional value (generally, the total numerical value of the asset underlying a future or forward contract at the time of valuation) while the positions are open. With respect to futures contracts or forward contracts that are contractually required to cash settle, however, the Fund is permitted to set aside liquid assets in an amount equal to the Fund’s daily mark-to-market net obligation ( i.e. , the Fund’s daily net liability) under the contracts, if any, rather than such contracts’ full notional value. By setting aside assets equal to only its net obligations under cash-settled futures and forward contracts, the Fund may employ leverage to a greater extent than if the Fund were required to segregate assets equal to the full notional value of such contracts.

Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments

The Fund may hold assets in cash or cash equivalents, money market funds and short-term taxable fixed income securities in such proportions as warranted by prevailing market conditions and the Fund’s principal investment strategies. The Fund may only invest in short-term taxable fixed income securities with a maturity of one year or less and whose issuers have a long-term rating of at least A- or higher by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. ( “Standard & Poor’s” ), A3 or higher by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. ( “Moody’s” ) or A- or higher by Fitch, Inc. ( “Fitch” ). Short-term taxable fixed income securities are defined to include, without limitation, the following:

(1) U.S. Government Securities . The Fund may invest in U.S. government securities, including bills, notes and bonds differing as to maturity and rates of interest, which are either issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury or by U.S. government agencies or instrumentalities. U.S. government agency securities include securities issued by (a) the Federal Housing Administration, Farmers Home Administration, Export-Import Bank of the United States, Small Business Administration, and the Government National Mortgage Association, whose securities are supported by the full faith and credit of the United States; (b) the Federal Home Loan Banks, Federal Intermediate Credit Banks, and the Tennessee Valley Authority, whose securities are supported by the right of the agency to borrow from the U.S. Treasury; (c) the Federal National Mortgage Association, whose securities are supported by the discretionary authority of the U.S. government to purchase certain obligations of the agency or instrumentality; and (d) the Student Loan Marketing Association, whose securities are supported only by its credit. While the U.S. government provides financial support to such U.S. government-sponsored agencies or instrumentalities, no assurance can be given that it always will do so since it is not so obligated by law. The U.S. government, its agencies and instrumentalities do not guarantee the market value of their securities, and consequently, the value of such securities may fluctuate. In addition, the Fund may invest in sovereign debt obligations of non-U.S. countries. U.S. Treasury obligations include separately traded interest and principal component parts of such obligations, known as Separately Traded Registered Interest and Principal Securities (“STRIPS”), which are transferable through the Federal book-entry system. STRIPS are sold as zero coupon securities, which means that they are sold at a substantial discount and redeemed at face value at their maturity date without interim cash payments of interest or principal. This discount is accreted over the life of the security, and such accretion will constitute the income earned on the security for both accounting and tax purposes. Because of these features, such securities may be subject to greater interest rate volatility than interest paying U.S. Treasury obligations.

(2) Certificates of Deposit . The Fund may invest in certificates of deposit issued against funds deposited in a bank or savings and loan association. Such certificates are for a definite period of time, earn a specified rate of return, and are normally negotiable. If such certificates of deposit are non-negotiable, they will be considered illiquid securities and be subject to the Fund’s 15% restriction on investments in illiquid securities. Pursuant to the certificate of deposit, the issuer agrees to pay the amount deposited plus interest to the bearer of the certificate on the date specified thereon. Under current FDIC regulations, the maximum insurance payable as to any one

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certificate of deposit is $250,000; therefore, certificates of deposit purchased by the Fund may not be fully insured.

(3) Bankers’ Acceptances . The Fund may invest in bankers’ acceptances, which are short-term credit instruments used to finance commercial transactions. Generally, an acceptance is a time draft drawn on a bank by an exporter or an importer to obtain a stated amount of funds to pay for specific merchandise. The draft is then “accepted” by a bank that, in effect, unconditionally guarantees to pay the face value of the instrument on its maturity date. The acceptance may then be held by the accepting bank as an asset or it may be sold in the secondary market at the going rate of interest for a specific maturity.

(4) Repurchase Agreements . The Fund may invest in repurchase agreements which involve purchases of debt securities. In such an action, at the time the Fund purchases the security, it simultaneously agrees to resell and redeliver the security to the seller, who also simultaneously agrees to buy back the security at a fixed price and time. This assures a predetermined yield for the Fund during its holding period since the resale price is always greater than the purchase price and reflects an agreed-upon market rate. Such actions afford an opportunity for the Fund to invest temporarily available cash. The Fund may enter into repurchase agreements only with respect to certain obligations. Collateral may consist of any fixed income security which is an eligible investment for the Fund. The Fund’s custodian will hold the securities underlying any repurchase agreement, or the securities will be part of the Federal Reserve/Treasury Book Entry System. The market value of the collateral underlying the repurchase agreement will be determined on each business day. If at any time the market value of the collateral falls below the repurchase price under the repurchase agreement (including any accrued interest), the Fund will promptly receive additional collateral (so the total collateral is an amount at least equal to the repurchase price plus accrued interest). Repurchase agreements may be considered loans to the seller, collateralized by the underlying securities. The risk to the Fund is limited to the ability of the seller to pay the agreed-upon sum on the repurchase date; in the event of default, the repurchase agreement provides that the Fund is entitled to sell the underlying collateral. If the value of the collateral declines after the agreement is entered into, however, and if the seller defaults under a repurchase agreement when the value of the underlying collateral is less than the repurchase price, the Fund could incur a loss of both principal and interest. The portfolio managers monitor the value of the collateral at the time the action is entered into and at all times during the term of the repurchase agreement. The portfolio managers do so in an effort to determine that the value of the collateral always equals or exceeds the agreed-upon repurchase price to be paid to the Fund. If the seller were to be subject to a federal bankruptcy proceeding, the ability of the Fund to liquidate the collateral could be delayed or impaired because of certain provisions of the bankruptcy laws.

(5) Bank Time Deposits . The Fund may invest in bank time deposits, which are monies kept on deposit with banks or savings and loan associations for a stated period of time at a fixed rate of interest. There may be penalties for the early withdrawal of such time deposits, in which case the yields of these investments will be reduced.

(6) Commercial Paper . The Fund may invest in commercial paper, which are short-term unsecured promissory notes, including variable rate master demand notes issued by corporations to finance their current operations. Master demand notes are direct lending arrangements between the Fund and a corporation. There is no secondary market for the notes. However, they are redeemable by the Fund at any time. The portfolio managers will consider the financial condition of the corporation (e.g., earning power, cash flow and other liquidity ratios) and will continuously monitor the corporation’s ability to meet all of its financial obligations, because the Fund’s liquidity might be impaired if the corporation were unable to pay principal and interest on demand. The Fund may purchase commercial paper consisting of issues rated at the time of purchase within the two highest rating categories by Standard & Poor’s, Fitch or Moody’s, or which have been assigned an equivalent rating by another nationally recognized statistical rating organization.

(7) Eurodollar and Yankee Instruments . The Fund may invest in Eurodollar certificates of deposit issued by foreign branches of U.S. or foreign banks; Eurodollar time deposits, which are

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U.S. dollar-denominated deposits in foreign branches of U.S. or foreign banks; and Yankee certificates of deposit, which are U.S. dollar-denominated certificates of deposit issued by U.S. branches of foreign banks and held in the United States. In each instance, the Fund may only invest in bank instruments issued by an institution which has capital, surplus and undivided profits of more than $100 million or the deposits of which are insured by the Bank Insurance Fund or the Savings Association Insurance Fund.

(8) Money Market Funds and Short-Term Debt Funds . The Fund may invest in money market funds. The Fund will bear its proportionate share of the money market fund’s fees and expenses (see “Other Investment Companies and Other Pooled Investment Vehicles” below). The Fund may hold securities of other mutual funds that invest primarily in debt obligations with remaining maturities of 13 months or less.

(9) Variable Amount Master Demand Notes . The Fund may invest in variable amount master demand notes, which are unsecured demand notes that permit the indebtedness thereunder to vary and provide for periodic adjustments in the interest rate according to the terms of the instrument. Because master demand notes are direct lending arrangements between the Fund and the issuer, they are not normally traded. Although there is no secondary market in the notes, the Fund may demand payment of principal and accrued interest at any time. While the notes are not typically rated by credit rating agencies, issuers of variable amount master demand notes (which are normally manufacturing, retail, financial, and other business concerns) must satisfy the same criteria as set forth above for commercial paper. The Sub-Adviser will consider the earning power, cash flow and other liquidity ratios of the issuers of such notes and will continuously monitor their financial status and ability to meet payment on demand.

Collateralized Debt Obligations

The Fund may invest in Collateralized Debt Obligations (“ CDOs ”). Similar to CMOs described below under “Mortgage-Backed Securities,” CDOs are debt obligations typically issued by a private special-purpose entity and collateralized principally by debt securities (including, for example, high-yield, high-risk bonds, structured finance securities including asset-backed securities, CDOs, mortgage-backed securities and real estate investment trusts ( “ REITs”)) or corporate loans. The special purpose entity typically issues one or more classes (sometimes referred to as “tranches”) of rated debt securities, one or more unrated classes of debt securities that are generally treated as equity interests, and a residual equity interest. The tranches of CDOs typically have different interest rates, projected weighted average lives and ratings, with the higher rated tranches paying lower interest rates. One or more forms of credit enhancement are almost always necessary in a CDO structure to obtain the desired credit ratings for the most highly rated debt securities issued by the CDO. The types of credit enhancement used include “internal” credit enhancement provided by the underlying assets themselves, such as subordination, excess spread and cash collateral accounts, and hedges provided by interest rate swaps, and “external” credit enhancement provided by third parties, principally financial guaranty insurance issued by monoline insurers. Despite this credit enhancement, CDO tranches can experience substantial losses due to actual defaults, increased sensitivity to defaults due to collateral default and the disappearance of lower rated protecting tranches, market anticipation of defaults, and investor aversion to CDO securities as a class. CDOs can be less liquid than other publicly held debt issues, and require additional structural analysis.

Convertible Securities

The Fund may invest in debt securities which are convertible into or exchangeable for, or which carry warrants or other rights to acquire, common or preferred stocks. Such convertible securities are hybrid securities that combine the investment characteristics of bonds and common stocks. Convertible securities typically consist of debt securities or preferred securities that may be converted within a specified period of time (typically for the entire life of the security) into a certain amount of common stock or other equity security of the same or a different issuer at a predetermined price. They also include debt securities with warrants or common stock attached and derivatives combining the features of debt securities and equity securities. Convertible securities entitle the holder to receive interest paid or accrued on debt, or dividends paid or accrued on preferred securities, until the security matures or is redeemed, converted or exchanged.

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The market value of a convertible security generally is a function of its “investment value” and its “conversion value.” A security’s “investment value” represents the value of the security without its conversion feature ( i.e. , a comparable non-convertible fixed-income security). The investment value is determined by, among other things, reference to its credit quality and the current value of its yield to maturity or probable call date. At any given time, investment value is dependent upon such factors as the general level of interest rates, the yield of similar non-convertible securities, the financial strength of the issuer and the seniority of the security in the issuer’s capital structure. A security’s “conversion value” is determined by multiplying the number of shares the holder is entitled to receive upon conversion or exchange by the current price of the underlying security. If the conversion value of a convertible security is significantly below its investment value, the convertible security will trade like non-convertible debt or a preferred security in the sense that its market value will not be influenced greatly by fluctuations in the market price of the underlying security into which it can be converted. Instead, the convertible security’s price will tend to move in the opposite direction from interest rates. Conversely, if the conversion value of a convertible security is significantly above its investment value, the market value of the convertible security will be more heavily influenced by fluctuations in the market price of the underlying stock. In that case, the convertible security’s price may be as volatile as that of the common stock. Because both interest rate and market movements can influence its value, a convertible security is not generally as sensitive to interest rates as a similar fixed-income security, nor is it generally as sensitive to changes in share price as its underlying stock.

The Fund’s investments in convertible securities, particularly securities that are convertible into securities of an issuer other than the issuer of the convertible security, may be illiquid. The Fund’s investments in convertible securities may at times include securities that have a mandatory conversion feature, pursuant to which the securities convert automatically into common stock or other equity securities (of the same or a different issuer) at a specified date and a specified conversion ratio, or that are convertible at the option of the issuer. Equity interests acquired through conversion, exchange or exercise of rights to acquire stock will be disposed of by the Fund as soon as practicable in an orderly manner.

In addition, some convertible securities are often rated below investment-grade or are not rated, and therefore may be considered speculative investments. The credit rating of a company’s convertible securities is generally lower than that of its conventional debt securities. Convertible securities are normally considered “junior” securities—that is, the company usually must pay interest on its conventional corporate debt before it can make payments on its convertible securities. Some convertible securities are particularly sensitive to interest rate changes when their predetermined conversion price is much higher than the issuing company’s common stock.

Corporate Debt Securities

The Fund may invest in corporate debt securities. The broad category of corporate debt securities includes debt issued by companies of all kinds, including those with small-, mid- and large-capitalizations. Corporate debt may be rated investment-grade or below investment-grade and may carry variable or floating rates of interest. Corporate debt securities are usually issued by businesses to finance their operations, although corporate debt instruments may also include bank loans to companies. Notes, bonds, debentures and commercial paper are the most common types of corporate debt securities, with the primary difference being their maturities and secured or unsecured status. Commercial paper has the shortest term and is usually unsecured.

Because of the wide range of types and maturities of corporate debt securities, as well as the range of creditworthiness of its issuers, corporate debt securities have widely varying potentials for return and risk profiles. Rates on corporate debt securities are set according to prevailing interest rates at the time of the issue, the credit rating of the issuer, the length of the maturity and other terms of the security. For example, commercial paper issued by a large established domestic corporation that is rated investment-grade may have a modest return on principal, but carries relatively limited risk. On the other hand, a long-term corporate note issued by a small non-U.S. corporation from an emerging market country that has not been rated by a Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization (“ NRSRO ”) may have the potential for relatively large returns on principal, but carries a relatively high degree of risk.

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Corporate debt securities carry both credit risk and interest rate risk. Credit risk is the risk that the Fund could lose money if the issuer of a corporate debt security is unable to pay interest or repay principal when it is due. Some corporate debt securities that are rated below investment-grade are generally considered speculative because they present a greater risk of loss, including default, than higher quality debt securities. The credit risk of a particular issuer’s debt security may vary based on its priority for repayment. For example, higher ranking (senior) debt securities have a higher priority than lower ranking (subordinated) securities. This means that the issuer might not make payments on subordinated securities while making payments on senior securities. In addition, in the event of bankruptcy, holders of higher-ranking senior securities may receive amounts otherwise payable to the holders of more junior securities. Interest rate risk is the risk that the value of certain corporate debt securities will tend to fall when interest rates rise. In general, corporate debt securities with longer terms tend to fall more in value when interest rates rise than corporate debt securities with shorter terms. Additionally, corporate debt securities may also be subject to price volatility due to such factors as market interest rates, market perception of the creditworthiness of the issuer and general market liquidity.

In addition, corporate restructurings, such as mergers, leveraged buyouts, takeovers or similar corporate transactions are often financed by an increase in a corporate issuer’s debt securities. As a result of the added debt burden, the credit quality and market value of an issuer’s existing debt securities may decline significantly.

Derivatives

Subject to the limitations set forth below under “Limitations on the Use of CFTC-Regulated Futures, Options on Futures and Swaps,” the Fund may use derivative instruments as described below. Generally, a derivative is a financial contract the value of which depends upon, or is derived from, the value of an underlying asset, reference rate or index. Derivatives generally take the form of contracts under which the parties agree to payments between them based upon the performance of a wide variety of underlying references, such as stocks, bonds, loans, commodities, interest rates, currency exchange rates, and various domestic and foreign indices.

The Fund may use derivatives for a variety of reasons, including as a substitute for investing directly in securities, as part of a hedging strategy (that is, for the purpose of reducing risk to the Fund), or for other purposes related to the management of the Fund. Derivatives permit the Fund to increase or decrease the level of risk, or change the character of the risk, to which its portfolio is exposed in much the same way as the Fund can increase or decrease the level of risk, or change the character of the risk, of its portfolio by making investments in specific securities. However, derivatives may entail investment exposures that are greater than their cost would suggest. As a result, a small investment in derivatives could have a large impact on the Fund’s performance.

While transactions in some derivatives may be effected on established exchanges, many other derivatives are privately negotiated and entered into in the over-the-counter ( “OTC” ) market with a single counterparty. When exchange-traded derivatives are purchased and sold, a clearing agency associated with the exchange stands between each buyer and seller and effectively guarantees performance of each contract, either on a limited basis through a guaranty fund or to the full extent of the clearing agency’s balance sheet. Transactions in OTC derivatives not subject to a clearing requirement have no such protection. Each party to an uncleared OTC derivative bears the risk that its direct counterparty will default. In addition, OTC derivatives are generally less liquid than exchange-traded derivatives because they often can only be closed out with the other party to the transaction.

The use of derivative instruments is subject to applicable regulations of the SEC, the CFTC, various state regulatory authorities and, with respect to exchange-traded derivatives, the several exchanges upon which they are traded. As discussed above under “Asset Coverage Requirements,” in order to engage in certain transactions in derivatives, the Fund may be required to hold offsetting positions or to hold cash or liquid securities in a segregated account or designated on the Fund’s books. In addition, the Fund’s ability to use derivative instruments may be limited by tax considerations.

The particular derivative instruments the Fund can use are described below. The Fund’s portfolio managers may decide not to employ some or all of these instruments, and there is no assurance that any derivatives strategy used by the Fund will succeed. The Fund may employ new derivative

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instruments and strategies when they are developed, if those investment methods are consistent with the Fund’s investment objective and are permissible under applicable regulations governing the Fund.

Options Transactions

The Fund may purchase put and call options on specific securities (including groups or “baskets” of specific securities). In addition, the Fund may write put and call options on such financial instruments.

Options on Securities . The Fund may purchase put and call options on securities. A put option on a security gives the purchaser of the option the right (but not the obligation) to sell, and the writer of the option the obligation to buy, the underlying security at a stated price (the “exercise price”) at any time before the option expires. A call option on a security gives the purchaser the right (but not the obligation) to buy, and the writer the obligation to sell, the underlying security at the exercise price at any time before the option expires. The purchase price for a put or call option is the “premium” paid by the purchaser for the right to sell or buy.

The Fund may purchase put options to hedge against a decline in the value of its portfolio. By using put options in this way, the Fund would reduce any profit it might otherwise have realized in the underlying security by the amount of the premium paid for the put option and by transaction costs. In similar fashion, the Fund may purchase call options to protect against an increase in the price of securities that the Fund anticipates purchasing in the future, a practice sometimes referred to as “anticipatory hedging.” The premium paid for the call option plus any transaction costs will reduce the benefit, if any, realized by the Fund upon exercise of the option, and, unless the price of the underlying security rises sufficiently, the option may expire unexercised.

Options on Interest Rates and Indices. The Fund may purchase put and call options on interest rates and bond indices. An option on interest rates or on an index gives the holder the right to receive, upon exercise of the option, an amount of cash if the closing value of the underlying interest rate or index is greater than, in the case of a call, or less than, in the case of a put, the exercise price of the option. This amount of cash is equal to the difference between the exercise-settlement value of the interest rate option or the closing price of the index and the exercise price of the option expressed in dollars times a specified multiple (the “ multiplier ”). The writer of the option is obligated, for the premium received, to make delivery of this amount. Settlements for interest rate and index options are always in cash.

Futures

The Fund may engage in futures transactions. The Fund may buy and sell futures contracts that relate to (1) interest rates, (2) debt securities, and (3) bond indices. The Fund may only enter into futures contracts which are standardized and traded on a U.S. exchange, board of trade or similar entity, or quoted on an automated quotation system.

A futures contract is an agreement between two parties to buy and sell a security, interest rate or currency (each a “financial instrument” ) for a set price on a future date. Certain futures contracts, such as futures contracts relating to individual securities, call for making or taking delivery of the underlying financial instrument. However, these contracts generally are closed out before delivery by entering into an offsetting purchase or sale of a matching futures contract. Other futures contracts, such as futures contracts on interest rates and indices, do not call for making or taking delivery of the underlying financial instrument, but rather are agreements pursuant to which two parties agree to take or make delivery of an amount of cash equal to the difference between the value of the financial instrument at the close of the last trading day of the contract and the price at which the contract was originally written. These contracts also may be settled by entering into an offsetting futures contract.

