Nuveen Investments
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Finance |
| Founded | 1898 |
| Headquarters |
333 Wacker Drive Chicago, IL, United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Mutual funds, Closed-End Funds, Institutional Separate Managed Accounts, Retail Managed Accounts |
| AUM |
 US$ 220.1 billion (September 2012)1 |
Number of employees | 1,200 (2012) |
| Parent | TIAA-CREF |
| Website |
Nuveen |
Nuveen Investments is a Chicago-based company in the asset management industry. Nuveen was founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1898 and was previously named The John Nuveen Co., after founder John Nuveen. In October 2014, TIAA-CREF completed their purchase of Nuveen.
Nuveen started in the municipal bond underwriting business and remains active in municipal bond market. Nuveen sells services including separately managed accounts, retail mutual funds and closed-end funds. Nuveen Investments has $220.1 billion in assets under management.[1]
History
Founded in 1898, Nuveen Investments began as John Nuveen & Company, when founder John Nuveen, Sr. created the firm as an investment banking company specializing in the underwriting and distribution of municipal bonds. John Nuveen formed the company in 1898. The first bond it underwrote was for a Minnesota water company. After World War II, John Nuveen, Jr. helped with the Marshall Plan administration.
In 1969, it was purchased by Investors Diversified Services (IDS). In 1974, the company was sold to The St. Paul Companies. It was privatised in 2007 after being acquired by Private Equity Group led by Madison Dearborn Partners for $5.4 Billion.[2]
The company is also known for a commercial it aired in 2000 during the Super Bowl which, through the aid of computer animation, featured Christopher Reeve "walking" along with several other sufferers of spinal paralysis.
Auction rate securities
Nuveen came under criticism during 2008 for its involvement in the auction rate securities auction failures,[3] during which assets held in Nuveen's closed-end funds, totaling $15 billion, became illiquid.[4][5] Those funds had two share classes: auction-rate preferred shares that hold first claim on the underlying assets (and pay income at rates set in weekly auctions), and common shares that typically pay higher income in exchange for greater risk of loss of principal. During the auction failures, while common shareholders suffered worse than preferred shareholders in terms of principal losses, they were able to sell their shares on the NYSE while preferred shareholders had no market in which to sell.[4] In response, Nuveen posted a "Nuveen Auction Rate Preferred Resource Center" to inform its investors of its plans to borrow money to pay them back.[6] The company later set refinancing for $2.7 Billion in taxable auction-rate preferred shares and has placed $500 Million of VRDP refinancing for its municipal auction rate preferred shares.[7][8]
References
- ↑ http://www.nuveen.com/Home/Corporate/About/Careers.aspx
- ↑ Forbes: Nuveen Agrees To $5.4B Buyout
- ↑ New York Times: As Good as Cash, Until It's Not
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Auction-rate securities a struggle for Nuveen Firm works to liquefy $15 billion worth of shares issued to boost fund yields
- ↑ Testimony of Adams IV, Executive Vice President, Nuveen Investments, Inc. Before the Committee on Financial Services, U.S. House of Representatives
- ↑ http://www.nuveen.com/ResourceCenter/AuctionRatePreferred/AuctionRatePreferred.aspx
- ↑ http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121803845755217263.html?mod=wsjcrmain
- ↑ http://www.nuveen.com/etf/web_files/Closed-End%20Exchange-Traded%20Funds/Update%20discussion%2015Oct08.pdf