Fund Evaluator:
Nuveen Floating Rate Income A (NFRAX)
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Best Performing in Bank Loan Over the Last Year
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Fund Details
Nuveen Floating Rate Income A Overview
Nuveen Floating Rate Income A (NFRAX) is an actively managed Taxable Bond Bank Loan fund. Nuveen launched the fund in 2011.
The investment seeks a high level of current income; capital appreciation is a secondary consideration. Under normal market conditions, the fund invests at least 80% of the sum of its net assets and the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes in floating rate securities. Floating rate securities are defined to include floating rate loans, other floating rate debt securities including corporate debt securities and U.S. government securities, money market securities and shares of money market and short-term bond funds.
About Nuveen Floating Rate Income A (NFRAX)
There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 8.42 years: Scott Caraher (2011), Coale Mechlin (2024). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.
The fund has 2 primary benchmarks: Bloomberg US Agg Bond TR USD index with a weighting of 100% and S&P UBS Leveraged Loan USD index with a weighting of 100%. Nuveen Floating Rate Income A has 458 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 15.8% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.
Nuveen Floating Rate Income A is part of the Fixed Income global asset class and is within the Taxable Bond fund group. Nuveen Floating Rate Income A has 13.0% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 0.9%. There is 0.7% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.2% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 92.4% (80.1% domestic bond, 12.3% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Nuveen Floating Rate Income A has 5.8% of the portfolio in cash.
Assets Under Management
The fund has $184 million in total assets, which is below the $344 million average for the Bank Loan category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.
NFRAX Performance and Fees
The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The Nuveen Floating Rate Income A expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Bank Loan category. Nuveen Floating Rate Income A has an expense ratio of 1.00%, which is 5% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a C. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.
High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. Nuveen Floating Rate Income A has a portfolio turnover rate of 49%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 62% for the Bank Loan category.
Recently, in the month of July 2026, Nuveen Floating Rate Income A returned 0.6%, which earned it a grade of C, as the Bank Loan category had an average return of 0.6%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all funds in that category.
Nuveen Floating Rate Income A has a trailing yield of 6.79%, which is above the 6.73% category average. The fund normally distributes its income monthly and its capital gains annually.
It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.
Nuveen Floating Rate Income A Grades
Year to date, the fund has returned 2.5%, 0.5 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of B. The fund has returned 4.9% over the past year (grade of B), 7.7% over the past three years (grade of A) and 5.7% per year over the past five years (grade of B) and 4.9% per year over the past 10 years (grade of A).
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NFRAX Trailing NAV Total Returns Data as of 7/31/26
| Last Month |
Last Quarter |
Ann'l. 1Yr |
Ann'l. 3Yr |
Ann'l. 5Yr |
Ann'l. 10Yr |
|
| NFRAX Return (NAV) | 0.6% | 1.2% | 4.9% | 7.7% | 5.7% | 4.9% |
| NFRAX Grade | C | C | B | A | B | A |
| +/- Category | 0.0% | 0.1% | 1.1% | 1.0% | 0.6% | 0.5% |
| Bank Loan Avg | 0.6% | 1.2% | 3.8% | 6.6% | 5.2% | 4.4% |
| NFRAX Tax Cost Ratio | na | na | 2.7% | 3.1% | 2.7% | 2.3% |
NFRAX Annual NAV Total ReturnsData as of 7/31/26
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
| NFRAX Return (NAV) | 2.5% | 5.9% | 9.5% | 11.0% | -1.8% | 6.8% | 1.6% | 7.7% | -0.3% | 3.1% | 10.0% |
| NFRAX Grade | B | B | A | F | C | A | C | C | C | D | B |
| +/- Category | 0.5% | 0.9% | 1.3% | -1.1% | 0.5% | 2.1% | 0.4% | 0.2% | 0.1% | -0.6% | 0.8% |
| Bank Loan Avg | 1.9% | 5.1% | 8.2% | 12.1% | -2.3% | 4.7% | 1.3% | 7.6% | -0.4% | 3.7% | 9.2% |
| Risk Measures | |
| Standard Deviation: | 1.7% |
| Total Risk Index: | 0.14 - Low |
| Category Risk Index: | 0.87 - Low |
| Category Risk Grade: | A (9% Rank) |
| Beta: | 0.06 |
| R-Squared: | 4% |
| Leveraged Fund: | No |
| Inverse Fund: | No |
| Portfolio Characteristics | |
| Equity Investment Style: | Small-Cap Value |
| Bond Investment Style: | Low Quality Limited Sensitivity |
| Yield: | 6.8% |
| Dividend Distribution: | Monthly |
| Cap Gains Distribution: | Annually |
| Total Assets: | $2039 Mil |
| Fund Total Assets: | $ 184 Mil |
| Share Class Type: | A |
| Portfolio Turnover: | 49% |
Management Team
| Number of Managers: 2 | |||
| Longest Tenure: 15.3 years | |||
| Average Tenure: 8.4 years | |||
| Managers (Year): Caraher Scott (2011), Mechlin Coale (2024) | |||
Portfolio Composition (as of 6/30/26)
| # of Holdings: | 458 |
| % in Top 10 Holdings: | 15.8% |
| Fund is Non-Diversified: | No |
| % in Foreign Issues: | 13.0% |
Portfolio Allocation |
|
| Domestic Stock: | 0.9% |
| Foreign Stock: | 0.7% |
| Preferred Stock: | 0.2% |
| Domestic Bond: | 80.1% |
| Foreign Bond: | 12.3% |
| Convertible Bond: | 0.0% |
| Other: | 0.0% |
| Cash: | 5.8% |
Purchase Information
| Fund Family: | Nuveen |
| Phone Number: | 800-257-8787 |
| Website: | www.nuveen.com |
| Status: | Open |
| Inception Date: | May 2, 2011 |
| Min. Initial Purchase: | $2,500 |
| Min. Initial IRA Purchase: | $2,000 |
| True No-Load: | No |
| Front Load Maximum: | 3.00% |
| Deferred Charge Maximum: | 0.00% |
| Redemption Charge Maximum: | 0.00% |
| 12b-1 Fee: | 0.25% |
Expenses and Fees | |
| Expense Ratio (%): | 1.00% ( Rating : High ) |
| Category Average Expense Ratio (%): | 1.05% |
| Share Class: | Nuveen Floating Rate Income I |
| Min. Subsequent Purchase: | $ 100 |
| Min. Subsequent IRA Purchase: | $ 0 |