Unlike when the Fund purchases or sells a security, no price is paid or received by the Fund upon the purchase or sale of a futures contract. Initially, the Fund will be required to deposit with its futures broker (also known as a futures commission merchant ( “FCM” )) an amount of cash or securities equal to a specified percentage of the contract amount. This amount is known as initial margin. The margin deposit is intended to ensure completion of the contract. Minimum initial margin requirements are established by the futures exchanges and may be revised. In addition, FCMs may establish margin deposit requirements that are higher than the exchange minimums. Cash held as margin is generally

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invested by the FCM in high-quality instruments permitted under CFTC regulations, with returns retained by the FCM and interest paid to the Fund on the cash at an agreed-upon rate. The Fund will also receive any interest paid from coupon-bearing securities, such as Treasury securities, held in margin accounts. Subsequent payments to and from the FCM, called variation margin, will be made on a daily basis as the price of the underlying financial instrument fluctuates, making the futures contract more or less valuable, a process known as marking the contract to market. Changes in variation margin are recorded by the Fund as unrealized gains or losses. At any time prior to expiration of the futures contract, the Fund may elect to close the position by taking an opposite position that will operate to terminate its position in the futures contract. A final determination of variation margin is then made, additional cash is required to be paid by or released to the Fund, and the Fund realizes a gain or loss. In the event of the bankruptcy or insolvency of an FCM that holds margin on behalf of the Fund, the Fund may be entitled to the return of margin owed to it only in proportion to the amount received by the FCM’s other customers, potentially resulting in losses to the Fund. Futures transactions also involve brokerage costs.

Most U.S. futures exchanges limit the amount of fluctuation permitted in futures contract prices during a single trading day. The daily limit establishes the maximum amount that the price of a futures contract may vary either up or down from the previous day’s settlement price at the end of a trading session. Once the daily limit has been reached in a particular type of futures contract, no trades may be made on that day at a price beyond that limit. The daily limit governs only price movement during a particular trading day and therefore does not limit potential losses, because the limit may prevent the liquidation of unfavorable positions. Futures contract prices have occasionally moved to the daily limit for several consecutive trading days with little or no trading, thereby preventing prompt liquidation of futures positions and subjecting some futures traders to substantial losses.

Swap Transactions

The Fund may enter into interest rate, total return, and credit default swap agreements.

The Fund may enter into swap transactions for any purpose consistent with its investment objectives and strategies, such as for the purpose of attempting to obtain or preserve a particular return or spread at a lower cost than obtaining a return or spread through purchases and/or sales of instruments in other markets, to protect against an increase in the price of securities the Fund anticipates purchasing at a later date, to reduce risk arising from the ownership of a particular instrument, or to gain exposure to certain securities, reference rates, sectors or markets.

Swap agreements are two party contracts entered into primarily by institutional investors for a specified period of time. In a standard swap transaction, two parties agree to exchange the returns (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on a particular predetermined asset, reference rate or index. The gross returns to be exchanged or swapped between the parties are generally calculated with respect to a notional amount, e.g., the return on or increase in value of a particular dollar amount invested at a particular interest rate or in a basket of securities representing a particular index. The notional amount of the swap agreement generally is only used as a basis upon which to calculate the obligations that the parties to the swap agreement have agreed to exchange. The Fund’s current obligations under a net swap agreement will be accrued daily (offset against any amounts owed to the Fund) and the Fund will segregate assets determined to be liquid by a Sub-Adviser for any accrued but unpaid net amounts owed to a swap counterparty. See “Asset Coverage Requirements” above.

Interest Rate Swaps . Interest rate swaps are financial instruments that involve the exchange of one type of interest rate for another type of interest rate cash flow on specified dates in the future. Some of the different types of interest rate swaps are “fixed-for floating rate swaps,” “termed basis swaps” and “index amortizing swaps.” Fixed-for floating rate swaps involve the exchange of fixed interest rate cash flows for floating rate cash flows. Termed basis swaps entail cash flows to both parties based on floating interest rates, where the interest rate indices are different. Index amortizing swaps are typically fixed-for floating swaps where the notional amount changes if certain conditions are met. Like a traditional investment in a debt security, the Fund could lose money by investing in an interest rate swap if interest rates change adversely.

Total Return Swaps . In a total return swap, one party agrees to pay the other the “total return” of a defined underlying asset during a specified period, in return for periodic payments based on a fixed

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or variable interest rate or the total return from other underlying assets. A total return swap may be applied to any underlying asset but is most commonly used with bonds and defined baskets of loans and mortgages. The Fund might enter into a total return swap involving an underlying index or basket of securities to create exposure to a potentially widely-diversified range of securities in a single trade. An index total return swap can be used by the portfolio managers to assume risk, without the complications of buying the component securities from what may not always be the most liquid of markets.

Credit Default Swaps . A credit default swap is a bilateral contract that enables an investor to buy or sell protection against a defined-issuer credit event. The Fund may enter into credit default swap agreements either as a buyer or a seller. The Fund may buy protection to attempt to mitigate the risk of default or credit quality deterioration in one or more of its individual holdings or in a segment of the fixed income securities market to which it has exposure, or to take a “short” position in individual bonds or market segments which it does not own. The Fund may sell protection in an attempt to gain exposure to the credit quality characteristics of particular bonds or market segments without investing directly in those bonds or market segments.

As the buyer of protection in a credit default swap, the Fund will pay a premium (by means of an upfront payment or a periodic stream of payments over the term of the agreement) in return for the right to deliver a referenced bond or group of bonds to the protection seller and receive the full notional or par value (or other agreed upon value) upon a default (or similar event) by the issuer(s) of the underlying referenced obligation(s). If no default occurs, the protection seller would keep the stream of payments and would have no further obligation to the Fund. Thus, the cost to the Fund would be the premium paid with respect to the agreement. If a credit event occurs, however, the Fund may elect to receive the full notional value of the swap in exchange for an equal face amount of deliverable obligations of the reference entity that may have little or no value. The Fund bears the risk that the protection seller may fail to satisfy its payment obligations.

If the Fund is a seller of protection in a credit default swap and no credit event occurs, the Fund would generally receive an up-front payment or a periodic stream of payments over the term of the swap. If a credit event occurs, however, generally the Fund would have to pay the buyer the full notional value of the swap in exchange for an equal face amount of deliverable obligations of the reference entity that may have little or no value. As the protection seller, the Fund effectively adds economic leverage to its portfolio because, in addition to being subject to investment exposure on its total net assets, the Fund is subject to investment exposure on the notional amount of the swap. Thus, the Fund bears the same risk as it would by buying the reference obligations directly, plus the additional risks related to obtaining investment exposure through a derivative instrument discussed below under “Risks Associated with Swap Transactions.”

Swap Options. A swap option is a contract that gives a counterparty the right (but not the obligation), in return for payment of a premium, to enter into a new swap agreement or to shorten, extend, cancel, or otherwise modify an existing swap agreement at some designated future time on specified terms. A cash-settled option on a swap gives the purchaser the right, in return for the premium paid, to receive an amount of cash equal to the value of the underlying swap as of the exercise date. The Fund may write (sell) and purchase put and call swap options. Depending on the terms of the particular option agreement, the Fund generally will incur a greater degree of risk when it writes a swap option than when it purchases a swap option. When the Fund purchases a swap option, it risks losing only the amount of the premium it has paid should it decide to let the option expire unexercised. However, when the Fund writes a swap option, upon exercise of the option the Fund will become obligated according to the terms of the underlying agreement.

Risks Associated with Swap Transactions . The use of swap transactions is a highly specialized activity which involves strategies and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio security transactions. If a Sub-Adviser is incorrect in its forecasts of default risks, market spreads or other applicable factors the investment performance of the Fund would diminish compared with what it would have been if these techniques were not used. As the protection seller in a credit default swap, the Fund effectively adds economic leverage to its portfolio because, in addition to being subject to investment exposure on its total net assets, the Fund is subject to investment exposure on the notional amount of the swap. The Fund may only close out a swap or other two-party contract

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with its particular counterparty, and may only transfer a position with the consent of that counterparty. In addition, the price at which the Fund may close out such a two party contract may not correlate with the price change in the underlying reference asset. If the counterparty defaults, the Fund will have contractual remedies, but there can be no assurance that the counterparty will be able to meet its contractual obligations or that the Fund will succeed in enforcing its rights. It also is possible that developments in the derivatives market, including potential government regulation, could adversely affect the Fund’s ability to terminate existing swap or other agreements or to realize amounts to be received under such agreements.

Caps, Collars and Floors

The Fund may enter into interest rate caps, floors, and collars. Caps and floors have an effect similar to buying or writing options. In a typical cap or floor agreement, one party agrees to make payments only under specified circumstances, usually in return for payment of a fee by the other party. For example, the buyer of an interest rate cap obtains the right to receive payments to the extent that a specified interest rate exceeds an agreed-upon level. The seller of an interest rate floor is obligated to make payments to the extent that a specified interest rate falls below an agreed-upon level. An interest rate collar involves selling a cap and purchasing a floor or vice versa to protect the Fund against interest rate movements exceeding given minimum or maximum levels.

Limitations on the Use of CFTC-Regulated Futures, Options on Futures and Swaps

The Fund will limit its direct investments in CFTC-regulated futures, options on futures and swaps ( “CFTC Derivatives” ) to the extent necessary for the Adviser to claim the exclusion from regulation as a commodity pool operator with respect to the Fund under CFTC Rule 4.5, as such rule may be amended from time to time. Under Rule 4.5 as currently in effect, the Fund will limit its trading activity in CFTC Derivatives (excluding activity for “bona fide hedging purposes,” as defined by the CFTC) such that it meets one of the following tests:

With respect to the Fund, the Adviser has filed a notice of eligibility for exclusion from the definition of the term commodity pool operator under the Commodity Exchange Act and therefore is not subject to registration or regulation as a commodity pool operator thereunder.

The requirements for qualification as a regulated investment company may also limit the extent to which the Fund may invest in CFTC Derivatives. See “Tax Matters—Qualification as a Regulated Investment Company.”

Federal Income Tax Treatment of Futures Contracts and Options

The Fund’s transactions in futures contracts and options will be subject to special provisions of the Code, that, among other things, may affect the character of gains and losses realized by the Fund (i.e., may affect whether gains or losses are ordinary or capital, or short-term or long-term), may accelerate recognition of income to the Fund and may defer Fund losses. These rules could, therefore, affect the character, amount and timing of distributions to shareholders. These provisions also (a) will require the Fund to mark-to-market certain types of the positions in its portfolio (i.e., treat them as if they were closed out) and (b) may cause the Fund to recognize income without receiving cash with which to make distributions in amounts necessary to satisfy the 90% distribution requirement for qualifying to be taxed as a regulated investment company and the distribution requirement for avoiding excise taxes.

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Risks and Special Considerations Concerning Derivatives

The use of derivative instruments involves certain general risks and considerations as described below.

(1) Market Risk.  Market risk is the risk that the value of the underlying assets may go up or down. Adverse movements in the value of an underlying asset can expose the Fund to losses. The successful use of derivative instruments depends upon a variety of factors, particularly the portfolio managers’ ability to predict movements in the relevant markets, which may require different skills than predicting changes in the prices of individual securities. There can be no assurance that any particular strategy adopted will succeed.

(2) Counterparty Risk.  Counterparty risk is the risk that a loss may be sustained as a result of the failure of a counterparty to comply with the terms of a derivative instrument. The counterparty risk for exchange-traded derivatives is generally less than for OTC derivatives, since generally a clearing agency, which is the issuer or counterparty to each exchange-traded instrument, provides a guarantee of performance. For many OTC instruments, there is no similar clearing agency guarantee. In all transactions, the Fund will bear the risk that the counterparty will default, and this could result in a loss of the expected benefit of the derivative transactions and possibly other losses to the Fund. The Fund will enter into derivatives transactions only with counterparties that its portfolio managers reasonably believe are capable of performing under the contract.

(3) Correlation Risk.  Correlation risk is the risk that there might be an imperfect correlation, or even no correlation, between price movements of a derivative instrument and price movements of investments being hedged. When a derivative transaction is used to completely hedge another position, changes in the market value of the combined position (the derivative instrument plus the position being hedged) result from an imperfect correlation between the price movements of the two instruments. With a perfect hedge, the value of the combined position remains unchanged with any change in the price of the underlying asset. With an imperfect hedge, the value of the derivative instrument and its hedge are not perfectly correlated. For example, if the value of a derivative instrument used in a short hedge (such as a CDS) increased by less than the decline in value of the hedged investments, the hedge would not be perfectly correlated. This might occur due to factors unrelated to the value of the investments being hedged, such as speculative or other pressures on the markets in which these instruments are traded. The effectiveness of hedges using instruments on indices will depend, in part, on the degree of correlation between price movements in the index and the price movements in the investments being hedged.

(4) Liquidity Risk.  Liquidity risk is the risk that a derivative instrument cannot be sold, closed out or replaced quickly at or very close to its fundamental value. Generally, exchange contracts are very liquid because the exchange clearinghouse is the counterparty of every contract. OTC transactions are less liquid than exchange-traded derivatives since they often can only be closed out with the other party to the transaction. The Fund might be required by applicable regulatory requirements to maintain assets as “cover,” maintain segregated accounts, and/or make margin payments when it takes positions in derivative instruments involving obligations to third parties (i.e., instruments other than purchase options). If the Fund is unable to close out its positions in such instruments, it might be required to continue to maintain such assets or accounts or make such payments until the position expires, matures or is closed out. These requirements might impair the Fund’s ability to sell a security or make an investment at a time when it would otherwise be favorable to do so, or require that the Fund sell a portfolio security at a disadvantageous time. The Fund’s ability to sell or close out a position in an instrument prior to expiration or maturity depends upon the existence of a liquid secondary market or, in the absence of such a market, the ability and willingness of the counterparty to enter into a transaction closing out the position. There is no assurance that any derivatives position can be sold or closed out at a time and price that is favorable to the Fund.

(5) Legal Risk.  Legal risk is the risk of loss caused by the unenforceability of a party’s obligations under the derivative. While a party seeking price certainty agrees to surrender the potential upside in exchange for downside protection, the party taking the risk is looking for a positive payoff. Despite this voluntary assumption of risk, a counterparty that has lost money in a derivative transaction may try to avoid payment by exploiting various legal uncertainties about certain derivative products.

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(6) Systemic or “Interconnection” Risk.  Systemic or interconnection risk is the risk that a disruption in the financial markets will cause difficulties for all market participants. In other words, a disruption in one market will spill over into other markets, perhaps creating a chain reaction. Much of the OTC derivatives market takes place among the OTC dealers themselves, thus creating a large interconnected web of financial obligations. This interconnectedness raises the possibility that a default by one large dealer could create losses for other dealers and destabilize the entire market for OTC derivative instruments.

(7) Leverage Risk.  Leverage risk is the risk that the Fund may be more volatile than if it had not been leveraged due to leverage’s tendency to exaggerate the effect of any increase or decrease in the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities. The use of leverage may also cause the Fund to liquidate portfolio positions when it may not be advantageous to do so to satisfy its obligations or to meet segregation requirements.

(8) Regulatory Risk.  The Dodd-Frank Act Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd   -Frank Act” ) has initiated a dramatic revision of the U.S. financial regulatory framework and covers a broad range of topics, including (among many others) a reorganization of federal financial regulators; a process intended to improve financial systemic stability and the resolution of potentially insolvent financial firms; and new rules for derivatives trading. Instruments in which the Fund may invest, or the issuers of such instruments, may be affected by the new legislation and regulation in ways that are unforeseeable. Many of the implementing regulations have not yet been finalized. Accordingly, the ultimate impact of the Dodd-Frank Act, including on the derivative instruments in which the Fund may invest, is not yet certain.

Dollar Rolls

The Fund may enter into mortgage “dollar rolls” in which the Fund sells mortgage-backed securities and simultaneously contracts with the same counterparty to repurchase similar (same type, coupon and maturity) but not identical securities on a specified future date. During the period between the sale and repurchase (the “roll period”), the Fund forgoes principal and interest paid on the mortgage-backed securities. However, the Fund would benefit to the extent of any difference between the price received for the securities sold and the lower forward price for the future purchase (often referred to as the “drop”) plus any fee income received. Unless such benefits exceed the income, capital appreciation and gain or loss due to mortgage prepayments that would have been realized on the securities sold as part of the mortgage dollar roll, the investment performance of the Fund will be less than what the performance would have been without the use of the mortgage dollar roll. The Fund will segregate until the settlement date cash or liquid securities in an amount equal to the forward purchase price.

Equity Securities

The Fund may invest in equity securities, including common stocks, warrants to purchase common stocks convertible securities, interests in real estate investment trusts, common units of master limited partnerships, and other securities with equity characteristics. The Fund may only hold equity securities through its investment in other securities with conversion, exchange or exercise of rights to acquire equity interests.

Common Stocks

Common stocks represent units of ownership in a company. Common stocks usually carry voting rights and earn dividends. Unlike preferred securities, dividends on common stocks are not prescribed in advance but are declared at the discretion of a company’s board.

While investing in stocks allows shareholders to participate in the benefits of owning a company, such shareholders must accept the risks of ownership. Unlike bondholders, who have preference to a company’s earnings and cash flow, common stockholders are entitled only to the residual amount after a company meets its other obligations. For this reason, the value of a company’s stock will usually react more strongly to actual or perceived changes in the company’s financial condition or prospects than its debt obligations. Stockholders of a company that fares poorly can lose money.

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Warrants

The Fund may invest in warrants if, after giving effect thereto, not more than 5% of its net assets will be invested in warrants other than warrants acquired in units or attached to other securities. Investing in warrants is purely speculative in that they have no voting rights, pay no dividends, and have no rights with respect to the assets of the corporation issuing them. Warrants are issued by the issuer of a security and provide their holder the option to purchase that security upon the warrants’ exercise at a specific price for a specific period of time. They do not represent ownership of the securities but only the right to buy them. The prices of warrants do not necessarily parallel the prices of the underlying securities.

Real Estate Investment Trusts

Real estate investment trusts are publicly traded corporations or trusts that specialize in acquiring, holding, and managing residential, commercial or industrial real estate. A REIT is not taxed at the entity level on income distributed to its shareholders or unitholders if it distributes to shareholders or unitholders at least 90% of its taxable income for each taxable year and complies with regulatory requirements relating to its organization, ownership, assets and income.

Investing in REITs subjects the Fund to risks associated with the real estate industry. The real estate industry has been subject to substantial fluctuations and declines on a local, regional and national basis in the past and may continue to be in the future. Real property values and income from real property may decline due to general and local economic conditions, overbuilding and increased competition, increases in property taxes and operating expenses, changes in zoning laws, casualty or condemnation losses, regulatory limitations on rents, changes in neighborhoods and in demographics, increases in market interest rates, or other factors. Factors such as these may adversely affect companies which own and operate real estate directly, companies which lend to such companies, and companies which service the real estate industry.

The Fund is also subject to risks associated with direct investments in REITs. The Fund may invest in Mortgage REITs. A Mortgage REIT invests the majority of its assets in real estate mortgage loans and services its income primarily from interest payments. Mortgage REITs may be affected by the credit quality of the mortgage loans they hold. In addition, REITs are dependent on specialized management skills and on their ability to generate cash flow for operating purposes and to make distributions to shareholders or unitholders. REITs may have limited diversification and are subject to risks associated with obtaining financing for real property, as well as to the risk of self-liquidation. REITs also can be adversely affected by their failure to qualify for tax-free pass-through treatment of their income under the Code or their failure to maintain an exemption from registration under the 1940 Act. By investing in REITs indirectly through the Fund, a shareholder bears not only a proportionate share of the expenses of the Fund, but also may indirectly bear similar expenses of some of the REITs in which it invests.

Master Limited Partnerships

Equity securities in which the Fund may invest include master limited partnerships ( “MLPs” ). An MLP is an entity, most commonly a limited partnership, that is taxed as a partnership, publicly traded and listed on a national securities exchange. Holders of common units of MLPs typically have limited control and limited voting rights as compared to holders of a corporation’s common shares. MLPs are limited by the Code to only apply to enterprises that engage in certain businesses, mostly pertaining to the use of natural resources, such as petroleum and natural gas extraction and transportation, although some other enterprises may also qualify as MLPs.

Fixed Rate Debt Obligations

The debt obligations in which the Fund invests have fixed interest rates. Fixed rate securities pay a fixed rate of interest and tend to exhibit more price volatility during times of rising or falling interest rates than securities with variable or floating rates of interest. The value of fixed rate securities will tend to fall when interest rates rise and rise when interest rates fall. The value of variable or floating rate securities, on the other hand, fluctuates much less in response to market interest rate movements than the value of fixed rate securities. This is because variable and floating rate securities behave like short-term instruments in that the rate of interest they pay is subject to periodic adjustments

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according to a specified formula, usually with reference to some interest rate index or market interest rate. Fixed rate securities with short-term characteristics are not subject to the same price volatility as fixed rate securities without such characteristics. Therefore, they behave more like variable or floating rate securities with respect to price volatility.

Foreign Securities

The Fund may invest in U.S. dollar-denominated foreign securities. These securities may include securities issued or guaranteed by (i) the Government of Canada, any Canadian Province or any instrumentality and political subdivision thereof; (ii) any other foreign government agency or instrumentality; (iii) foreign subsidiaries of U.S. corporations; and (iv) other foreign issuers.

Investment in foreign securities is subject to special investment risks that differ in some respects from those related to investments in securities of U.S. domestic issuers. These risks include political, social or economic instability in the country of the issuer, the difficulty of predicting international trade patterns, the possibility of the imposition of exchange controls, expropriation, limits on removal of currency or other assets, nationalization of assets, foreign withholding and income taxation, and foreign trading practices (including higher trading commissions, custodial charges and delayed settlements). Foreign securities also may be subject to greater fluctuations in price than securities issued by U.S. corporations. The principal markets on which these securities trade may have less volume and liquidity, and may be more volatile, than securities markets in the United States.

In addition, there may be less publicly available information about a foreign company than about a U.S. domiciled company. Foreign companies generally are not subject to uniform accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards comparable to those applicable to U.S. domestic companies. There is also generally less government regulation of securities exchanges, brokers and listed companies abroad than in the United States. Confiscatory taxation or diplomatic developments could also affect investment in those countries. In addition, foreign branches of U.S. banks, foreign banks and foreign issuers may be subject to less stringent reserve requirements and to different accounting, auditing, reporting, and record keeping standards than those applicable to domestic branches of U.S. banks and U.S. domestic issuers. Securities transactions conducted outside the United States may not involve a clearing mechanism and related guarantees, and are subject to the risk of governmental actions affecting trading in, or the prices of, non-U.S. securities, currencies and other instruments. The value of such positions also could be adversely affected by (i) other complex non-U.S. political, legal and economic factors, (ii) delays in a Fund’s ability to act upon economic events occurring in non-U.S. markets during non-business hours in the United States, (iii) the imposition of different exercise and settlement terms and procedures and the margin requirements than in the United States, (iv) currency exchange rate changes, and (v) lower trading volume and liquidity.

In considering whether to invest in the securities of a non-U.S. company, the portfolio managers consider such factors as the characteristics of the particular company, differences between economic trends, and the performance of securities markets in the United States and other countries. The portfolio managers also consider factors relating to the general economic, governmental and social conditions of the country or countries where the company is located.

Emerging Markets. The Fund’s investments in foreign securities may include securities issued by governmental and corporate issuers that are located in emerging market countries. Investments in securities of issuers in emerging market countries may be subject to potentially higher risks than investments in developed countries. These risks include (i) less social, political and economic stability; (ii) the small current size of the markets for such securities and the currently low or nonexistent volume of trading, which may result in a lack of liquidity and in greater price volatility; (iii) certain national policies which may restrict the Fund’s investment opportunities, including restrictions on investment in issuers or industries deemed sensitive to national interests; (iv) foreign taxation; (v) the absence of developed structures governing private or foreign investment or allowing for judicial redress for injury to private property; (vi) the limited development and recent emergence, in certain countries, of a capital market structure or market-oriented economy; and (vii) the possibility that recent favorable economic developments in certain countries may be slowed or reversed by unanticipated political or social events in such countries. All of the risks of investing in non-U.S. securities described above are heightened by investing in emerging markets countries.

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Certain countries, which do not have market economies, are characterized by an absence of developed legal structures governing private and foreign investments and private property. Certain countries require governmental approval prior to investments by foreign persons, or limit the amount of investment by foreign persons in a particular company, or limit the investment of foreign persons to only a specific class of securities of a company that may have less advantageous terms than securities of the company available for purchase by nationals.

Authoritarian governments in certain countries may require that a governmental or quasi- governmental authority act as custodian of a Fund’s assets invested in such country. To the extent such governmental or quasi-governmental authorities do not satisfy the requirements of the 1940 Act to act as foreign custodians of the Fund’s cash and securities, the Fund’s investment in such countries may be limited or may be required to be effected through intermediaries. The risk of loss through governmental confiscation may be increased in such countries.

Sovereign Debt Obligations . The Fund may invest in sovereign debt obligations. Sovereign debt obligations involve special risks that are not present in corporate debt obligations. The foreign issuer of the sovereign debt or the foreign governmental authorities that control the repayment of the debt may be unable or unwilling to repay principal or interest when due, and the Fund may have limited recourse in the event of a default. During periods of economic uncertainty, the market prices of sovereign debt, and the Fund’s NAV, to the extent it invests in such securities, may be more volatile than prices of debt obligations of U.S. issuers. In the past, certain foreign countries have encountered difficulties in servicing their debt obligations, withheld payments of principal and interest and declared moratoria on the payment of principal and interest on their sovereign debt. A sovereign debtor’s willingness or ability to repay principal and pay interest in a timely manner may be affected by, among other factors, its cash flow situation, the extent of its foreign currency reserves, the availability of sufficient foreign exchange, the relative size of the debt service burden, the sovereign debtor’s policy toward principal international lenders and local political constraints. Sovereign debtors may also be dependent on expected disbursements from foreign governments, multilateral agencies and other entities to reduce principal and interest arrearages on their debt. The failure of a sovereign debtor to implement economic reforms, achieve specified levels of economic performance or repay principal or interest when due may result in the cancellation of third party commitments to lend funds to the sovereign debtor, which may further impair such debtor’s ability or willingness to service its debts.

Supranational Securities. The Fund may invest in securities issued by supranational entities. A supranational entity is formed by two or more central governments to promote economic development for the member countries. Supranational entities finance their activities by issuing bond debt and are usually considered part of the sub-sovereign debt market. Some well-known examples of supranational entities are the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, European Investment Bank, Asian Development Bank, Inter-American Development Bank and other regional multilateral development banks. These securities are subject to varying degrees of credit risk and interest rate risk.

Illiquid Securities

The Fund may invest in illiquid securities ( i.e. , securities that cannot be sold or disposed of in the ordinary course of business within seven calendar days at approximately the value ascribed to them by the fund). For purposes of this restriction, illiquid securities include, but are not limited to, restricted securities (securities the disposition of which is restricted under the federal securities laws) and repurchase agreements with maturities in excess of seven days. However, the Fund will not acquire illiquid securities if, as a result, such securities would comprise more than 15% of the value of the Fund’s net assets. The Board or its delegate has the ultimate authority to determine, to the extent permissible under the federal securities laws, which securities are liquid or illiquid for purposes of this 15% limitation. The Board has delegated to the Adviser the day-to-day determination of the illiquidity of any portfolio security, although it has retained oversight over and ultimate responsibility for such determinations. The Adviser works with and to a large extent relies on the expertise and advice of the Sub-Adviser in making these liquidity determinations. Although no definitive liquidity criteria are used, the Board has directed the Adviser to look to such factors as (i) the nature of the market for a security (including the institutional private resale market, the frequency of trades and quotes for the security, the number of dealers willing to purchase or sell the security, and the amount of time normally

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needed to dispose of the security, the method of soliciting offers and the mechanics of transfer); (ii) the terms of certain securities or other instruments allowing for the disposition to a third party or the issuer thereof ( e.g. , certain repurchase obligations and demand instruments); and (iii) other permissible relevant facts.

Restricted securities may be sold only in privately negotiated transactions or in a public offering with respect to which a registration statement is in effect under the 1933 Act. Where registration is required, the Fund may be obligated to pay all or part of the registration expenses and a considerable period may elapse between the time of the decision to sell and the time the Fund may be permitted to sell a security under an effective registration statement. If, during such a period, adverse market conditions were to develop, the Fund might obtain a less favorable price than that which prevailed when it decided to sell. Illiquid securities will be priced at fair value as determined in good faith by the Board or its delegate.

Mortgage-Backed Securities

The Fund may invest in mortgage-backed securities. These investments include agency pass-through certificates, private mortgage pass-through securities, collateralized mortgage obligations, stripped mortgage-backed securities, adjustable rate mortgage securities and commercial mortgage-backed securities, as defined and described below.

A mortgage-backed security is a type of pass-through security, which is a security representing pooled debt obligations repackaged as interests that pass income through an intermediary to investors. In the case of mortgage-backed securities, the ownership interest is in a pool of mortgage loans. Residential mortgage-backed securities (“ RMBS ”) are backed by a pool of mortgages on residential property while commercial mortgage-backed securities (“ CMBS ”) are backed by a pool of mortgages on commercial property.

Mortgage-backed securities are most commonly issued or guaranteed by the Government National Mortgage Association (“ Ginnie Mae ” or “ GNMA ”), Federal National Mortgage Association (“ Fannie Mae ” or “ FNMA ”) or Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“ Freddie Mac ” or “ FHLMC ”), but may also be issued or guaranteed by other private issuers.

GNMA is a government-owned corporation that is an agency of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. It guarantees, with the full faith and credit of the United States, full and timely payment of all monthly principal and interest on its mortgage-backed securities.

Government-related guarantors ( i.e. , not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government) include FNMA and FHLMC. FNMA is a government-sponsored corporation. FNMA purchases conventional ( i.e. , not insured or guaranteed by any government agency) residential mortgages from a list of approved seller/servicers which include state and federally chartered savings and loan associations, mutual savings banks, commercial banks and credit unions and mortgage bankers. Pass-through securities issued by FNMA are guaranteed as to timely payment of principal and interest by FNMA, but are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. FHLMC was created by Congress in 1970 for the purpose of increasing the availability of mortgage credit for residential housing. It is a government-sponsored corporation that issues Participation Certificates (“ PCs ”), which are pass-through securities, each representing an undivided interest in a pool of residential mortgages. FHLMC guarantees the timely payment of interest and ultimate collection of principal, but PCs are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.

On September 6, 2008, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (“ FHFA ”) placed FNMA and FHLMC into conservatorship. As the conservator, FHFA succeeded to all rights, titles, powers and privileges of FNMA and FHLMC and of any stockholder, officer or director of FNMA and FHLMC with respect to FNMA and FHLMC and the assets of FNMA and FHLMC. FHFA selected a new chief executive officer and chairman of the board of directors for each of FNMA and FHLMC. In addition, the U.S. Treasury Department agreed to provide FNMA and FHLMC with up to $100 billion of capital each to ensure that they are able to continue to provide ongoing liquidity to the U.S. home mortgage market. FNMA and FHLMC are continuing to operate as going concerns while in conservatorship and each remain liable for all of its obligations, including its guaranty obligations, associated with its mortgage-backed securities.

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Privately Issued Mortgage-Backed Securities. Mortgage-backed securities issued by private issuers, whether or not such obligations are subject to guarantees by the private issuer, may entail greater risk than obligations directly or indirectly guaranteed by the U.S. government. Any investments the Fund makes in mortgage-related securities that are issued by private issuers have some exposure to subprime loans as well as to the mortgage and credit markets generally. Private issuers include commercial banks, savings associations, mortgage companies, investment banking firms, finance companies and special purpose finance entities (called special purpose vehicles or structured investment vehicles) and other entities that acquire and package mortgage loans for resale as mortgage-related securities. Unlike mortgage-related securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or one of its sponsored entities, mortgage-related securities issued by private issuers do not have a government or government-sponsored entity guarantee, but may have credit enhancement provided by external entities such as banks or financial institutions or achieved through the structuring of the transaction itself. Examples of such credit support arising out of the structure of the transaction include: (1) the issuance of senior and subordinated securities ( e.g. , the issuance of securities by a special purpose vehicle in multiple classes or “tranches,” with one or more classes being senior to other subordinated classes as to the payment of principal and interest, with the result that defaults on the underlying mortgage loans are borne first by the holders of the subordinated class); (2) the creation of “reserve funds” (in which case cash or investments, sometimes funded from a portion of the payments on the underlying mortgage loans, are held in reserve against future losses); and (3) “overcollateralization” (in which case the scheduled payments on, or the principal amount of, the underlying mortgage loans exceeds that required to make payment of the securities and pay any servicing or other fees). However, there can be no guarantee that credit enhancements, if any, will be sufficient to prevent losses in the event of defaults on the underlying mortgage loans.

In addition, mortgage-related securities that are issued by private issuers are not subject to the underwriting requirements for the underlying mortgages that are applicable to those mortgage-related securities that have a government or government-sponsored entity guarantee. As a result, the mortgage loans underlying private mortgage-related securities may, and frequently do, have less favorable collateral, credit risk or other underwriting characteristics than government or government-sponsored mortgage-related securities and have wider variances in a number of terms including interest rate, term, size, purpose and borrower characteristics. Privately issued pools more frequently include second mortgages, high loan-to-value mortgages and manufactured housing loans. The coupon rates and maturities of the underlying mortgage loans in a private-label mortgage-related securities pool may vary to a greater extent than those included in a government guaranteed pool, and the pool may include subprime mortgage loans. Subprime loans refer to loans made to borrowers with weakened credit histories or with a lower capacity to make timely payments on their loans. For these reasons, the loans underlying these securities have had in many cases higher default rates than those loans that meet government underwriting requirements.

The risk of non-payment is greater for mortgage-related securities that are backed by mortgage pools that contain subprime loans, but a level of risk exists for all loans. Market factors adversely affecting mortgage loan repayments may include a general economic turndown, high unemployment, a general slowdown in the real estate market, a drop in the market prices of real estate, or an increase in interest rates resulting in higher mortgage payments by holders of adjustable rate mortgages.

Privately issued mortgage-related securities are generally less liquid than obligations directly or indirectly guaranteed by the U.S. government or a government-sponsored entity, especially when there is a perceived weakness in the mortgage and real estate market sectors. Without an active trading market, mortgage-related securities held in the Fund’s portfolio may be particularly difficult to value because of the complexities involved in assessing the value of the underlying mortgage loans. The average life of a mortgage-backed security is likely to be substantially less than the original maturity of the mortgage pools underlying the securities. Prepayments of principal by mortgagors and mortgage foreclosures will usually result in the return of the greater part of principal invested far in advance of the maturity of the mortgages in the pool or can result in credit losses.

Collateralized Mortgage Obligations. Collateralized mortgage obligations (“ CMOs ”) are debt obligations collateralized by mortgage loans or mortgage pass-through securities (collateral collectively referred to hereinafter as “ Mortgage Assets ”). Multi-class pass-through securities are interests in a trust composed of Mortgage Assets. All references in this section to CMOs include

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multi-class pass-through securities. Principal prepayments on the Mortgage Assets may cause the CMOs to be retired substantially earlier than their stated maturities or final distribution dates, resulting in a loss of all or part of the premium if any has been paid. Interest is paid or accrues on all classes of the CMOs on a monthly, quarterly or semi-annual basis. The principal and interest payments on the Mortgage Assets may be allocated among the various classes of CMOs in several ways. Typically, payments of principal, including any prepayments, on the underlying mortgages are applied to the classes in the order of their respective stated maturities or final distribution dates, so that no payment of principal is made on CMOs of a class until all CMOs of other classes having earlier stated maturities or final distribution dates have been paid in full.

Stripped Mortgage-Backed Securities. Stripped mortgage-backed securities (“ SMBS ”) are derivative multi-class mortgage securities. SMBS are usually structured with two classes that receive different proportions of the interest and principal distributions from a pool of mortgage assets. The Fund will only invest in SMBS whose mortgage assets are U.S. government obligations. A common type of SMBS will be structured so that one class receives some of the interest and most of the principal from the mortgage assets, while the other class receives most of the interest and the remainder of the principal. If the underlying mortgage assets experience greater than anticipated prepayments of principal, the Fund may fail to fully recoup its initial investment in these securities. The market value of any class which consists primarily or entirely of principal payments generally is unusually volatile in response to changes in interest rates.

Risks of Investing in Mortgage-Backed Securities. Investment in mortgage-backed securities poses several risks, including, among others, prepayment, market and credit risk. Prepayment risk reflects the risk that borrowers may prepay their mortgages faster than expected, thereby affecting the investment’s average life and perhaps its yield. Whether or not a mortgage loan is prepaid is almost entirely controlled by the borrower. Borrowers are most likely to exercise prepayment options at the time when it is least advantageous to investors, generally prepaying mortgages as interest rates fall, and slowing payments as interest rates rise. Besides the effect of prevailing interest rates, the rate of prepayment and refinancing of mortgages may also be affected by home value appreciation, ease of the refinancing process and local economic conditions. Market risk reflects the risk that the price of a security may fluctuate over time. The price of mortgage-backed securities may be particularly sensitive to prevailing interest rates, the length of time the security is expected to be outstanding and the liquidity of the issue. In a period of unstable interest rates, there may be decreased demand for certain types of mortgage-backed securities, and the Fund invested in such securities wishing to sell them may find it difficult to find a buyer, which may in turn decrease the price at which they may be sold. Credit risk reflects the risk that the Fund may not receive all or part of its principal because the issuer or credit enhancer has defaulted on its obligations. Obligations issued by U.S. government-related entities are guaranteed as to the payment of principal and interest, but are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. The performance of private label mortgage-backed securities, issued by private institutions, is based on the financial health of those institutions.

The risks to which CMBS are subject differ somewhat from the risks to which RMBS are subject. CMBS are typically backed by a much smaller number of mortgages than RMBS are, so problems with one or a small number of mortgages backing a CMBS can have a large impact on its value. As CMBS have a less diversified pool of loans backing them, they are much more susceptible to property-specific risk. The values of CMBS are also more sensitive to macroeconomic trends. For example, when the economy slows rents generally decrease and vacancies generally increase for commercial real estate. Similarly, as many CMBS have a large exposure to retail properties, events that negatively impact the retail industry can also negatively impact the value of CMBS.

Municipal Bonds and Other Municipal Obligations

The Fund may invest in municipal bonds and other municipal obligations. These bonds and other obligations are issued by the states and by their local and special-purpose political subdivisions. The term “municipal bond” includes short-term municipal notes issued by the states and their political subdivisions, including, but not limited to, tax anticipation notes (“ TANs ”), bond anticipation notes (“ BANs ”), revenue anticipation notes (“ RANs ”), construction loan notes, tax free commercial paper, and tax free participation certificates. In general, municipal obligations include debt obligations issued by states, cities and local authorities to obtain funds for various public purposes, including

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construction of a wide range of public facilities such as airports, bridges, highways, hospitals, housing, mass transportation, schools, streets and water and sewer works. Industrial development bonds and pollution control bonds that are issued by or on behalf of public authorities to finance various privately-rated facilities are included within the term municipal obligations if the interest paid thereon is exempt from federal income tax.

Obligations of issuers of municipal obligations are subject to the provisions of bankruptcy, insolvency and other laws affecting the rights and remedies of creditors. In addition, the obligations of such issuers may become subject to the laws enacted in the future by Congress, state legislatures or referenda extending the time for payment of principal and/or interest, or imposing other constraints upon enforcement of such obligations or upon municipalities to levy taxes. There is also the possibility that, as a result of legislation or other conditions, the power or ability of any issuer to pay, when due, the principal of and interest on its municipal obligations may be materially affected.

Non-Investment Grade Debt Securities

The Fund may invest in non-investment grade debt securities. A debt security is considered “non-investment grade” if the average of its ratings from Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch collectively is below investment-grade ( i.e. , below Baa3, BBB- and BBB-, respectively). Debt securities rated below investment grade are commonly known as “high yield,” “high risk” or “junk” bonds. Junk bonds, while generally offering higher yields than investment grade securities with similar maturities, involve greater risks, including the possibility of default or bankruptcy. They are regarded as predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s capacity to pay interest and repay principal.

Other Investment Companies and Other Pooled Investment Vehicles

The Fund may invest in other investment companies, including open-end funds, closed-end funds, unit investment trusts, and ETFs registered under the 1940 Act ( “1940 Act ETFs” ). Under the 1940 Act, the Fund’s investment in such securities is generally limited to 3% of the total voting stock of any one investment company; 5% of the Fund’s total assets with respect to any one investment company; and 10% of the Fund’s total assets in the aggregate. Many 1940 Act ETFs, however, have obtained exemptive relief from the SEC to permit unaffiliated funds to invest in their shares beyond these statutory limits, subject to certain conditions and pursuant to contractual arrangements between the ETFs and the investing funds. The Fund may rely on these exemptive orders in investing in 1940 Act ETFs. The Fund will only invest in other investment companies and pooled investment vehicles that invest primarily in Fund-eligible investments. The Fund’s investments in other investment companies may include money market mutual funds. Investments in money market funds are not subject to the percentage limitations set forth above.

ETFs in which the Fund may invest are a type of index fund bought and sold on a securities exchange. An ETF trades like common stock and represents a portfolio of securities designed to track a particular market index. ETFs can give exposure to all or a portion of the U.S. market, a foreign market, a region, a commodity, a currency, or to any other index that an ETF tracks. The risks of owning an ETF generally reflect the risks of owning the underlying securities they are designed to track, although lack of liquidity in an ETF could result in it being more volatile and ETFs have management fees that increase their costs. An ETF may fail to accurately track the returns of the market segment or index that it is designed to track, and the price of an ETF’s shares may fluctuate. In addition, because they, unlike traditional mutual funds, are traded on an exchange, ETFs are subject to the following risks: (i) the performance of the ETF may not replicate the performance of the underlying index that it is designed to track; (ii) the market price of the ETF’s shares may trade at a premium or discount to the ETF’s NAV; (iii) an active trading market for an ETF may not develop or be maintained; and (iv) there is no assurance that the requirements of the exchange necessary to maintain the listing of the ETF will continue to be met or remain unchanged. Trading in an ETF may be halted if the trading in one or more of the ETF’s underlying securities is halted, which could result in the ETF being more volatile. In the event substantial market or other disruptions affecting ETFs should occur in the future, the liquidity and value of the Fund’s shares could also be substantially and adversely affected.

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If the Fund invests in other investment companies or pooled investment vehicles, Fund shareholders will bear not only their proportionate share of the Fund’s expenses, but also, indirectly, the similar expenses of the underlying investment companies or pooled investment vehicles. Shareholders would also be exposed to the risks associated not only to the Fund, but also to the portfolio investments of the underlying investment companies or pooled investment vehicles. Shares of certain closed-end funds may at times be acquired at market prices representing premiums to their NAVs. Shares acquired at a premium to their NAV may be more likely to subsequently decline in price, resulting in a loss to the Fund and its shareholders.

Over-the-Counter Market

The Fund may invest in over-the-counter securities. In contrast to the securities exchanges, the over-the-counter market is not a centralized facility that limits trading activity to securities of companies which initially satisfy certain defined standards. Generally, the volume of trading in an unlisted or over-the-counter security is less than the volume of trading in a listed security. This means that the depth of market liquidity of some securities in which the Fund invests may not be as great as that of other securities and, if the Fund were to dispose of such a security, it might have to offer the securities at a discount from recent prices, or sell the securities in small lots over an extended period of time.

When-Issued or Delayed-Delivery Transactions

The Fund may from time to time purchase securities on a “when-issued” or other delayed-delivery basis. The price of securities purchased on a when-issued basis is fixed at the time the commitment to purchase is made, but delivery and payment for the securities take place at a later date. Normally, the settlement date occurs within 45 days of the purchase. During the period between the purchase and settlement, no payment is made by the Fund to the issuer and no interest is accrued on debt securities and no dividend income is earned on equity securities. Forward commitments involve a risk of loss if the value of the security to be purchased declines prior to the settlement date. This risk is in addition to the risk of decline in value of the Fund’s other assets. Although when-issued securities may be sold prior to the settlement date, the Fund intends to purchase such securities with the purpose of actually acquiring them. At the time the Fund makes the commitment to purchase a security on a when-issued basis, it will record the transaction and reflect the value of the security in determining its NAV. The Fund does not believe that NAV will be adversely affected by purchases of securities on a when-issued basis.

The Fund will designate on its books or maintain in a segregated account cash and liquid securities equal in value to commitments for when-issued securities. When the time comes to pay for when-issued securities, the Fund will meet its obligations from then-available cash flow, sale of the segregated securities, sale of other securities or, although it would not normally expect to do so, from the sale of the when-issued securities themselves (which may have a market value greater or less than the Fund’s payment obligation).

Zero Coupon and Step Coupon Securities

The Fund may invest in zero coupon and step coupon securities. Zero coupon securities pay no cash income to their holders until they mature. When held to maturity, their entire return comes from the difference between their purchase price and their maturity value. Step coupon securities are debt securities that may not pay interest for a specified period of time and then, after the initial period, may pay interest at a series of different rates. Both zero coupon and step coupon securities are issued at substantial discounts from their value at maturity. Because interest on these securities is not paid on a current basis, the values of securities of this type are subject to greater fluctuations than are the value of securities that distribute income regularly and may be more speculative than such securities. Accordingly, the values of these securities may be highly volatile as interest rates rise or fall. In addition, while such securities generate income for purposes of generally accepted accounting standards, they do not generate cash flow and thus could cause the Fund to be forced to liquidate securities at an inopportune time in order to distribute cash, as required by the Code.

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EXCHANGE LISTING AND TRADING

A discussion of exchange listing and trading matters associated with an investment in the Fund is contained in the Prospectus under “Purchase and Sale of Shares.” The discussion below supplements, and should be read in conjunction with, such section of the Prospectus.

The shares of the Fund are approved for listing and trading on the Exchange, subject to notice of issuance. The Shares trade on the Exchange at prices that may differ to some degree from their NAV. There can be no assurance that the requirements of the Exchange necessary to maintain the listing of shares of the Fund will continue to be met.

The Exchange may, but is not required to, remove the shares of the Fund from listing if: (1) following the initial twelve-month period beginning upon the commencement of trading of the Fund, there are fewer than 50 beneficial holders of the shares for 30 or more consecutive trading days; (2) the value of its underlying index or portfolio of securities on which the Fund is based is no longer calculated or available; (3) the “indicative optimized portfolio value” (“ IOPV ”) of the Fund is no longer calculated or available; or (4) such other event shall occur or condition exists that, in the opinion of the Exchange, makes further dealings on the Exchange inadvisable. In addition, the Exchange will remove the shares from listing and trading upon termination of the Trust or the Fund.

The Trust reserves the right to adjust the share price of the Fund in the future to maintain convenient trading ranges for investors. Any adjustments would be accomplished through stock splits or reverse stock splits, which would have no effect on the net assets of the Fund.

As in the case of other publicly traded securities, brokers’ commissions on transactions will be based on negotiated commission rates at customary levels.

The base and trading currencies of the Fund are the U.S. dollar. The base currency is the currency in which the Fund’s NAV per share is calculated and the trading currency is the currency in which shares of the Fund are listed and traded on the Exchange.

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MANAGEMENT

The management of the Trust, including general supervision of the duties performed for the Fund by the Adviser under the Management Agreement, is the responsibility of the Board. The number of trustees of the Trust is twelve, two of whom are “interested persons” (as the term “interested person” is defined in the 1940 Act) and ten of whom are not interested persons (referred to herein as “independent trustees”). None of the independent trustees has ever been a trustee, director or employee of, or consultant to, the Adviser or its affiliates. The names, business addresses and years of birth of the trustees and officers of the Fund, their principal occupations and other affiliations during the past five years, the number of portfolios each oversees and other directorships they hold are set forth below. The trustees of the Trust are directors or trustees, as the case may be, of 101 Nuveen-sponsored open-end management investment companies (the “Nuveen Open-End Funds” ) and 83 Nuveen-sponsored closed-end management investment companies (the “Nuveen Closed-End Funds , ” and collectively with the Nuveen Open-End Funds, the “Nuveen Funds” ).

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Board Leadership Structure and Risk Oversight

The Board oversees the operations and management of the Nuveen Funds, including the duties performed for the Nuveen Funds by the Adviser. The Board has adopted a unitary board structure. A unitary board consists of one group of directors who serve on the board of every fund in the Nuveen Fund complex. In adopting a unitary board structure, the trustees seek to provide effective governance through establishing a board, the overall composition of which will, as a body, possess the appropriate skills, independence and experience to oversee the Nuveen Funds’ business. With this overall framework in mind, when the Board, through its Nominating and Governance Committee discussed below, seeks nominees for the Board, the trustees consider, not only the candidate’s particular background, skills and experience, among other things, but also whether such background, skills and experience enhance the Board’s diversity and at the same time complement the Board given its current composition and the mix of skills and experiences of the incumbent trustees. The Nominating and Governance Committee believes that the Board generally benefits from diversity of background, experience and views among its members, and considers this a factor in evaluating the composition of the Board, but has not adopted any specific policy on diversity or any particular definition of diversity.

The Board believes the unitary board structure enhances good and effective governance, particularly given the nature of the structure of the investment company complex. Funds in the same complex generally are served by the same service providers and personnel and are governed by the same regulatory scheme which raises common issues that must be addressed by the directors across the fund complex (such as compliance, valuation, liquidity, brokerage, trade allocation or risk management). The Board believes it is more efficient to have a single board review and oversee common policies and procedures which increases the Board’s knowledge and expertise with respect to the many aspects of fund operations that are complex-wide in nature. The unitary structure also enhances the Board’s influence and oversight over the investment adviser and other service providers.

In an effort to enhance the independence of the Board, the Board also has a Chairman that is an independent trustee. The Board recognizes that a chairman can perform an important role in setting the agenda for the Board, establishing the boardroom culture, establishing a point person on behalf of the Board for fund management, and reinforcing the Board’s focus on the long-term interests of shareholders. The Board recognizes that a chairman may be able to better perform these functions without any conflicts of interests arising from a position with fund management. Accordingly, the trustees have elected William J. Schneider to serve as the independent Chairman of the Board. Specific responsibilities of the Chairman include: (i) presiding at all meetings of the Board and of the shareholders; (ii) seeing that all orders and resolutions of the trustees are carried into effect; and (iii) maintaining records of and, whenever necessary, certifying all proceedings of the trustees and the shareholders.

Although the Board has direct responsibility over various matters (such as advisory contracts, underwriting contracts and fund performance), the Board also exercises certain of its oversight responsibilities through several committees that it has established and which report back to the full Board. The Board believes that a committee structure is an effective means to permit trustees to focus on particular operations or issues affecting the Nuveen Funds, including risk oversight. More specifically, with respect to risk oversight, the Board has delegated matters relating to valuation and compliance to certain committees (as summarized below) as well as certain aspects of investment risk. In addition, the Board believes that the periodic rotation of trustees among the different committees allows the trustees to gain additional and different perspectives of a Nuveen Fund’s operations. The Board has established six standing committees: the Executive Committee, the Dividend Committee, the Audit Committee, the Compliance, Risk Management and Regulatory Oversight Committee, the Nominating and Governance Committee and the Open-End Funds Committee. The Board may also from time to time create ad hoc committees to focus on particular issues as the need arises. The membership and functions of the standing committees are summarized below.

The Executive Committee, which meets between regular meetings of the Board, is authorized to exercise all of the powers of the Board. The members of the Executive Committee are William Adams IV, William J. Schneider, Chair, and Terence J. Toth.

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The Audit Committee assists the Board in the oversight and monitoring of the accounting and reporting policies, processes and practices of the Nuveen Funds, and the audits of the financial statements of the Nuveen Funds; the quality and integrity of the financial statements of the Nuveen Funds; the Nuveen Funds’ compliance with legal and regulatory requirements relating to the Nuveen Funds’ financial statements; the independent auditors’ qualifications, performance and independence; and the pricing procedures of the Nuveen Funds and the Adviser’s internal valuation group. It is the responsibility of the Audit Committee to select, evaluate and replace any independent auditors (subject only to Board and, if applicable, shareholder ratification) and to determine their compensation. The Audit Committee is also responsible for, among other things, overseeing the valuation of securities comprising the Nuveen Funds’ portfolios. Subject to the Board’s general supervision of such actions, the Audit Committee addresses any valuation issues, oversees the Nuveen Funds’ pricing procedures and actions taken by the Adviser’s internal valuation group which provides regular reports to the committee, reviews any issues relating to the valuation of the Nuveen Funds’ securities brought to its attention and considers the risks to the Nuveen Funds in assessing the possible resolutions to these matters. The Audit Committee may also consider any financial risk exposures for the Nuveen Funds in conjunction with performing its functions.

To fulfill its oversight duties, the Audit Committee receives annual and semi-annual reports and has regular meetings with the external auditors for the Nuveen Funds and the Adviser’s internal audit group. The Audit Committee also may review in a general manner the processes the Board or other Board committees have in place with respect to risk assessment and risk management as well as compliance with legal and regulatory matters relating to the Nuveen Funds’ financial statements. The committee operates under a written charter adopted and approved by the Board. Members of the Audit Committee shall be independent (as set forth in the charter) and free of any relationship that, in the opinion of the trustees, would interfere with their exercise of independent judgment as an Audit Committee member. The members of the Audit Committee are Jack B. Evans, Chair, David J. Kundert, John K. Nelson, Carole E. Stone and Terence J. Toth, each of whom is an independent trustee of the Nuveen Funds.

The Nominating and Governance Committee is responsible for seeking, identifying and recommending to the Board qualified candidates for election or appointment to the Board. In addition, the Nominating and Governance Committee oversees matters of corporate governance, including the evaluation of Board performance and processes, the assignment and rotation of committee members, and the establishment of corporate governance guidelines and procedures, to the extent necessary or desirable, and matters related thereto. Although the unitary and committee structure has been developed over the years and the Nominating and Governance Committee believes the structure has provided efficient and effective governance, the committee recognizes that as demands on the Board evolve over time (such as through an increase in the number of funds overseen or an increase in the complexity of the issues raised), the committee must continue to evaluate the Board and committee structures and their processes and modify the foregoing as may be necessary or appropriate to continue to provide effective governance. Accordingly, the Nominating and Governance Committee has a separate meeting each year to, among other things, review the Board and committee structures, their performance and functions, and recommend any modifications thereto or alternative structures or processes that would enhance the Board’s governance of the Nuveen Funds.

In addition, the Nominating and Governance Committee, among other things, makes recommendations concerning the continuing education of trustees; monitors performance of legal counsel and other service providers; establishes and monitors a process by which security holders are able to communicate in writing with members of the Board; and periodically reviews and makes recommendations about any appropriate changes to trustee compensation. In the event of a vacancy on the Board, the Nominating and Governance Committee receives suggestions from various sources, including shareholders, as to suitable candidates. Suggestions should be sent in writing to Lorna Ferguson, Manager of Fund Board Relations, Nuveen Investments, 333 West Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL 60606. The Nominating and Governance Committee sets appropriate standards and requirements for nominations for new trustees and reserves the right to interview any and all candidates and to make the final selection of any new trustees. In considering a candidate’s qualifications, each candidate must meet certain basic requirements, including relevant skills and experience, time

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availability (including the time requirements for due diligence site visits to sub-advisers and service providers) and, if qualifying as an independent trustee candidate, independence from the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser, the Distributor and other service providers, including any affiliates of these entities. These skill and experience requirements may vary depending on the current composition of the Board, since the goal is to ensure an appropriate range of skills, diversity and experience, in the aggregate. Accordingly, the particular factors considered and weight given to these factors will depend on the composition of the Board and the skills and backgrounds of the incumbent trustees at the time of consideration of the nominees. All candidates, however, must meet high expectations of personal integrity, independence, governance experience and professional competence. All candidates must be willing to be critical within the Board and with management and yet maintain a collegial and collaborative manner toward other Board members. The committee operates under a written charter adopted and approved by the Board. This committee is composed of the independent trustees of the Nuveen Funds. Accordingly, the members of the Nominating and Governance Committee are Jack B. Evans, William C. Hunter, David J. Kundert, Albin F. Moschner, John K. Nelson, William J. Schneider, Chair, Judith M. Stockdale, Carole E. Stone, Terence J. Toth and Margaret L. Wolff.

The Dividend Committee is authorized to declare distributions on the Nuveen Funds’ shares, including, but not limited to, regular and special dividends, capital gains and ordinary income distributions. The members of the Dividend Committee are William C. Hunter, Chair, Judith M. Stockdale and Terence J. Toth.

The Compliance, Risk Management and Regulatory Oversight Committee (the “Compliance Committee” ) is responsible for the oversight of compliance issues, risk management and other regulatory matters affecting the Nuveen Funds that are not otherwise the jurisdiction of the other committees. The Board has adopted and periodically reviews policies and procedures designed to address the Nuveen Funds’ compliance and risk matters. As part of its duties, the Compliance Committee reviews the policies and procedures relating to compliance matters and recommends modifications thereto as necessary or appropriate to the full Board; develops new policies and procedures as new regulatory matters affecting the Nuveen Funds arise from time to time; evaluates or considers any comments or reports from examinations from regulatory authorities and responses thereto; and performs any special reviews, investigations or other oversight responsibilities relating to risk management, compliance and/or regulatory matters as requested by the Board.

In addition, the Compliance Committee is responsible for risk oversight, including, but not limited to, the oversight of risks related to investments and operations. Such risks include, among other things, exposures to particular issuers, market sectors, or types of securities; risks related to product structure elements, such as leverage; and techniques that may be used to address those risks, such as hedging and swaps. In assessing issues brought to the committee’s attention or in reviewing a particular policy, procedure, investment technique or strategy, the Compliance Committee evaluates the risks to the Nuveen Funds in adopting a particular approach compared to the anticipated benefits to the Nuveen Funds and their shareholders. In fulfilling its obligations, the Compliance Committee meets on a quarterly basis, and at least once a year in person. The Compliance Committee receives written and oral reports from the Nuveen Funds’ Chief Compliance Officer ( “CCO” ) and meets privately with the CCO at each of its quarterly meetings. The CCO also provides an annual report to the full Board regarding the operations of the Nuveen Funds’ and other service providers’ compliance programs as well as any recommendations for modifications thereto. The Compliance Committee also receives reports from the Adviser’s investment services group regarding various investment risks. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the full Board also participates in discussions with management regarding certain matters relating to investment risk, such as the use of leverage and hedging. The investment services group therefore also reports to the full Board at its quarterly meetings regarding, among other things, fund performance and the various drivers of such performance. Accordingly, the Board directly and/or in conjunction with the Compliance Committee oversees matters relating to investment risks. Matters not addressed at the committee level are addressed directly by the full Board. The committee operates under a written charter adopted and approved by the Board. The members of the Compliance Committee are William C. Hunter, Albin F. Moschner, John K. Nelson, Chair, Judith M. Stockdale and Margaret L. Wolff.

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The Open-End Funds Committee is responsible for assisting the Board in the oversight and monitoring of the Nuveen Open -End Funds. The committee may review and evaluate matters related to the formation and the initial presentation to the Board of any new Nuveen Open-End Fund and may review and evaluate any matters relating to any existing Nuveen Open-End Fund. The committee operates under a written charter adopted and approved by the Board. The members of the Open-End Funds Committee are Margo L. Cook, David J. Kundert, William J. Schneider, Judith M. Stockdale, and Terence J. Toth, Chair, and Margaret L. Wolff.

Board Diversification and Trustee Qualifications

In determining that a particular trustee was qualified to serve on the Board, the Board has considered each trustee’s background, skills, experience and other attributes in light of the composition of the Board with no particular factor controlling. The Board believes that trustees need to have the ability to critically review, evaluate, question and discuss information provided to them, and to interact effectively with Fund management, service providers and counsel, in order to exercise effective business judgment in the performance of their duties, and the Board believes each trustee satisfies this standard. An effective trustee may achieve this ability through his or her educational background; business, professional training or practice; public service or academic positions; experience from service as a board member or executive of investment funds, public companies or significant private or not-for-profit entities or other organizations; and/or other life experiences. Accordingly, set forth below is a summary of the experiences, qualifications, attributes, and skills that led to the conclusion, as of the date of this document, that each trustee should continue to serve in that capacity. References to the experiences, qualifications, attributes and skills of trustees are pursuant to requirements of the SEC, do not constitute holding out of the Board or any trustee as having any special expertise or experience and shall not impose any greater responsibility or liability on any such person or on the Board by reason thereof.

William Adams IV

Mr. Adams has been Co-Chief Executive Officer and Co-President of Nuveen Investments since March 2016, prior to which he had been Senior Executive Vice President, Global Structured Products of Nuveen Investments since November 2010. Mr. Adams is a member of the Senior Leadership Team of TIAA Global Asset Management (“TGAM”), as well as co-chair of Nuveen Investment’s Management and Operating Committees. Mr Adams has also served as Co-President of Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC since January 2011. Prior to that, he was Executive Vice President, U.S. Structured Products from December 1999 until November 2010 and served as Managing Director of Structured Investments from September 1997 to December 1999 and Vice President and Manager, Corporate Marketing from August 1994 to September 1997. He is Co-Chief Executive Officer of Nuveen Securities, LLC. Mr. Adams earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University and his Masters of Business Administration ( “MBA ”) from the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business. He is an Associate Fellow of Yale’s Timothy Dwight College and is currently on the Board of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and of Gilda’s Club Chicago.

Margo L. Cook

Ms. Cook has been Co-Chief Executive Officer and Co-President of Nuveen Investments since March 2016, prior to which she had been Senior Executive Vice President of Nuveen Investments since July 2015. Ms. Cook is a member of the Senior Leadership Team of TGAM, as well as co-chair of Nuveen Investments’ Management and Operating Committees. She is Senior Executive Vice President (since 2015) of Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC and Co-Chief Executive Officer (since 2015) of Nuveen Securities, LLC. Since joining in 2008, she has held various leadership roles at Nuveen Investments, including as Head of Investment Services, responsible for investment-related efforts across the firm. Ms. Cook also serves on the Board of Nuveen Global Fund Investors. Before joining Nuveen Investments, she was the Global Head of Bear Stearns Asset Management’s institutional business. Prior to that, she spent over 20 years within BNY Mellon’s asset management business, including as Chief Investment Officer for Institutional Asset Management and Head of Institutional Fixed Income. Ms. Cook earned her Bachelor of Science degree in finance from the University of Rhode Island, her Executive MBA from Columbia University, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst. She serves as Vice Chair of the University of Rhode Island Foundation Board of Trustees, and Chair of the All Stars Project of Chicago Board.

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Jack B. Evans

President of the Hall-Perrine Foundation, a private philanthropic corporation, since 1996, Mr. Evans was formerly President and Chief Operating Officer of the SCI Financial Group, Inc., a regional financial services firm headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Formerly, he was a member of the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, a Director of Alliant Energy and Member and President Pro Tem of the Board of Regents for the State of Iowa University System. Mr. Evans is Chairman of the Board of United Fire Group, sits on the Board of Source Media Group and is a Life Trustee of Coe College. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Coe College and an MBA from the University of Iowa.

William C. Hunter

Mr. Hunter became Dean Emeritus of the Henry B. Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa on June 30, 2012. He was appointed Dean of the Henry B. Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa on July 1, 2006. He had been Dean and Distinguished Professor of Finance at the University of Connecticut School of Business since June 2003. From 1995 to 2003, he was the Senior Vice President and Director of Research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. While there he served as the Bank’s Chief Economist and was an Associate Economist on the Federal Reserve System’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). In addition to serving as a Vice President in charge of financial markets and basic research at the Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta, he held faculty positions at Emory University, Atlanta University, the University of Georgia and Northwestern University. A past Director of the Credit Research Center at Georgetown University, SS&C Technologies, Inc. (2005) and past President of the Financial Management Association International, he has consulted with numerous foreign central banks and official agencies in Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Central America and South America. From 1990 to 1995, he was a U.S. Treasury Advisor to Central and Eastern Europe. He has been a Director of the Xerox Corporation since 2004 and Wellmark, Inc. since 2009. He is a Director and President of Beta Gamma Sigma, Inc., The International Business Honor Society.

David J. Kundert

Mr. Kundert retired in 2004 as Chairman of JPMorgan Fleming Asset Management, and as President and CEO of Banc One Investment Advisors Corporation, and as President of One Group Mutual Funds. Prior to the merger between Bank One Corporation and JPMorgan Chase and Co., he was Executive Vice President, Bank One Corporation and, since 1995, the Chairman and CEO, Banc One Investment Management Group. From 1988 to 1992, he was President and CEO of Bank One Wisconsin Trust Company. Mr. Kundert recently retired as a Director of the Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company (2006-2013). He started his career as an attorney for Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company. Mr. Kundert has served on the Board of Governors of the Investment Company Institute and he is currently a member of the Wisconsin Bar Association. He is on the Board of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation and chairs its Investment Committee. He is a Regent Emeritus and a Member of the Investment Committee of Luther College. He is also a Member of the Board of Directors (Milwaukee), College Possible. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Luther College, and his Juris Doctor from Valparaiso University.

Albin F. Moschner

Mr. Moschner is a consultant in the wireless industry and, in July 2012, founded Northcroft Partners, LLC, a management consulting firm that provides operational, management and governance solutions. Prior to founding Northcroft Partners, LLC, Mr. Moschner held various positions at Leap Wireless International, Inc., a provider of wireless services, where he was a consultant from February 2011 to July 2012, Chief Operating Officer from July 2008 to February 2011, and Chief Marketing Officer from August 2004 to June 2008. Before he joined Leap Wireless International, Inc., Mr. Moschner was President of the Verizon Card Services division of Verizon Communications, Inc. from 2000 to 2003, and President of One Point Services at One Point Communications from 1999 to 2000. Mr. Moschner also served at Zenith Electronics Corporation as Director, President and Chief Executive Officer from 1995 to 1996, and as Director, President and Chief Operating Officer from 1994 to 1995. Since 2012, Mr. Moschner has been a member of the Board of Directors of USA Technologies, Inc. and, from 1996 until 2016, he was a member of the Board of Directors of Wintrust

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Financial Corporation. In addition, he currently serves on the Advisory Boards of the Kellogg School of Management (since 1995) and the Archdiocese of Chicago Financial Council (since May 2012). Mr. Moschner received a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electrical Engineering from The City College of New York in 1974 and a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Syracuse University in 1979.

John K. Nelson

Mr. Nelson is on the Board of Directors of Core12 LLC (since 2008), a private firm which develops branding, marketing, and communications strategies for clients. Mr. Nelson formerly was a senior external advisor to the financial services practice of Deloitte Consulting LLP (2012-2014). He has served in several senior executive positions with ABN AMRO Holdings N.V. and its affiliated entities and predecessors, including LaSalle Bank Corporation from 1996 to 2008. From 2007 to 2008, Mr. Nelson was Chief Executive Officer of ABN AMRO N.V. North America, and Global Head of its Financial Markets Division. He was a member of the Foreign Exchange Committee of the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States, and during his tenure with ABN AMRO, served as the bank’s representative on various committees of the Bank of Canada, European Central Bank, and the Bank of England. At Fordham University, he currently serves as a director of The Curran Center for Catholic American Studies, and The President’s Council. He is also a member of The Economic Club of Chicago, and was formerly a member of The Hyde Park Angels and a Trustee at St. Edmund Preparatory School in New York City. He formerly served as the Chairman of The Board of Trustees of Marian University (2011-2014). Mr. Nelson graduated and received his MBA from Fordham University.

William J. Schneider

Mr. Schneider, the Nuveen Funds’ Independent Chairman, is currently Chairman, formerly Senior Partner and Chief Operating Officer (retired, 2004) of Miller-Valentine Partners, a real estate investment company. He is an owner in several other Miller-Valentine Group entities. He is currently a member of the boards of WDPR Public radio station and of Med-America Health System. He was formerly a Director and Past Chair of the Dayton Development Coalition. He was formerly a member of the Community Advisory Board of the National City Bank in Dayton as well as a former member of the Business Advisory Council of the Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank. Mr. Schneider was also a member of the Business Advisory Council for the University of Dayton College of Business. He also served as Chair of the Miami Valley Hospital and as Chair of the Finance Committee of its parent holding company. Mr. Schneider was an independent Trustee of the Flagship Funds, a group of municipal open-end funds. Mr. Schneider has a Bachelor of Science in Community Planning from the University of Cincinnati and a Masters of Public Administration from the University of Dayton.

Judith M. Stockdale

Ms. Stockdale retired in 2012 as Executive Director of the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, a private foundation working in land conservation and artistic vitality in the Chicago region and the Low country of South Carolina. She is currently a board member of the Land Trust Alliance (since June 2013) and the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities (since November 2013). Her previous positions include Executive Director of the Great Lakes Protection Fund, Executive Director of Openlands, and Senior Staff Associate at the Chicago Community Trust. She has served on the Boards of the National Zoological Park, the Governor’s Science Advisory Council (Illinois), the Nancy Ryerson Ranney Leadership Grants Program, Friends of Ryerson Woods and the Donors Forum. Ms. Stockdale, a native of the United Kingdom, has a Bachelor of Science degree in geography from the University of Durham (UK) and a Master of Forest Science degree from Yale University.

Carole E. Stone

Ms. Stone is currently on the Board of Directors of the Chicago Board Options Exchange, CBOE Holdings, Inc. and C2 Options Exchange, Incorporated. Ms. Stone retired from the New York State Division of the Budget in 2004, having served as its Director for nearly five years and as Deputy Director from 1995 through 1999. She has also served as the Chair of the New York Racing Association Oversight Board, as a Commissioner on the New York State Commission on Public Authority Reform and as a member of the Boards of Directors of several New York State public authorities. Ms. Stone has a Bachelor of Arts from Skidmore College in Business Administration.

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Terence J. Toth

Mr. Toth is a Managing Partner, Promus Capital (since 2008). From 2012 to 2016, he was a Director of LogicMark LLC. From 2008 to 2013, he was a Director, Legal & General Investment Management America, Inc. From 2004 to 2007, he was Chief Executive Officer and President of Northern Trust Global Investments, and Executive Vice President of Quantitative Management & Securities Lending from 2000 to 2004. He also formerly served on the Board of the Northern Trust Mutual Funds. He joined Northern Trust in 1994 after serving as Managing Director and Head of Global Securities Lending at Bankers Trust (1986 to 1994) and Head of Government Trading and Cash Collateral Investment at Northern Trust from 1982 to 1986. He currently serves on the Board of Chicago Fellowship, Fulcrum IT Service LLC (since 2010), Quality Control Corporation (since 2012), and Catalyst Schools of Chicago. He is on the Mather Foundation Board (since 2012) and is a member of its investment committee. Mr. Toth graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Illinois, and received his MBA from New York University. In 2005, he graduated from the CEO Perspectives Program at Northwestern University.

Margaret L. Wolff

Ms. Wolff retired from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in 2014 after more than 30 years of providing client service in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group. During her legal career, Ms. Wolff devoted significant time to advising boards and senior management on U.S. and international corporate, securities, regulatory and strategic matters, including governance, shareholder, fiduciary, operational and management issues. Since 2013, she has been a Board member of Travelers Insurance Company of Canada and The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company (each of which is a part of Travelers Canada, the Canadian operation of The Travelers Companies, Inc.). Ms. Wolff has been a trustee of New York-Presbyterian Hospital since 2005 and, since 2004, she has served as a trustee of The John A. Hartford Foundation (a philanthropy dedicated to improving the care of older adults) where she currently is the Chair. From 2005 to 2015, she was a trustee of Mt. Holyoke College and served as Vice Chair of the Board from 2011 to 2015. Ms. Wolff received her Bachelor of Arts from Mt. Holyoke College and her Juris Doctor from Case Western Reserve University School of Law.

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Effective January 1, 2016, independent trustees receive a $170,000 annual retainer plus (a) a fee of $5,500 per day for attendance in person or by telephone at regularly scheduled meetings of the Board; (b) a fee of $3,000 per meeting for attendance in person or by telephone at special, non-regularly scheduled Board meetings where in-person attendance is required and $2,000 per meeting for attendance by telephone or in person at such meetings where in-person attendance is not required; (c) a fee of $2,500 per meeting for attendance in person or by telephone at Audit Committee meetings where in-person attendance is required and $2,000 per meeting for attendance by telephone or in person at such meetings where in-person attendance is not required; (d) a fee of $2,500 per meeting for attendance in person or by telephone at Compliance, Risk Management and Regulatory Oversight Committee meetings where in-person attendance is required and $2,000 per meeting for attendance by telephone or in person at such meetings where in-person attendance is not required; (e) a fee of $1,000 per meeting for attendance in person or by telephone at Dividend Committee meetings; (f) a fee of $500 per meeting for attendance in person or by telephone at all other committee meetings ($1,000 for shareholder meetings) where in-person attendance is required and $250 per meeting for attendance by telephone or in person at such committee meetings (excluding shareholder meetings) where in-person attendance is not required, and $100 per meeting when the Executive Committee acts as pricing committee for IPOs, plus, in each case, expenses incurred in attending such meetings, provided that no fees are received for meetings held on days on which regularly scheduled Board meetings are held; and (g) a fee of $2,500 per meeting for attendance in person or by telephone at Open-End Funds Committee meetings where in-person attendance is required and $2,000 per meeting for attendance by telephone or in person at such meetings where in-person attendance is not required; provided that no fees are received for meetings held on days on which regularly scheduled Board meetings are held. In addition to the payments described above, the Chairman of the Board receives $80,000, the chairpersons of the Audit Committee, the Dividend Committee, the Compliance, Risk Management and Regulatory Oversight Committee, the Nominating and Governance Committee and the Open-End Funds Committee receive $12,500 each as additional retainers. Independent trustees also receive a fee of $3,000 per day for site visits to entities that provide services to the Nuveen Funds on days on which no Board meeting is held. When ad hoc committees are organized, the Nominating and Governance Committee will at the time of formation determine compensation to be paid to the members of such committee; however, in general, such fees will be $1,000 per meeting for attendance in person or by telephone at ad hoc committee meetings where in-person attendance is required and $500 per meeting for attendance by telephone or in person at such meetings where in-person attendance is not required. The annual retainer, fees and expenses are allocated among the Nuveen Funds on the basis of relative net assets, although management may, in its discretion, establish a minimum amount to be allocated to each fund.

The Trust does not have a retirement or pension plan. The Trust has a deferred compensation plan (the “Deferred Compensation Plan” ) that permits any independent trustee to elect to defer receipt of all or a portion of his or her compensation as an independent trustee. The deferred compensation of a participating trustee is credited to a book reserve account of the Trust when the compensation would otherwise have been paid to the trustee. The value of the trustee’s deferral account at any time is equal to the value that the account would have had if contributions to the account had been invested and reinvested in shares of one or more of the eligible Nuveen Funds. At the time for commencing distributions from a trustee’s deferral account, the independent trustee may elect to receive distributions in a lump sum or over a period of five years. The Trust will not be liable for any other fund’s obligations to make distributions under the Deferred Compensation Plan.

The Fund has no employees. The officers of the Trust and the trustees of the Trust who are not independent trustees serve without any compensation from the Fund.

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As of August 1, 2016, the officers and trustees of the Trust, in the aggregate, owned less than 1% of the shares of the Fund.

As of August 1, 2016, none of the independent trustees or their immediate family members owned, beneficially, or of record, any securities in (i) an investment adviser or principal underwriter of the Fund or (ii) a person (other than a registered investment company) directly or indirectly controlling, controlled by, or under common control with an investment adviser or principal underwriter of the Fund.

SERVICE PROVIDERS

Investment Adviser

Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC, the Fund’s investment adviser, has overall responsibility for management of the Fund, oversees the management of the Fund’s portfolio, manages the Fund’s business affairs and provides certain clerical, bookkeeping and other administrative services. In addition, the Adviser arranges for sub-advisory, transfer agency, custody, fund administration and all other non-distribution related services necessary for the Fund to operate. The Adviser is a subsidiary of Nuveen Investments, Inc. ( “Nuveen” ). Nuveen is an operating division of TIAA Global Asset Management (“ TGAM ”), the investment management arm of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (“ TIAA ”). TIAA is a life insurance company founded in 1918 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and is the companion organization of College Retirement Equities Fund (“ CREF ”). The Adviser is located at 333 West Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60606.

For the management services and facilities furnished by the Adviser under the Management Agreement, the Fund has agreed to pay an annual management fee based on a percentage of the

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Fund’s average daily net assets, payable monthly, at a rate set forth in the Prospectus under “Fund Management—Management Fees.” From time to time, the Adviser may waive all or a portion of its fee. The Adviser is responsible for substantially all other expenses of the Fund, except any future distribution and/or service fees, interest expenses, taxes, acquired fund fees and expenses, fees incurred in acquiring and disposing of portfolio securities, fees and expenses of the independent trustees (including any trustees’ counsel fees), certain compensation expenses of the Fund’s chief compliance officer, litigation expenses, and extraordinary expenses.

Sub-Adviser

The Adviser has selected Teachers Advisors, Inc., an affiliate, to serve as sub-adviser to the Fund, with primary responsibility for managing the Fund’s portfolio. TAI is a subsidiary of TGAM. TAI also manages the investments of the TIAA-CREF Funds, the TIAA-CREF Life Funds and the TIAA Separate Account VA-1. TAI is located at 730 Third Avenue, New York, New York 10017-3206. The Adviser pays TAI a portfolio management fee out of the advisory fee paid to the Adviser for its services to the Fund equal to 50% of the remainder of (a) the management fee payable by the Fund to the Adviser based on average daily net assets pursuant to the Management Agreement, less (b) any management fee waivers, expense reimbursement payments, revenue sharing payments and operating expenses of the Fund borne by the Adviser in respect to the Fund.

Portfolio Managers

The following individuals have primary responsibility for the day-to-day implementation of the investment strategies of the Fund.

Potential Conflicts of Interest of the Sub-Adviser and the Portfolio Managers

The Fund’s portfolio managers may also manage other registered investment companies or unregistered investment pools and investment accounts, including accounts for TIAA or other proprietary accounts, which may raise potential conflicts of interest. The Sub-Adviser has put in place policies and procedures designed to mitigate any such conflicts. Such conflicts and mitigating policies and procedures include the following:

Conflicting Positions. Investment decisions made for the Fund may differ from, and may conflict with, investment decisions made by the Sub-Adviser or other advisory affiliates, for other client or proprietary accounts due to differences in investment objectives, investment strategies, account benchmarks, client risk profiles and other factors. As a result of such differences, if an account were to sell a significant position in a security while the Fund maintained its position in that security, the market price of such securities could decrease and adversely impact the Fund’s performance. In the case of a short sale, the selling account would benefit from any decrease in price.

Allocation of Investment Opportunities. Even where accounts have similar investment mandates as the Fund, the Sub-Adviser may determine that investment opportunities, strategies or particular purchases or sales are appropriate for one or more other client or proprietary accounts, but not for the Fund, or are appropriate for the Fund but in different amounts, terms or timing than is appropriate for other client or proprietary accounts. As a result, the amount, terms or timing of an investment by the Fund may differ from, and performance may be lower than, investments and performance of other client or proprietary accounts.

Aggregation and Allocation of Orders. The Sub-Adviser may aggregate orders of the Fund and its other accounts (including proprietary accounts), and orders of client accounts managed by other advisory affiliates, in each case consistent with the Sub-Adviser’s policy to seek best execution for all orders. Although aggregating orders is a common means of reducing transaction costs for participating accounts, the Sub-Adviser may be perceived as causing one client account, such as the Fund, to participate in an aggregated transaction in order to increase the Sub-Adviser’s overall allocation of securities in that transaction or future transactions. Allocations of

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aggregated trades may also be perceived as creating an incentive for the Sub-Adviser to disproportionately allocate securities expected to increase in value to certain client or proprietary accounts, at the expense of the Fund. In addition, the Fund may bear the risk of potentially higher transaction costs if aggregated trades are only partially filled or if orders are not aggregated at all.

The Sub-Adviser has adopted procedures designed to mitigate the foregoing conflicts of interest by treating each account, including the Fund, fairly and equitably over time in the allocation of investment opportunities and the aggregation and allocation of orders. The procedures also are designed to mitigate conflicts in potentially inconsistent trading and provide guidelines for trading priority. Moreover, the Sub-Adviser’s trading activities are subject to supervisory review and compliance monitoring to help address and mitigate conflicts of interest and ensure that accounts are being treated fairly and equitably over time.

For example, in allocating investment opportunities, a portfolio manager considers an account’s or fund’s investment objectives, investment restrictions, cash position, need for liquidity, sector concentration and other objective criteria. In addition, orders for the same single security are generally aggregated with other orders for the same single security received at the same time. If aggregated orders are fully executed, each participating account is allocated its pro rata share on an average price and trading cost basis. In the event the order is only partially filled, each participating account receives a pro rata share. Portfolio managers are also subject to restrictions on potentially inconsistent trading of single securities, although a portfolio manager may sell a single security short if the security is included in an account’s benchmark and the portfolio manager is underweight in that security relative to the account’s benchmark. Moreover, the procedures set forth guidelines under which trading for long sales of single securities over short sales of the same or closely related securities are monitored to ensure that the trades are treated fairly and equitably. Additionally, the Fund’s portfolio managers’ decisions for executing those trades are also monitored.

The Sub-Adviser’s procedures also address basket trades (trades in a wide variety of securities—on average approximately 100 different issuers) used in quantitative strategies. However, basket trades are generally not aggregated or subject to the same types of restrictions on potentially inconsistent trading as single-security trades because basket trades are tailored to a particular index or model portfolio based on the risk profile of a particular account pursuing a particular quantitative strategy. In addition, basket trades are not subject to the same monitoring as single-security trades because an automated and systematic process is used to execute trades; however, the Fund’s portfolio managers’ decisions for executing those trades are monitored.

Research. The Sub-Adviser allocates brokerage commissions to brokers who provide execution and research services for the Fund and some or all of the Sub-Adviser’s other clients. Such research services may not always be utilized in connection with the Fund or other client accounts that may have provided the commission or a portion of the commission paid to the broker providing the services. The Sub-Adviser is authorized to pay, on behalf of the Fund, higher brokerage fees than another broker might have charged in recognition of the value of brokerage or research services provided by the broker. The Sub-Adviser has adopted procedures with respect to these so-called “soft dollar” arrangements, including the use of brokerage commissions to pay for in-house and non-proprietary research, the process for allocating brokerage, and the Sub-Adviser’s practices regarding the use of third party soft dollars.

IPO Allocation. The Sub-Adviser has adopted procedures designed to ensure that it allocates initial public offerings to the Fund and the Sub-Adviser’s other clients in a fair and equitable manner, consistent with its fiduciary obligations to its clients.

Compensation. The compensation paid to the Sub-Adviser for managing the Fund, as well as certain other clients, is based on a percentage of assets under management, whereas the compensation paid to the Sub-Adviser for managing certain other clients is based on cost. However, no client currently pays the Sub-Adviser a performance-based fee. Nevertheless, the Sub-Adviser may be perceived as having an incentive to allocate securities that are expected to increase in value to accounts in which the Sub-Adviser has a proprietary interest or to certain other accounts in which the Sub-Adviser receives a larger asset-based fee.

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Structure of Compensation for the Portfolio Managers

Fixed-income portfolio managers are compensated through a combination of base salary, annual performance awards, and long-term compensation awards. Currently, the annual performance awards and long-term compensation awards are determined by investment performance ratings which reflect investment performance using risk-adjusted returns and Morningstar ranking (60%), manager-subjective ratings (25%), and internal peer review (15%).

The variable component of a portfolio manager’s compensation is remunerated as: (1) a current year cash bonus; and (2) a long-term performance award, which is on a 3-year cliff vesting cycle. Fifty percent (50%) of the long-term award is based on the Fund(s) managed by the portfolio manager during the 3-year vesting period, while the value of the remainder of the long-term award is based on the performance of the TIAA organization as a whole.

Risk-adjusted investment performance is calculated, where records are available, over one, three, and five years, each ending December 31. For each year, the gross excess return (on a before-tax basis) of a portfolio manager’s mandate(s) is calculated versus each mandate’s assigned benchmark. For managers with less than a 5-year track record, there is a 40% weighting for the 1-year return and a 60% weighting for the 3-year return. Please see the Funds’ Prospectuses for more information regarding their benchmark indices. An Information Ratio is then calculated utilizing the gross excess return in the numerator and the 52-week realized Active Risk (tracking error), in the denominator to generate risk adjusted investment performance. Investment performance relative to industry peers is evaluated using Morningstar percentile rankings with equal weighting to each of the 1-, 3-, and 5-year rankings.

Utilizing the three variables discussed above (investment performance, manager assessment and internal peer ratings), total compensation is calculated and then compared to the compensation data obtained from surveys that include comparable investment firms. It should be noted that the total compensation can be increased or decreased based on the performance of the fixed-income group as a unit and the relative success of the TIAA organization in achieving its financial and operational objectives.

Beneficial Ownership of Securities by the Portfolio Managers

As of the date of this SAI, the portfolio managers do not beneficially own any shares of the Fund.

Administrator, Custodian, and Transfer Agent

Brown Brothers Harriman (“ BBH ”), located at 50 Post Office Square, Boston, MA 02110, is the administrator, custodian and transfer agent for the Fund. As custodian, BBH performs custodial, fund accounting and portfolio accounting services.

Distributor

Nuveen Securities, LLC, 333 West Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60606, serves as the principal underwriter of the NuShares ETFs, including the Fund, pursuant to a Distribution Agreement dated August 2, 2016 (the “Distribution Agreement” ). The Distributor is an affiliate of the Adviser and a subsidiary of Nuveen. The Distributor also serves as the principal underwriter for the Nuveen Mutual Funds, and has served as co-managing underwriter for the shares of the Nuveen Closed-End Funds.

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Pursuant to the Distribution Agreement, the Fund has appointed the Distributor to be its agent for the distribution of the Fund’s shares on a continuous offering basis. Shares are continuously offered for sale by the Trust through the Distributor only in Creation Units, as described in the Prospectus and below under “Purchase and Redemption of Creation Units.” Shares in less than Creation Units are not distributed by the Distributor. The Distributor will deliver the Prospectus to persons purchasing Creation Units and will maintain records of both orders placed with it and confirmations of acceptance furnished by it. The Distributor is a broker-dealer registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “ 1934 Act ”), and a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“ FINRA ”). The Distributor has no role in determining the investment policies of the Trust or which securities are to be purchased or sold by the Trust.

The Distributor, the Adviser and/or its affiliates may make payments to broker-dealers, registered investment advisers, banks or other intermediaries (together, “intermediaries”) related to marketing activities and presentations, educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems, or their making shares of the Fund and certain other NuShares ETFs available to their customers generally and in certain investment programs. Such payments, which may be significant to the intermediary, are not made by the Fund. Rather, such payments are made by the Distributor, the Adviser and/or its affiliates from their own resources, which come directly or indirectly in part from fees paid by the NuShares ETF complex. Payments of this type are sometimes referred to as “revenue-sharing payments.” A financial intermediary may make decisions about which investment options it recommends or makes available, or the level of services provided, to its customers based on the payments it is eligible to receive. Therefore, such payments to an intermediary create conflicts of interest between the intermediary and its customers and may cause the intermediary to recommend the Fund or other NuShares ETFs over another investment.

Distribution and Service Plan

The Fund has adopted a plan (the “Plan” ) pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. Rule 12b-1 provides in substance that an open-end management investment company may not engage directly or indirectly in financing any activity which is primarily intended to result in the sale of shares, except pursuant to a plan adopted under the Rule. The Plan authorizes the Fund to pay up to 0.25% in distribution fees to the Distributor. No payments pursuant to the Plan will be made during the next twelve (12) months of operation.

The Plan may be terminated at any time with respect to any class of shares, without the payment of any penalty, by a vote of a majority of the independent trustees who have no direct or indirect financial interest in the Plan or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of such class. The Plan may be renewed from year to year if approved by a vote of the Board and a vote of the independent trustees who have no direct or indirect financial interest in the Plan cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on the Plan. The Plan may be continued only if the trustees who vote to approve such continuance conclude, in the exercise of reasonable business judgment and in light of their fiduciary duties under applicable law, that there is a reasonable likelihood that the Plan will benefit the Fund and its shareholders. The Plan may not be amended to increase materially the cost which a class of shares may bear under the Plan without the approval of shareholders, and any other material amendments of the Plan must be approved by the independent trustees by a vote cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of considering such amendments. During the continuance of the Plan, the selection and nomination of the independent trustees of the Trust will be committed to the discretion of the independent trustees then in office. With the exception of the Distributor and its affiliates, no “interested person” of the Fund, as that term is defined in the 1940 Act, and no trustee of the Fund has a direct or indirect financial interest in the operation of the Plan or any related agreement.

Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

KPMG LLP ( “KPMG” ), 200 East Randolph Drive, Suite 5500, Chicago, IL 60601, independent registered public accounting firm, has been selected as auditors for the Fund. In addition to audit services, KPMG provides assistance on accounting, tax and related matters.

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CODES OF ETHICS

The Fund, the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser, the Distributor and the Board’s independent trustees have adopted codes of ethics pursuant to Rule 17j-1 under the 1940 Act and, with respect to the Adviser and the Sub-Adviser, Rule 204A-1 under the Investment Advisers Acts of 1940, as amended, addressing personal securities transactions and other conduct by investment personnel and other persons who may have access to information about the Fund’s securities transactions. The codes are intended to address potential conflicts of interest that can arise in connection with personal trading activities of such persons. Persons subject to the codes are generally permitted to engage in personal securities transactions, including investing in securities eligible for investment by the Fund, subject to certain prohibitions, which may include prohibitions on investing in certain types of securities, pre-clearance requirements, blackout periods, annual and quarterly reporting of personal securities holdings and limitations on personal trading of initial public offerings. Violations of the codes are subject to review by the Board and could result in severe penalties.

PROXY VOTING POLICIES

The Fund invests its assets primarily in debt securities, which generally do not issue proxies. However, the Fund may hold other types of securities that may issue proxies. The Fund has adopted a proxy voting policy that seeks to ensure that proxies for securities held by the Fund are voted consistently and solely in the best economic interests of the Fund.

The Sub-Adviser is responsible for voting proxies of the Fund’s portfolio companies in accordance with the guidelines articulated in the TIAA-CREF Policy Statement on Corporate Governance, attached as Schedule A of this SAI.

The Sub-Adviser has a dedicated team of professionals responsible for reviewing and voting proxies. In analyzing a proposal, in addition to exercising their professional judgment, these professionals utilize various sources of information to enhance their ability to evaluate the proposal. These sources may include research from third party proxy advisory firms and other consultants, various corporate governance-focused organizations, related publications and TIAA investment professionals. Based on their analysis of proposals and guided by the TIAA-CREF Policy Statement on Corporate Governance, these professionals then vote in a manner intended solely to advance the best interests of the Funds’ shareholders. Occasionally, when a proposal relates to issues not addressed in the TIAA-CREF Policy Statement on Corporate Governance, the Sub-Adviser may seek guidance from the Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility Committee.

The Trust and the Sub-Adviser believe that they have implemented policies, procedures and processes designed to prevent conflicts of interest from influencing proxy voting decisions. These include (i) oversight by the Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility Committee; (ii) a clear separation of proxy voting functions from external client relationship and sales functions; and (iii) the active monitoring of required annual disclosures of potential conflicts of interest by individuals who have direct roles in executing or influencing the Funds’ proxy voting ( e.g. , The Sub-Adviser’s proxy voting professionals, or a Trustee or senior executive of the Trust, the Sub-Adviser or the Sub-Adviser’s affiliates) by the Sub-Adviser’s legal and compliance professionals.

There could be rare instances in which an individual who has a direct role in executing or influencing the Funds’ proxy voting ( e.g ., the Sub-Adviser’s proxy voting professionals, or a trustee or senior executive of the Trust, the Sub-Adviser or the Sub-Adviser’s affiliates) is either a director or executive of a portfolio company or may have some other association with a portfolio company. In such cases, this individual is required to recuse himself or herself from all decisions related to proxy voting for that portfolio company.

Voted Proxies.  Information regarding how the Fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the most recent period ended June 30 will be available without charge by calling (800) 257-8787 or by accessing the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov.

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BROKERAGE TRANSACTIONS

The Sub-Adviser is responsible for decisions to buy and sell securities for the Fund as well as for selecting brokers and, where applicable, negotiating the amount of the commission rate paid. It is the intention of the Sub-Adviser to place brokerage orders with the objective of obtaining the best execution, which includes such factors as best price, research and available data. The Sub-Adviser may consider other factors, including, among others, the broker’s reputation, specialized expertise, special capabilities or efficiency. When purchasing or selling securities traded on the over-the-counter market, the Sub-Adviser generally will execute the transactions with a broker engaged in making a market for such securities. When the Sub-Adviser deems the purchase or sale of a security to be in the best interests of the Fund, its personnel also may, consistent with its fiduciary obligations, aggregate the securities to be sold or purchased. When the Sub-Adviser deems the purchase or sale of a security to be in the best interests of more than one fund, it may, consistent with its fiduciary obligations, decide either to buy or to sell a particular security for the Fund at the same time as for other funds that it may be managing, or that may be managed by its affiliate, TIAA-CREF Investment Management, LLC, another investment adviser subsidiary of TIAA (“Investment Management”). In that event, allocation of the securities purchased or sold, as well as the expenses incurred in the transaction, will be made in an equitable manner.

Domestic brokerage commissions are negotiated, as there are no standard rates. All brokerage firms provide the service of execution of the order made; some brokerage firms also provide research and statistical data, and research reports on particular companies and industries are customarily provided by brokerage firms to large investors. In negotiating commissions, consideration is given by the Sub-Adviser to the quality of execution provided and to the use and value of the research. The valuation of such research may be judged with reference to a particular order or, alternatively, may be judged in terms of its value to the overall management of the portfolio or the portfolios of other clients. Currently, some foreign brokerage commissions are fixed under local law and practice. There is, however, an ongoing trend in many countries to adopt a new system of negotiated commissions.

Transactions in fixed-income instruments with dealers generally involve spreads rather than commissions. That is, the dealer generally functions as a principal, generating income from the spread between the dealer’s purchase and sale prices, rather than as a broker charging a proportional or fixed fee.

The Sub-Adviser may place orders with brokers providing research and statistical data services even if lower commissions may be available from brokers not providing such services. When doing so, the Sub-Adviser will determine in good faith that the commissions negotiated are reasonable in relation to the value of the brokerage and research provided by the broker viewed in terms of either that particular transaction or of the overall responsibilities of the Sub-Adviser to the Fund or other clients. In reaching this determination, the Sub-Adviser will not necessarily place a specific dollar value on the brokerage or research services provided nor determine what portion of the broker’s compensation should be related to those services. The Sub-Adviser may also place orders with brokers who, through the use of commission-sharing arrangements, obtain research from other broker-dealers and research providers for the benefit of the Sub-Adviser and its client or proprietary accounts.

Research or services obtained for the Fund may be used by the Sub-Adviser in managing other Funds and other investment company clients and advisory clients of the Sub-Adviser. Research or services obtained for the Trust also may be used by personnel of the Sub-Adviser in managing other investment company accounts, or by Investment Management for the CREF accounts.

The Fund had not commenced operations as of the date of this SAI and therefore did not engage in any portfolio transactions or pay brokerage commissions during the past fiscal year.

In accordance with the 1940 Act, the Fund has adopted a policy prohibiting the Fund from compensating brokers or dealers for the sale or promotion of Fund shares by the direction of portfolio securities transactions for the Fund to such brokers or dealers. In addition, the Sub-Adviser has instituted policies and procedures so that the Sub-Adviser’s personnel do not violate this policy of the Fund.

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DISCLOSURE OF PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS

The Trust has adopted a policy regarding the disclosure of information about the Trust’s portfolio holdings. The Board must approve all material amendments to this policy. The Fund’s portfolio holdings are publicly disseminated each day the Fund is open for business through financial reporting and news services including publicly accessible Internet web sites. In addition, a basket composition file, which includes the security names and share quantities to deliver in exchange for shares, together with estimates and actual cash components, is publicly disseminated daily prior to the opening of the Exchange via the National Securities Clearing Corporation, a clearing agency registered with the SEC (“ NSCC ”). The basket represents one Creation Unit of the Fund. The Trust, the Adviser, the Distributor and the Administrator will not disseminate non-public information concerning the Trust, except information may be made available prior to its public availability: (i) to a party for a legitimate business purpose related to the day-to-day operations of the Fund, including (a) a service provider, (b) the stock exchanges upon which the ETF is listed, (c) NSCC, (d) the Depository Trust Company, and (e) financial data/research companies such as Morningstar, Bloomberg L.P., and Reuters, or (ii) to any other party for a legitimate business or regulatory purpose, upon waiver or exception, with the consent of an applicable Trust officer.

BOOK ENTRY ONLY SYSTEM

The following information supplements and should be read in conjunction with the section in the Prospectus entitled “Purchase and Sale of Shares.”

The Depository Trust Company (“ DTC ”) acts as securities depositary for the shares. Shares of the Fund are represented by securities registered in the name of DTC or its nominee, Cede & Co., and deposited with, or on behalf of, DTC. Except in the limited circumstance provided below, certificates will not be issued for shares.

DTC, a limited-purpose trust company, was created to hold securities of its participants (the “ DTC Participants ”) and to facilitate the clearance and settlement of securities transactions among the DTC Participants in such securities through electronic book-entry changes in accounts of the DTC Participants, thereby eliminating the need for physical movement of securities certificates. DTC Participants include securities brokers and dealers, banks, trust companies, clearing corporations and certain other organizations, some of whom (and/or their representatives) own DTC. More specifically, DTC is owned by a number of its DTC Participants and by the New York Stock Exchange (“ NYSE ”) and FINRA. Access to the DTC system is also available to other banks, brokers, dealers and trust companies that clear through or maintain a custodial relationship with a DTC Participant, either directly or indirectly (the “ Indirect Participants ”).

Beneficial ownership of shares is limited to DTC Participants, Indirect Participants and persons holding interests through DTC Participants and Indirect Participants. Ownership of beneficial interests in shares (owners of such beneficial interests are referred to herein as “ Beneficial Owners ”) is shown on, and the transfer of ownership is effected only through, records maintained by DTC (with respect to DTC Participants) and on the records of DTC Participants (with respect to Indirect Participants and Beneficial Owners that are not DTC Participants). Beneficial Owners will receive from or through the DTC Participant a written confirmation relating to their purchase of shares.

Conveyance of all notices, statements and other communications to Beneficial Owners is effected as follows. Pursuant to the Depositary Agreement between the Trust and DTC, DTC is required to make available to the Trust upon request and for a fee to be charged to the Trust a listing of the shares of the Fund held by each DTC Participant. The Trust, either directly or through a third party service, shall inquire of each such DTC Participant as to the number of Beneficial Owners holding shares, directly or indirectly, through such DTC Participant. The Trust, either directly or through a third party service, shall provide each such DTC Participant with copies of such notice, statement or other communication, in such form, number and at such place as such DTC Participant may reasonably request, in order that such notice, statement or communication may be transmitted by such DTC Participant, directly or indirectly, to such Beneficial Owners. In addition, the Trust shall pay to each such DTC Participant and/or third party service a fair and reasonable amount as reimbursement for the expenses attendant to such transmittal, all subject to applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.

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Share distributions shall be made to DTC or its nominee, Cede & Co., as the registered holder of all shares. DTC or its nominee, upon receipt of any such distributions, shall credit immediately DTC Participants’ accounts with payments in amounts proportionate to their respective beneficial interests in shares of the Fund as shown on the records of DTC or its nominee. Payments by DTC Participants to Indirect Participants and Beneficial Owners of Shares held through such DTC Participants will be governed by standing instructions and customary practices, as is now the case with securities held for the accounts of customers in bearer form or registered in a “street name,” and will be the responsibility of such DTC Participants.

The Trust has no responsibility or liability for any aspects of the records relating to or notices to Beneficial Owners, or payments made on account of beneficial ownership interests in such shares, or for maintaining, supervising or reviewing any records relating to such beneficial ownership interests or for any other aspect of the relationship between DTC and the DTC Participants or the relationship between such DTC Participants and the Indirect Participants and Beneficial Owners owning through such DTC Participants.

DTC may determine to discontinue providing its service with respect to shares at any time by giving reasonable notice to the Trust and discharging its responsibilities with respect thereto under applicable law. Under such circumstances, the Trust shall take action either to find a replacement for DTC to perform its functions or, if such a replacement is unavailable, to issue and deliver printed certificates representing ownership of shares, unless the Trust makes other arrangements with respect thereto satisfactory to the Exchange.

CONTROL PERSONS AND PRINCIPAL HOLDERS OF SECURITIES

The Fund had not commenced operations prior to the date of this SAI and therefore did not have any beneficial owners that owned greater than 5% of the outstanding voting securities as of the date of this SAI.

An Authorized Participant may hold of record more than 25% of the outstanding shares of the Fund. From time to time, Authorized Participants may be a beneficial and/or legal owner of the Fund, may be affiliated with an index provider, may be deemed to have control of the Fund and/or may be able to affect the outcome of matters presented for a vote of the shareholders of the Fund. Authorized Participants may execute an irrevocable proxy granting the Distributor or an affiliate of the Distributor (the “ Agent ”) power to vote or abstain from voting such Authorized Participant’s beneficially or legally owned shares of the Fund. In such cases, the Agent shall mirror vote (or abstain from voting) such shares in the same proportion as all other beneficial owners of the Fund.

The Trustees and officers of the Trust, as a group, own less than 1% of the Trust’s voting securities as of the date of this SAI.

PURCHASE AND REDEMPTION OF CREATION UNITS

The Fund issues and redeems its shares on a continuous basis, at NAV, only in a large specified number of shares called a “Creation Unit,” either principally in-kind for securities included in the Index or in cash for the value of such securities. The Fund’s NAV is determined once each business day, as described under “Determination of Net Asset Value.” The principal consideration for creations and redemptions for the Fund is set forth in the table below:

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Only Authorized Participants may purchase and redeem Creation Units directly from the Fund at NAV. To become an Authorized Participant, a firm must execute an Authorized Participant Agreement (the “ Participant Agreement ”) that has been agreed to by the Distributor and BBH, in a form approved by the Trust. Among other things, the Participant Agreement requires that an Authorized Participant be (i) a broker-dealer or other participant in the clearing process through the Continuous Net Settlement System of the NSCC or (ii) a DTC Participant.

The Fund issues and redeems Creation Units through the Distributor at their NAV next determined after receipt of an order in proper form on any Business Day (as defined below). A “ Business Day ” with respect to the Fund is, generally, any day on which the NYSE is open for business. All orders to purchase or redeem Creation Units directly from the Fund, including non-standard orders (as defined below), must be placed in the manner and by the time (the “ Cut-Off Time ”) set forth in the Fund’s Authorized Participant Procedures Handbook (the “ AP Handbook ”). The date on which an order to purchase or redeem Creation Units is received in proper form and is accepted by the Distributor is referred to as the “ Order Placement Date .” An order is considered to be in “proper form” if all procedures set forth in the Participant Agreement, the AP Handbook and this SAI are properly followed. On days when the Exchange or the market(s) in which the Fund’s portfolio securities are primarily traded close earlier than normal, the Fund may require orders to purchase Creation Units to be placed earlier in the day. In addition, if the market(s) on which the Fund’s portfolio securities are primarily traded are closed, the Fund will generally not accept purchase orders on such days.

Purchase (Creation)

Fund Deposit. The consideration for purchase of a Creation Unit of the Fund generally consists of (a) either (i) the in-kind deposit of a designated portfolio of securities (the “ Deposit Securities ”) per each Creation Unit constituting a substantial replication, or a portfolio sampling representation, of the securities included in the Index or (ii) the cash value of the Deposit Securities (“ Deposit Cash ”) and (b) the Cash Component, defined and computed as described below. Together, the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable, and the Cash Component constitute the “ Fund Deposit ,” the value of which equals the NAV of a Creation Unit of the Fund on any given Order Placement Date. In addition to the Fund Deposit, Authorized Participants will be charged a standard fixed transaction fee and, for purchases effected in whole or in part with Deposit Cash, a variable transaction fee intended to cover the costs the Fund incurs in acquiring portfolio securities with such Deposit Cash. See “Transaction Fees” below for additional information.

The “ Cash Component ” is an amount equal to the difference between the NAV of the shares (per Creation Unit) and the market value of the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable. The Cash Component serves the function of compensating for any differences between the NAV per Creation Unit and the market value of the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable. The Cash Component may include a “ Dividend Equivalent Payments ,” which enables the Fund to make a complete distribution of dividends on the day preceding the next dividend payment date, and is an amount equal, on a per Creation Unit basis, to the dividends on all the portfolio securities of the Fund (“ Dividend Securities ”) with ex-dividend dates within the accumulation period for such distribution (the “ Accumulation Period ”), net of expenses and liabilities for such period, as if all of the Dividend Securities had been held by the Fund for the entire Accumulation Period. The Accumulation Period begins on the ex-dividend date for the Fund and ends on the day preceding the next ex-dividend date. If the Cash Component is a positive number ( i.e. , the NAV per Creation Unit exceeds the market value of the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable), the Cash Component shall be such positive amount. If the Cash Component is a negative number ( i.e. , the NAV per Creation Unit is less than the market value of the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable), the Cash Component shall be such negative amount and the Authorized Participant will be entitled to receive cash in an amount equal to the Cash Component. Computation of the Cash Component excludes any stamp duty or other similar fees and expenses payable upon transfer of beneficial ownership of the Deposit Securities, if applicable, which shall be the sole responsibility of the Authorized Participant.

BBH, through NSCC, makes available on each Business Day, immediately prior to the opening of business on the NYSE (currently 9:30 a.m., Eastern time) (the “ NYSE Open ”), the list of the names and the required number of shares of each Deposit Security or the required amount of Deposit Cash, as

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applicable, to be included in the Fund Deposit (based on information at the end of the previous Business Day) for the Fund on such day. Such Fund Deposit is subject to any applicable adjustments, as described below, in order to effect purchases of Creation Units of the Fund until such time as the next-announced composition of the Deposit Securities or the required amount of Deposit Cash, as applicable, is made available. The identity and number of shares of the Deposit Securities or the amount of Deposit Cash, as applicable, required for a Fund Deposit changes as rebalancing adjustments, interest payments and corporate action events are reflected from time to time by the Adviser with a view to the investment objective of the Fund. The composition of the Deposit Securities may also change in response to adjustments to the weighting or composition of the component securities of the Index.

As noted above, the Trust reserves the right to permit or require the substitution of Deposit Cash to replace any Deposit Security, including, without limitation, in situations where the Deposit Security: (i) may not be available in sufficient quantity for delivery; (ii) may not be eligible for transfer through the systems of DTC for corporate securities and municipal securities or the Federal Reserve System for U.S. Treasury securities; (iii) may not be eligible for trading by an Authorized Participant or the investor for which it is acting; (iv) would be restricted under the securities laws; or (v) in certain other situations (collectively, “ non-standard orders ”). The Trust also reserves the right to: (i) permit or require the substitution of Deposit Securities in lieu of Deposit Cash and (ii) include or remove Deposit Securities from the basket in anticipation of Index rebalancing changes. The adjustments described above will reflect changes, known to the Adviser on the date of announcement to be in effect by the time of delivery of the Fund Deposit, in the composition of the Index or resulting from certain corporate actions.

Procedures for Purchase of Creation Units. Fund Deposits must be delivered by an Authorized Participant through the Federal Reserve System (for cash and U.S. government securities), through DTC (for corporate securities and municipal securities), through a subcustody agent (for foreign securities) and/or through such other arrangements allowed by the Trust or its agents. Foreign Deposit Securities must be delivered to an account maintained on behalf of the Fund at its applicable local subcustodian. Transfer of the Fund Deposit and all applicable transaction fees must be ordered by the Authorized Participant in a timely fashion so as to ensure delivery to the account of the Fund or its agents by no later than 3:00 p.m. Eastern time on the date on which the Creation Units are to be delivered (the “ Settlement Date ”), which for purchases is generally the third Business Day after the Order Placement Date. All questions as to the number of Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash to be delivered, as applicable, and the validity, form and eligibility (including time of receipt) for the deposit of any securities or cash, as applicable, will be determined by the Distributor, whose determination shall be final and binding. If the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable, are not received in a timely manner by the Settlement Date, the purchase order may be cancelled and the Authorized Participant shall be liable to the Fund for losses, if any, resulting therefrom. Any such canceled order may be resubmitted the following Business Day using the Fund Deposit required for such Business Day.

Investors placing orders through an Authorized Participant should allow sufficient time to permit proper submission of the purchase order by the Cut-Off Time on such Business Day. An Authorized Participant may require an investor to make certain representations or enter into agreements with respect to the order ( e.g. , to provide for payments of cash, when required). Investors should be aware that their particular broker may not be an Authorized Participant, in which case orders to purchase shares directly from the Fund in Creation Units would have to be placed by the investor’s broker through an Authorized Participant. In such cases, the Authorized Participant may impose additional charges on such investor. At any given time, there may be only a limited number of Authorized Participants, and only a small number of such Authorized Participants may have international capabilities.

Except as provided below, Creation Units will not be issued until the transfer of good title to the Fund of the Deposit Securities or payment of Deposit Cash, as applicable, and the payment of the Cash Component and all applicable transaction fees have been completed. In instances where the Fund accepts Deposit Securities for the purchase of a Creation Unit, the Creation Unit may be purchased in advance of receipt by the Fund of all or a portion of the applicable Deposit Securities as described below. In these circumstances, in addition to available Deposit Securities, cash must be

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deposited in an amount equal to the sum of (i) the Cash Component, (ii) all applicable transaction fees and (iii) an additional amount of cash equal to a percentage of the market value, as set forth in the Participant Agreement, of the undelivered Deposit Securities (the “ Cash Collateral ”), which shall be maintained in a general non-interest bearing collateral account. An additional amount of cash shall be required to be deposited with the Fund, pending delivery of the missing Deposit Securities, to the extent necessary to maintain the Cash Collateral with the Fund in an amount at least equal to the applicable percentage, as set forth in the Participant Agreement, of the daily marked to market value of the missing Deposit Securities. The Fund may use such Cash Collateral to buy the missing Deposit Securities at any time. Authorized Participants will be liable to the Fund for all costs, expenses, dividends, income and taxes associated with missing Deposit Securities, including the costs incurred by the Fund in connection with any such purchases. These costs will be deemed to include the amount by which the actual purchase price of the Deposit Securities exceeds the market value of such Deposit Securities on the Order Placement Date plus the brokerage and related transaction costs associated with such purchases. The Fund will return any unused portion of the Cash Collateral once all of the missing Deposit Securities have been properly received by BBH. The delivery of Creation Units so created generally will occur no later than the Settlement Date.

The Distributor reserves the absolute right to reject a purchase order in its discretion, including, without limitation, if (a) the order is not in proper form; (b) the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable, delivered by the Authorized Participant do not match those disseminated through the facilities of NSCC for that date; (c) the investor(s), upon obtaining the shares ordered, would own 80% or more of the currently outstanding shares of the Fund; (d) acceptance of the Deposit Securities would have certain adverse tax consequences to the Fund; (e) the acceptance of the Fund Deposit would, in the opinion of counsel, be unlawful; (f) the acceptance of the Fund Deposit would otherwise, in the discretion of the Fund or the Adviser, have an adverse effect on the Fund or the rights of Beneficial Owners; (g) the acceptance or receipt of the order for a Creation Unit would, in the opinion of counsel to the Fund, be unlawful; or (h) in the event that circumstances outside the control of the Fund, the Distributor, BBH and/or the Adviser make it for all practical purposes not feasible to process orders for Creation Units (examples of such circumstances include acts of God or public service or utility problems such as fires, floods, extreme weather conditions and power outages resulting in telephone, telecopy and computer failures; market conditions or activities causing trading halts; systems failures involving computer or other information systems affecting the Fund, the Distributor, BBH, DTC, NSCC, Federal Reserve System, or any other participant in the creation process; and other extraordinary events). The Fund or its agents shall communicate to the Authorized Participant the rejection of an order. The Fund, the Distributor and BBH are under no duty, however, to give notification of any defects or irregularities in any order or in the delivery of Fund Deposits, nor shall any of them incur any liability for the failure to give any such notification. The Fund, the Distributor and BBH shall not be liable for the rejection of any purchase order for Creation Units.

Redemption

Shares may be redeemed only in Creation Units at their NAV next determined after receipt of a redemption request in proper form and only on a Business Day. EXCEPT UPON LIQUIDATION OF THE FUND, THE FUND WILL NOT REDEEM SHARES IN AMOUNTS LESS THAN CREATION UNITS. Investors must accumulate enough shares in the secondary market to constitute a Creation Unit in order to have such shares redeemed by the Fund. There can be no assurance, however, that there will be sufficient liquidity in the public trading market at any time to permit assembly of a Creation Unit. Investors should expect to incur brokerage and other costs in connection with assembling a sufficient number of shares to constitute a redeemable Creation Unit.

Redemption proceeds for a Creation Unit will be paid either in-kind or in cash, or a combination thereof, as disclosed by BBH prior to the NYSE Open. With respect to in-kind redemptions, BBH, through NSCC, makes available prior to the NYSE Open on each Business Day the list of the names and share quantities of the Fund’s portfolio securities (subject to possible amendment or correction) that will be distributed upon the receipt of redemption requests in proper form prior to the Cut-Off Time on that day (“ Fund Securities ”).

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In addition to Fund Securities, Authorized Participants will pay or receive cash in an amount equal to the difference between the NAV of the Creation Units being redeemed and the value of the Fund Securities (the “ Cash Redemption Component ”). In the event that the Fund Securities have a value greater than the NAV of the Creation Units, a Cash Redemption Component equal to the differential is required to be paid to the Fund by the Authorized Participant. In the event that the Fund Securities have a value less than the NAV of the Creation Units, a Cash Redemption Component equal to the differential will be paid by the Fund to the Authorized Participant. Notwithstanding the foregoing, at the Fund’s discretion, an Authorized Participant may receive the corresponding cash value of all or a portion of the Fund Securities.

Procedures for Redemption of Creation Units. After an order for redemption in proper form has been received, the Fund will initiate procedures to transfer the requisite Fund Securities and the Cash Redemption Amount to the Authorized Participant by the Settlement Date. With respect to in-kind redemptions of the Fund, the calculation of the value of the Fund Securities and the Cash Redemption Component to be delivered upon redemption will be made by BBH according to the procedures set forth under “Determination of Net Asset Value,” computed on the Order Placement Date. Therefore, if a redemption order in proper form is submitted by an Authorized Participant by the Cut-Off Time on the Order Placement Date, and the requisite number of shares of the Fund are delivered to BBH prior to 3:00 p.m. Eastern time on the Settlement Date, then the value of the Fund Securities and the Cash Redemption Component to be delivered will be determined on such Order Placement Date. If the requisite number of shares of the Fund are not delivered by 3:00 p.m. Eastern time on the Settlement Date, the Fund will not release the Fund Securities for delivery unless collateral is posted in such percentage amount of missing shares as set forth in the Participant Agreement (marked to market daily).

In order to take delivery of Fund Securities upon redemption of Creation Units, an Authorized Participant must maintain appropriate custody arrangements with a qualified broker-dealer, bank or other custody providers in each jurisdiction in which any of the Fund Securities are customarily traded (or such other arrangements as allowed by the Fund or its agents), to which account such Fund Securities will be delivered. Deliveries of redemption proceeds generally will be made within three Business Days of the Order Placement Date.

If it is not possible to effect deliveries of the Fund Securities, the Fund may in its discretion exercise its option to redeem shares in cash, and the redeeming Authorized Participant will be required to receive its redemption proceeds in cash. In addition, an Authorized Participant may request a redemption in cash that the Fund may, in its sole discretion, permit. In either case, the Authorized Participant will receive a cash payment equal to the NAV of its shares on the Order Placement Date, minus a fixed transaction fee and an additional variable transaction fee, each as described in further detail below under “Transaction Fees,” to offset the Trust’s brokerage and other transaction costs associated with the disposition of portfolio securities necessary to fund the redemption in cash.

An Authorized Participant submitting a redemption request is deemed to make certain representations to the Trust as set forth in the Participant Agreement. The Distributor reserves the right to verify these representations in its discretion. If the Authorized Participant, upon receipt of a verification request, does not provide sufficient verification of its representations as determined by the Distributor in its sole discretion, the redemption request will not be considered to have been received in proper form and may be rejected by the Distributor.

Redemptions of shares for Fund Securities will be subject to compliance with applicable federal and state securities laws, and the Fund (whether or not it otherwise permits cash redemptions) reserves the right to redeem Creation Units for cash to the extent that it could not lawfully deliver specific Fund Securities or could not do so without first registering the Fund Securities under such laws. An Authorized Participant (or a client for which it is acting) subject to a legal restriction with respect to a particular security included in the Fund Securities may be paid an equivalent amount of cash. The Authorized Participant may request a redeeming client to complete certain documentation with respect to such matters. Further, an Authorized Participant that is not a “qualified institutional buyer” (“ QIB ”), as such term is defined under Rule 144A of the 1933 Act, will not be able to receive Fund Securities that are restricted securities eligible for resale under Rule 144A. An Authorized

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Participant may be required by the Fund to provide a written confirmation with respect to QIB status in order to receive Fund Securities. Redemptions effected in cash will be subject to applicable transaction fees.

The right of redemption may be suspended or the Settlement Date postponed with respect to the Fund (1) for any period during which the Exchange is closed (other than customary weekend and holiday closings); (2) for any period during which trading on the Exchange is suspended or restricted; (3) for any period during which an emergency exists as a result of which redemption of shares of the Fund or determination of the NAV of the shares is not reasonably practicable; or (4) in such other circumstance as is permitted by the SEC.

Required Early Submission of Orders

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Fund may require orders to be placed up to one or more Business Days prior to the Order Placement Date, as described in the AP Handbook, in order to receive the Order Placement Date’s NAV. Orders to purchase shares that are submitted on the Business Day immediately preceding a holiday or a day (other than a weekend) that the equity markets in the relevant foreign market are closed may not be accepted. Authorized Participants will be notified in the event that the Cut-Off Time for an order will be earlier than normal on any particular Business Day.

Transaction Fees

Transaction fees, as set forth in the table below, are imposed for transaction costs associated with the purchase or redemption of Creation Units, as applicable. Authorized Participants will be required to pay a fixed creation transaction fee and/or a fixed redemption transaction fee, as applicable, on a given day regardless of the number of Creation Units created or redeemed on that day. The Fund may adjust the transaction fees from time to time upon notice to Authorized Participants. Additional variable transaction fees will be applied to certain creation and redemption transactions, including non-standard orders and whole or partial cash purchases or redemptions. The following table shows, as of the date of this SAI, the approximate value of one Creation Unit and the standard fixed and maximum additional variable transaction fees for creations and redemptions (as described above):

In addition, with respect to creation orders, Authorized Participants are responsible for the costs of transferring the securities constituting the Deposit Securities to the Fund and with respect to redemption orders, Authorized Participants are responsible for the costs of transferring the Fund Securities from the Fund to their account or as otherswise specified on their order. Investors who use the services of a broker or other such intermediary may also be charged a fee for such services.

DETERMINATION OF NET ASSET VALUE

The Fund’s NAV is determined as set forth in the Prospectus under “General Information—Net Asset Value.”

CAPITAL STOCK

The Fund issues shares of beneficial interest, par value $.01 per share. The Board has the right to establish additional series in the future, to determine the preferences, voting powers, rights and privileges thereof and to modify such preferences, voting powers, rights and privileges without shareholder approval.

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The Trust is not required to and does not intend to hold annual meetings of shareholders. The Trust’s Declaration of Trust (the “ Declaration ” ), requires a shareholder vote only on those matters where the 1940 Act requires a vote of shareholders and otherwise permits the Trustees to take actions without seeking the consent of shareholders. For example, the Declaration gives the Trustees the authority to approve reorganizations between the Fund and another entity, such as another ETF, or the sale of all or substantially all of the Fund’s assets, or the termination of the Trust or the Fund without shareholder approval if the 1940 Act would not require such approval. Each share has one vote with respect to matters upon which a shareholder vote is required, consistent with the requirements of the 1940 Act and the rules promulgated thereunder. Shares of all series of the Trust vote together as a single class except as otherwise required by the 1940 Act, or if the matter being voted on affects only a particular series; and, if a matter affects a particular series differently from other series, the shares of that series will vote separately on such matter.

The Trustees establish the number of Trustees and may fill vacancies on the Board, except when election of Trustees by the shareholders is required under the 1940 Act. Trustees are then elected by a plurality of votes cast by shareholders at a meeting at which a quorum is present. The Declaration also provides that Trustees may be removed, with cause, by a vote of shareholders holding at least two-thirds of the voting power of the Trust, or by a vote of two-thirds of the remaining Trustees. “Cause” requires willful misconduct, dishonesty, fraud or a felony conviction. The provisions of the Declaration relating to the election and removal of Trustees may not be amended without the approval of two-thirds of the Trustees.

Under the Declaration, by becoming a shareholder of the Fund, each shareholder is expressly held to have agreed to be bound by the provisions of the Declaration and the Trust’s By-laws. The Declaration may, except in limited circumstances, be amended by the Trustees in any respect without a shareholder vote. Shareholders may be required to disclose information on direct or indirect ownership of Fund shares in order to comply with various laws applicable to the Fund or as the Trustees may determine, and ownership of Fund shares may be disclosed by the Fund if so required by law or regulation. In addition, pursuant to the Declaration, the Trustees may, in their discretion, require the Trust to redeem shares held by any shareholder for any reason under terms set by the Trustees.

In order to permit legitimate inquiries and claims while avoiding the time, expense, distraction and other harm that can be caused to the Fund or its shareholders as a result of spurious shareholder claims, demands and derivative actions, the Declaration provides a detailed process for the bringing of derivative actions by shareholders, and provides that actions that are derivative in nature may not be brought directly. Consistent with applicable Massachusetts law, prior to bringing a derivative action, a demand must first be made on the Trustees. The Declaration details various information, certifications, undertakings and acknowledgements that must be included in the demand. If a majority of the Trustees who are considered independent for the purposes of considering the demand determine that maintaining the suit would not be in the best interests of the Fund, the Trustees are required to reject the demand and the complaining shareholder may not proceed with the derivative action unless the shareholder is able to sustain the burden of proof to a court that the decision of the Trustees not to pursue the requested action was not a good faith exercise of their business judgment on behalf of the Fund. In making such a determination, a Trustee is not considered to have a personal financial interest by virtue of being compensated for his or her services as a Trustee. If a demand is rejected, the complaining shareholder may be responsible for the Fund’s costs and expenses if a court determines that a derivative action was made without reasonable cause or for an improper purpose, if a derivative or direct action is dismissed on the basis of a failure to comply with the procedural provisions relating to shareholder actions as set forth in the Declaration or if a direct action is dismissed by a court for failure to state a claim. Any shareholder bringing an action against the Fund waives the right to trial by jury to the fullest extent permitted by law and any action commenced by a shareholder may be brought only in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts (Boston Division) or if any such action may not be brought in that court, then in the Business Litigation Session of Suffolk Superior Court in Massachusetts (the “Chosen Courts”), under the terms of the Declaration. Except as prohibited by law, if a shareholder commences an applicable action in a court other than a Chosen Court, the shareholder may be obligated to reimburse the Fund and any applicable Trustee or officer of the Fund made party to such proceeding for the costs and expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred in connection with any successful motion to dismiss, stay or transfer of the action.

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The Declaration specifically provides, however, that no provision of the Declaration is effective to require a waiver of compliance with any provision of, or restrict any shareholder rights expressly granted by, the 1933 Act, the Securities Exchange act of 1934, as amended, or the 1940 Act, or any rule, regulation or order of the Securities and Exchange Commission thereunder. The provisions of the Declaration are severable, and if the Trustees determine, with the advice of counsel, that any such provision, in whole or in part, conflict with applicable laws and regulations, the conflicting provisions, or part or parts thereof, will be deemed to be not part of the Declaration (provided, that any such determination will not render any of the remaining provisions invalid or improper).

Under Massachusetts law applicable to Massachusetts business trusts, shareholders of such a trust may, under certain circumstances, be held personally liable as partners for its obligations. However, the Declaration contains an express disclaimer of shareholder liability for acts or obligations of the Trust and requires that notice of this disclaimer be given in each agreement, obligation or instrument entered into or executed by the Trust or the Trustees. The Declaration further provides for indemnification out of the assets and property of the Trust for all losses and expenses of any shareholder held personally liable for the obligations of the Trust. Thus, the risk of a shareholder incurring financial loss on account of shareholder liability is limited to circumstances in which both inadequate insurance existed and the Trust or the Fund itself was unable to meet its obligations. The Trust believes the likelihood of the occurrence of these circumstances is remote.

The Declaration further provides that a Trustee acting in his or her capacity as Trustee is not personally liable to any person other than the Trust or its series, in connection with the affairs of the Trust or for any act, omission, or obligation of the Trust. A Trustee is liable only for his or her own bad faith, willful misfeasance, gross negligence or reckless disregard of his or her duties involved in the conduct of his or her office. The Declaration requires the Trust to indemnify any persons who are or who have been Trustees, officers or employees of the Trust for any liability for actions or failure to act except to the extent prohibited by applicable federal law. In making any determination as to whether any person is entitled to the advancement of expenses in connection with a claim for which indemnification is sought, such person is entitled to a rebuttable presumption that he or she did not engage in conduct for which indemnification is not available. The Declaration provides that any Trustee who serves as chair of the Board or of a committee of the Board, lead independent Trustee, or audit committee financial expert, or in any other similar capacity will not be subject to any greater standard of care or liability because of such position.

Shareholder inquiries may be made by writing to the Trust, c/o the Distributor, Nuveen Securities, LLC, at 333 West Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60606. As of the date of this SAI, no one owned any shares of the Fund

TAX MATTERS

Federal Income Tax Matters

The following discussion of certain U.S. federal income tax consequences of investing in the Fund is based on the Code, U.S. Treasury regulations, and other applicable authority, all as in effect as of the date of the filing of this SAI. These authorities are subject to change by legislative or administrative action, possibly with retroactive effect. The following discussion is only a summary of some of the important U.S. federal income tax considerations generally applicable to investments in the Fund. Unless you are a tax-exempt entity or your investment in Fund is made through a tax-deferred retirement account, such as an individual retirement account, you need to be aware of the possible tax consequences when the Fund makes distributions or you sell Fund shares. There may be other tax considerations applicable to particular shareholders. Shareholders should consult their own tax advisors regarding their particular situation and the possible application of foreign, state, and local tax laws.

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Qualification as a Regulated Investment Company (RIC)

The Fund has elected or intends to elect to be treated, and intends to qualify each year, as a RIC under Subchapter M of the Code. In order to qualify for the special tax treatment accorded RICs and their shareholders, the Fund must, among other things:

(a) derive at least 90% of its gross income each year from (i) dividends, interest, payments with respect to certain securities loans, gains from the sale or other disposition of stock or securities or foreign currencies, or other income (including but not limited to gains from options, futures or forward contracts) derived with respect to its business of investing in such stock, securities or currencies, and (ii) net income derived from interests in “qualified publicly traded partnerships” (as defined below);

(b) diversify its holdings so that, at the end of each quarter of its taxable year, (i) at least 50% of the market value of the Fund’s total assets consists of cash and cash items, U.S. government securities, securities of other RICs and other securities, with investments in such other securities limited with respect to any one issuer to an amount not greater than 5% of the value of the Fund’s total assets and not greater than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer, and (ii) not more than 25% of the value of the Fund’s total assets is invested in (1) the securities (other than those of the U.S. government or other RICs) of any one issuer or two or more issuers that are controlled by the Fund and that are engaged in the same, similar or related trades or businesses or (2) the securities of one or more qualified publicly traded partnerships; and

(c) distribute with respect to each taxable year an amount equal to or greater than the sum of 90% of its investment company taxable income (as that term is defined in the Code without regard to the deduction for dividends paid—generally taxable ordinary income and the excess, if any, of net short-term capital gains over net long-term capital losses) and 90% of its net tax-exempt interest income.

In general, for purposes of the 90% qualifying income test described in (a) above, income derived from a partnership will be treated as qualifying income only to the extent such income is attributable to items of income of the partnership that would be qualifying income if realized directly by the Fund. However, 100% of the net income derived from an interest in a “qualified publicly traded partnership” (generally, a partnership (i) interests in which are traded on an established securities market or are readily tradable on a secondary market or the substantial equivalent thereof, and (ii) that derives less than 90% of its income from the qualifying income described in clause (a)(i) of the description of the 90% qualifying income test applicable to RICs, above) will be treated as qualifying income.

Taxation of the Fund

If the Fund qualifies for treatment as a RIC, the Fund will not be subject to federal income tax on income and gains that are distributed in a timely manner to its shareholders in the form of dividends.

If, for any taxable year, the Fund was to fail to qualify as a RIC or was to fail to meet the distribution requirement described above, it would be taxed in the same manner as an ordinary corporation and distributions to its shareholders would not be deductible by the Fund in computing its taxable income. In addition, the Fund’s distributions, to the extent derived from the Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits, including any distributions of net long-term capital gains, would be taxable to shareholders as ordinary dividend income for federal income tax purposes. However, such dividends would be eligible, subject to any generally applicable limitations, (i) to be treated as qualified dividend income in the case of shareholders taxed as individuals and (ii) for the dividends-received deduction in the case of corporate shareholders. Moreover, the Fund would be required to pay out its earnings and profits accumulated in that year in order to qualify for treatment as a RIC in a subsequent year. Under certain circumstances, the Fund may be able to cure a failure to qualify as a RIC, but in order to do so the Fund may incur significant Fund-level taxes and may be forced to dispose of certain assets. If the Fund failed to qualify as a RIC for a period greater than two taxable years, the Fund would generally be required to recognize any net built-in gains with respect to certain of its assets upon a disposition of such assets within ten years of qualifying as a RIC in a subsequent year.

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The Fund intends to distribute at least annually to its shareholders substantially all of its investment company taxable income (computed without regard to the dividends-paid deduction) and net capital gain (the excess of the Fund’s net long-term capital gain over its net short-term capital loss). Investment income that is retained by the Fund will generally be subject to tax at regular corporate rates. If the Fund retains any net capital gain, that gain will be subject to tax at corporate rates, but the Fund may designate the retained amount as undistributed capital gains in a notice to its shareholders who (i) will be required to include in income for federal income tax purposes, as long-term capital gain, their shares of such undistributed amount, (ii) will be deemed to have paid their proportionate shares of the tax paid by the Fund on such undistributed amount against their federal income tax liabilities, if any, and (iii) will be entitled to claim refunds on a properly filed U.S. tax return to the extent the credit exceeds such liabilities. For federal income tax purposes, the tax basis of shares owned by a shareholder of the Fund will be increased by an amount equal to the difference between the amount of undistributed capital gains included in the shareholder’s gross income and the tax deemed paid by the shareholder.

If the Fund fails to distribute in a calendar year an amount at least equal to the sum of 98% of its ordinary income for such year and 98.2% of its capital gain net income for the one-year period ending October 31 of such year, plus any retained amount from the prior year, the Fund will be subject to a non-deductible 4% excise tax on the undistributed amount. For these purposes, the Fund will be treated as having distributed any amount on which it has been subject to corporate income tax for the taxable year ending within the calendar year. The Fund intends to declare and pay dividends and distributions in the amounts and at the times necessary to avoid the application of the 4% excise tax, although there can be no assurance that it will be able to do so.

The Fund may elect to treat part or all of any “qualified late year loss” as if it had been incurred in the succeeding taxable year in determining the Fund’s taxable income, net capital gain, net short-term capital gain, and earnings and profits. A “qualified late year loss” generally includes net capital loss, net long-term capital loss, or net short-term capital loss incurred after October 31 of the current taxable year, and certain other late-year losses.

If the Fund has a “net capital loss” (that is, capital losses in excess of capital gains), the excess of the Fund’s net short-term capital losses over its net long-term capital gains is treated as a short-term capital loss arising on the first day of the Fund’s next taxable year, and the excess (if any) of the Fund’s net long-term capital losses over its net short-term capital gains is treated as a long-term capital loss arising on the first day of the Fund’s next taxable year.

Distributions

Distributions are generally taxable whether shareholders receive them in cash or reinvest them in additional shares. Moreover, distributions on the Fund’s shares are generally subject to federal income tax as described herein to the extent they do not exceed the Fund’s realized income and gains, even though such distributions may economically represent a return of a particular shareholder’s investment. Investors may therefore wish to avoid purchasing shares at a time when the Fund’s NAV reflects gains that are either unrealized, or realized but not distributed. Realized income and gains must generally be distributed even when the Fund’s NAV also reflects unrealized losses.

Dividends and other distributions by the Fund are generally treated under the Code as received by the shareholders at the time the dividend or distribution is made. However, if any dividend or distribution is declared by the Fund in October, November or December of any calendar year and payable to its shareholders of record on a specified date in such a month but is actually paid during the following January, such dividend or distribution will be deemed to have been received by each shareholder on December 31 of the year in which the dividend was declared.

Distributions by the Fund of investment income are generally taxable as ordinary income. Taxes on distributions of capital gains are determined by how long the Fund owned the assets that generated those gains, rather than how long a shareholder has owned his or her Fund shares. Sales of assets held by the Fund for more than one year generally result in long-term capital gains and losses, and sales of assets held by the Fund for one year or less generally result in short-term capital gains and losses. Distributions from the Fund’s net capital gain that are properly reported by the Fund as capital gain dividends (“ Capital Gain Dividends ”) will be taxable as long-term capital gains. For

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individuals, long-term capital gains are subject to tax at reduced maximum tax rates. Distributions of gains from the sale of investments that the Fund owned for one year or less will be taxable as ordinary income.

For noncorporate shareholders, distributions of investment income reported by the Fund as derived from “qualified dividend income” will be taxed at the rates applicable to long-term capital gain, provided holding period and other requirements are met at both the shareholder and Fund level. In order for some portion of the dividends received by a Fund shareholder to be “qualified dividend income,” the Fund making the distribution must meet holding period and other requirements with respect to some portion of the dividend-paying stocks in its portfolio and the shareholder must meet holding period and other requirements with respect to the Fund’s shares. A dividend will not be treated as qualified dividend income (at either the Fund or shareholder level) (1) if the dividend is received with respect to any share of stock held for fewer than 61 days during the 121-day period beginning on the date that is 60 days before the date on which such share becomes ex-dividend with respect to such dividend (or, in the case of certain preferred stock, 91 days during the 181-day period beginning 90 days before the ex-dividend date), (2) to the extent that the recipient is under an obligation (whether pursuant to a short sale or otherwise) to make related payments with respect to positions in substantially similar or related property, (3) if the recipient elects to have the dividend income treated as investment income for purposes of the limitation on deductibility of investment interest, or (4) if the dividend is received from a foreign corporation that is (a) not eligible for the benefits of a comprehensive income tax treaty with the United States (with the exception of dividends paid on stock of such a foreign corporation that is readily tradable on an established securities market in the United States) or (b) treated as a passive foreign investment company. Since the Fund is not expected to invest in dividend-paying stocks, the Fund’s dividends generally are not expected to be classified as “qualified dividend income” to the Fund’s shareholders.

In general, distributions of investment income reported by the Fund as derived from qualified dividend income will be treated as qualified dividend income by a shareholder taxed as an individual, provided the shareholder meets the holding period and other requirements described above with respect to the Fund’s shares. To the extent that the Fund makes a distribution of income received by the Fund in lieu of dividends (a “substitute payment”) with respect to securities on loan pursuant to a securities lending transaction, such income will not constitute qualified dividend income to individual shareholders and will not be eligible for the dividends received deduction for corporate shareholders.

Since the Fund will invest primarily in investments other than the stock of U.S. corporations, the Fund’s dividends generally are not expected to qualify for the dividends-received deduction available to corporate shareholders.

Dividends and distributions from the Fund and capital gain on the sale of Fund shares are generally taken into account in determining a shareholder’s “net investment income” for purposes of the Medicare contribution tax applicable to certain individuals, estates and trusts.

If the Fund makes distributions in excess of the Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits in any taxable year, the excess distribution to each shareholder will be treated as a return of capital to the extent of the shareholder’s tax basis in its shares, and will reduce the shareholder’s tax basis in its shares. After the shareholder’s basis has been reduced to zero, any such distributions will result in a capital gain, assuming the shareholder holds his or her shares as capital assets. A reduction in a shareholder’s tax basis in its shares will reduce any loss or increase any gain on a subsequent taxable disposition by the shareholder of its shares

Sale or Exchange of Shares

A sale or exchange of shares in the Fund may give rise to a gain or loss. In general, any gain or loss realized upon a taxable disposition of shares will be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the shares have been held for more than 12 months. Otherwise, the gain or loss on the taxable disposition of shares will be treated as short-term capital gain or loss. However, any loss realized upon a taxable disposition of shares held for six months or less will be treated as long-term, rather than short-term, to the extent of any long-term capital gain distributions received (or deemed received) by the shareholder with respect to the shares. All or a portion of any loss realized upon a taxable disposition of shares will be disallowed if substantially identical shares of the Fund are purchased

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within 30 days before or after the disposition. In such a case, the basis of the newly purchased shares will be adjusted to reflect the disallowed loss.

Backup Withholding

The Fund (or financial intermediaries, such as brokers, through which a shareholder holds Fund shares) generally is required to withhold and to remit to the U.S. Treasury a percentage of the taxable distributions and sale or redemption proceeds paid to any shareholder who fails to properly furnish a correct taxpayer identification number, who has under-reported dividend or interest income, or who fails to certify that he, she or it is not subject to such withholding. The backup withholding tax rate is 28%. Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Any amounts withheld may be credited against the shareholder’s U.S. federal income tax liability, provided the appropriate information is furnished to the Internal Revenue Service (the “ IRS ”).

Federal Tax Treatment of Certain Fund Investments

Transactions of the Fund in options, futures contracts, hedging transactions, forward contracts, swap agreements, straddles and foreign currencies may be subject to various special and complex tax rules, including mark-to-market, constructive sale, straddle, wash sale and short sale rules. These rules could affect the Fund’s ability to qualify as a RIC, affect whether gains and losses recognized by the Fund are treated as ordinary income or capital gain, accelerate the recognition of income to the Fund, and/or defer the Fund’s ability to recognize losses. These rules may in turn affect the amount, timing or character of the income distributed to shareholders by the Fund.

The Fund is required, for federal income tax purposes, to mark to market and recognize as income for each taxable year its net unrealized gains and losses as of the end of such year on certain regulated futures contracts, foreign currency contracts and options that qualify as Section 1256 contracts in addition to the gains and losses actually realized with respect to such contracts during the year. Gain or loss from Section 1256 contracts that are required to be marked to market annually will generally be 60% long-term and 40% short-term capital gain or loss. Application of this rule may alter the timing and character of distributions to shareholders.

With respect to investments in zero coupon securities which are sold at original issue discount and thus do not make periodic cash interest payments, the Fund will be required to include as part of its current income the imputed interest on such obligations even though the Fund has not received any interest payments on such obligations during that period. Because the Fund intends to distribute substantially all of its net investment income to its shareholders, the Fund may have to sell Fund securities to distribute such imputed income which may occur at a time when the Adviser would not have chosen to sell such securities and which may result in taxable gain or loss.

Any market discount recognized on a bond is taxable as ordinary income. A market discount bond is a bond acquired in the secondary market at a price below redemption value or adjusted issue price if issued with original issue discount. Absent an election by the Fund to include the market discount in income as it accrues, gain on the Fund’s disposition of such an obligation will be treated as ordinary income rather than capital gain to the extent of the accrued market discount.

The Fund may invest in inflation-linked debt securities. Any increase in the principal amount of an inflation-linked debt security will be original interest discount, which is taxable as ordinary income and is required to be distributed, even though the Fund will not receive the principal, including any increase thereto, until maturity. As noted above, if the Fund invests in such securities it may be required to liquidate other investments, including at times when it is not advantageous to do so, in order to satisfy its distribution requirements and to eliminate any possible taxation at the Fund level.

Foreign Investments

Income received by the Fund from sources within foreign countries (including, for example, dividends or interest on stock or securities of non-U.S. issuers) may be subject to withholding and other taxes imposed by such countries. Tax treaties between such countries and the U.S. may reduce or eliminate such taxes.

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Tax-Exempt Shareholders

Under current law, income of a RIC that would be treated as unrelated business taxable income (“ UBTI ”) if earned directly by a tax-exempt entity generally will not be attributed as UBTI to a tax-exempt entity that is a shareholder in the RIC. Notwithstanding this “blocking” effect, a tax-exempt shareholder could realize UBTI by virtue of its investment in the Fund if: (i) shares in the Fund constitute debt-financed property in the hands of the tax-exempt shareholder within the meaning of Code Section 514(b), (ii) if the Fund invests in REITs that hold residual interests in REMICs, (iii) the Fund invests in a REIT that is a taxable mortgage pool (“ TMP ”) or in a REIT that has a subsidiary that is a TMP, or (iv) if the Fund holds residual interests in REMICs.

Non-U.S. Investors

In general, dividends, other than Capital Gain Dividends paid by the Fund to a shareholder that is not a “U.S. person” within the meaning of the Code are subject to withholding of U.S. federal income tax at a rate of 30% (or lower applicable treaty rate) on distributions derived from taxable ordinary income. The Fund may, under certain circumstances, report all or a portion of a dividend as an “interest-related dividend” or a “short-term capital gain dividend,” which would generally be exempt from this 30% U.S. withholding tax, provided certain other requirements are met. Short-term capital gain dividends received by a nonresident alien individual who is present in the U.S. for a period or periods aggregating 183 days or more during the taxable year are not exempt from this 30% withholding tax.

A beneficial holder of shares who is a non-U.S. person is not, in general, subject to U.S. federal income tax on gains (and is not allowed a U.S. income tax deduction for losses) realized on a sale of shares of the Fund or on Capital Gain Dividends unless (i) such gain or dividend is effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business carried on by such holder within the United States or (ii) in the case of an individual holder, the holder is present in the United States for a period or periods aggregating 183 days or more during the year of the sale or the receipt of the Capital Gain Dividend and certain other conditions are met.

Ordinary dividends, redemption payments and certain Capital Gain Dividends paid after June 30, 2014 to a non-U.S. shareholder that fails to meet certain requirements or make certain required certifications are generally subject to withholding tax at a 30% rate. Under current IRS guidance, withholding on such payments will begin at different times depending on the type of payment, the type of payee, and when the shareholder’s account is or was opened. In general, withholding with respect to ordinary dividends began on July 1, 2014, although in many cases withholding on ordinary dividends will begin on a later date. Withholding on redemption payments and certain Capital Gain Dividends is currently scheduled to begin on January 1, 2019. A non-U.S. shareholder may be exempt from the withholding described in this paragraph under an intergovernmental agreement between the U.S. and a foreign government, provided that the shareholder and the applicable foreign government comply with the terms of such agreement.

In order for a non-U.S. investor to qualify for an exemption from backup withholding, described above, the non-U.S. investor must comply with special certification and filing requirements. Non-U.S. investors in the Fund should consult their tax advisors in this regard.

A beneficial holder of shares who is a non-U.S. person may be subject to state and local tax and to the U.S. federal estate tax in addition to the federal income tax consequences referred to above. If a shareholder is eligible for the benefits of a tax treaty, any income or gain effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business will generally be subject to U.S. federal income tax on a net basis only if it is also attributable to a permanent establishment maintained by the shareholder in the United States.

Creation and Redemption of Creation Units

An Authorized Participant having the U.S. dollar as its functional currency for U.S. federal income tax purposes that exchanges securities for Creation Units generally will recognize a gain or loss equal to the difference between (i) the sum of the market value of the Creation Units at the time of the exchange and any cash received by the Authorized Participant in the exchange, and (ii) the sum of the exchanger’s aggregate basis in the securities surrendered and any cash paid for such Creation Units. All or a portion of any gain or loss recognized by an Authorized Participant exchanging a currency

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other than its functional currency for Creation Units may be treated as ordinary income or loss. A person who redeems Creation Units will generally recognize a gain or loss equal to the difference between the exchanger’s basis in the Creation Units and the sum of the aggregate U.S. dollar market value of any securities received plus the amount of any cash received for such Creation Units. The IRS, however, may assert that a loss that is realized upon an exchange of securities for Creation Units by an Authorized Participant who does not mark-to-market its holdings may not be currently deducted under the rules governing “wash sales,” or on the basis that there has been no significant change in economic position. All or some portion of any capital gain or loss realized upon the creation of Creation Units in exchange for securities will generally be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if securities exchanged for such Creation Units have been held for more than one year.

Any capital gain or loss realized upon the redemption of Creation Units will generally be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the Creation Units have been held for more than one year. Otherwise, such capital gains or losses will be treated as short-term capital gains or losses.

Persons exchanging securities for Creation Units should consult their own tax advisors with respect to the tax treatment of any creation or redemption transaction and whether the wash sales rule applies and when a loss might be deductible.

Section 351

The Trust on behalf of the Fund has the right to reject an order for a purchase of shares of the Fund if the purchaser (or any group of purchasers) would, upon obtaining the shares so ordered, own 80% or more of the outstanding shares of the Fund and if, pursuant to Section 351 of the Code, the Fund would have a basis in the securities different from the market value of such securities on the date of deposit. The Trust also has the right to require information necessary to determine beneficial share ownership for purposes of the 80% determination.

Certain Reporting Regulations

Under U.S. Treasury regulations, generally, if a shareholder recognizes a loss of $2 million or more for an individual shareholder or $10 million or more for a corporate shareholder (or certain greater amounts over a combination of years), the shareholder must file with the IRS a disclosure statement on IRS Form 8886. Direct shareholders of portfolio securities are in many cases excepted from this reporting requirement, but under current guidance, shareholders of a RIC are not excepted. Significant penalties may be imposed for the failure to comply with the reporting regulations. The fact that a loss is reportable under these regulations does not affect the legal determination of whether the taxpayer’s treatment of the loss is proper. Shareholders should consult their tax advisors to determine the applicability of these regulations in light of their individual circumstances.

Cost Basis Reporting

The cost basis of shares acquired by purchase will generally be based on the amount paid for the shares and then may be subsequently adjusted for other applicable transactions as required by the Code. The difference between the selling price and the cost basis of shares generally determines the amount of the capital gain or loss realized on the sale or exchange of shares. Contact the broker through whom you purchased your shares to obtain information with respect to the available cost basis reporting methods and elections for your account.

General Considerations

The federal income tax discussion set forth above is for general information only. Prospective investors should consult their tax advisors regarding the specific federal income tax consequences of purchasing, holding and disposing of shares of the Fund, as well as the effect of state, local and foreign tax law and any proposed tax law changes.

DIVIDENDS AND DISTRIBUTIONS

The Fund intends to pay out dividends, if any, on a monthly basis but in any event no less frequently than annually. Nonetheless, the Fund might not make a dividend payment every month. The Fund intends to distribute its net realized capital gains, if any, to investors annually. The Fund

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may occasionally be required to make supplemental distributions at some other time during the year. Distributions in cash may be reinvested automatically in additional whole shares only if the broker through whom you purchased shares makes such option available. Your broker is responsible for distributing the income and capital gain distributions to you.

The Trust reserves the right to declare special distributions if, in its reasonable discretion, such action is necessary or advisable to preserve the status of the Fund as a RIC or to avoid imposition of income or excise taxes on undistributed income.

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