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Nuveen Municipal Credit Income Fund (NZF)
Performance
Return for Risk
Dividends
Drawdowns
Volatility

Fund Info

ISIN
US67070X1019
CUSIP
67070X101
Issuer
Nuveen
Inception Date
Mar 21, 2001
Index Tracked
S&P National Municipal Bond Index
Distribution Policy
Distributing
Asset Class
Bond

Share Price Chart


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Performance

Performance Chart

The chart shows the growth of an initial investment of $10,000 in Nuveen Municipal Credit Income Fund, comparing it to the performance of the S&P 500 index or another benchmark. All prices have been adjusted for splits and dividends.


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S&P 500 Index

Returns By Period

Nuveen Municipal Credit Income Fund (NZF) has returned -1.35% so far this year and 7.63% over the past 12 months. Over the last ten years, NZF has returned 3.66% per year, falling short of the S&P 500 Index benchmark, which averaged 12.16% annually.


Nuveen Municipal Credit Income Fund

1D
2.61%
1M
-5.35%
YTD
-1.35%
6M
0.69%
1Y
7.63%
3Y*
7.56%
5Y*
0.18%
10Y*
3.66%

Benchmark (S&P 500 Index)

1D
2.91%
1M
-5.09%
YTD
-4.63%
6M
-2.39%
1Y
16.33%
3Y*
16.69%
5Y*
10.18%
10Y*
12.16%
*Multi-year figures are annualized to reflect compound growth (CAGR)

Monthly Returns

Based on dividend-adjusted daily data since Oct 3, 2001, NZF's average daily return is +0.02%, while the average monthly return is +0.50%. At this rate, your investment would double in approximately 11.6 years.

Historically, 63% of months were positive and 37% were negative. The best month was Jan 2009 with a return of +19.8%, while the worst month was Sep 2008 at -14.1%. The longest winning streak lasted 11 consecutive months, and the longest losing streak was 7 months.

On a daily basis, NZF closed higher 52% of trading days. The best single day was Oct 13, 2008 with a return of +27.2%, while the worst single day was Mar 18, 2020 at -14.4%.


JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecTotal
2026-0.57%4.82%-5.35%-1.35%
20254.05%1.43%-2.93%-1.95%0.42%1.01%-1.19%2.99%5.60%1.20%1.43%-0.56%11.78%
20241.03%0.95%2.91%-4.03%2.46%4.28%2.92%1.58%3.37%-2.53%3.33%-6.02%10.09%
20233.52%-5.53%2.25%-1.98%-1.87%2.57%1.83%-3.95%-7.50%-2.77%13.91%3.69%2.49%
2022-5.47%-3.75%-4.89%-9.26%3.58%-7.28%7.73%-3.45%-11.79%-4.33%14.54%-1.78%-25.53%
20210.78%-0.96%1.67%2.89%2.46%2.23%2.01%-0.19%-3.48%0.46%3.14%-0.14%11.19%

Benchmark Metrics

Nuveen Municipal Credit Income Fund has an annualized alpha of 4.17%, beta of 0.23, and R² of 0.09 versus S&P 500 Index. Calculated based on daily prices since October 04, 2001.

  • This fund participates in less of S&P 500 Index's moves in both directions, but captures a larger share of gains (27.46%) than losses (17.08%) — typical of diversified or defensive assets.
  • Beta of 0.23 may look defensive, but with R² of 0.09 this fund is largely uncorrelated with S&P 500 Index — low beta reflects independence, not downside protection. See the Volatility section for a true picture of this fund's risk.
  • R² of 0.09 means this fund moves largely independently of S&P 500 Index — capture ratios reflect limited market correlation rather than active downside protection. Consider using a more representative benchmark.

Alpha
4.17%
Beta
0.23
0.09
Upside Capture
27.46%
Downside Capture
17.08%

Expense Ratio

NZF has a high expense ratio of 1.89%, indicating above-average management fees.


Return for Risk

Risk / Return Rank

NZF ranks 29 for risk / return — below 29% of mutual funds on our site. The returns aren't fully compensating for the risk involved. This isn't necessarily a dealbreaker, but factor it into your decision — especially if you're risk-averse.


NZF Risk / Return Rank: 2929
Overall Rank
NZF Sharpe Ratio Rank: 2525
Sharpe Ratio Rank
NZF Sortino Ratio Rank: 2424
Sortino Ratio Rank
NZF Omega Ratio Rank: 2222
Omega Ratio Rank
NZF Calmar Ratio Rank: 4141
Calmar Ratio Rank
NZF Martin Ratio Rank: 3333
Martin Ratio Rank
The rank (0–100) shows how this investment's returns compare to the risk taken. Higher = better. Based on the past 12 months of data, combining Sharpe, Sortino, and other metrics used by quantitative funds and institutional investors.

Return / Risk — by metrics

The table below present risk-adjusted performance metrics for Nuveen Municipal Credit Income Fund (NZF) and compare them to a chosen benchmark (S&P 500 Index).


NZFBenchmarkDifference

Sharpe ratio

Return per unit of total volatility

0.66

0.90

-0.23

Sortino ratio

Return per unit of downside risk

1.01

1.39

-0.38

Omega ratio

Gain probability vs. loss probability

1.13

1.21

-0.08

Calmar ratio

Return relative to maximum drawdown

1.09

1.40

-0.31

Martin ratio

Return relative to average drawdown

3.61

6.61

-3.00

Explore NZF risk-adjusted metrics in detail

Dive deeper into individual metrics with historical trends, benchmark comparisons, and performance across different time periods.

Dividends

Dividend History

Nuveen Municipal Credit Income Fund provided a 7.83% dividend yield over the last twelve months, with an annual payout of $0.95 per share. The fund has been increasing its distributions for 2 consecutive years.


4.00%5.00%6.00%7.00%8.00%$0.00$0.20$0.40$0.60$0.80$1.0020152016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Dividends
Dividend Yield
PeriodTTM20252024202320222021202020192018201720162015
Dividend$0.95$0.95$0.83$0.53$0.70$0.79$0.76$0.79$0.81$0.89$0.89$0.79

Dividend yield

7.83%7.58%6.84%4.51%5.80%4.63%4.74%4.82%6.05%5.86%6.26%5.50%

Monthly Dividends

The table displays the monthly dividend distributions for Nuveen Municipal Credit Income Fund. The dividends shown in the table have been adjusted to account for any splits that may have occurred.


JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecTotal
2026$0.08$0.08$0.08$0.24
2025$0.08$0.08$0.08$0.08$0.08$0.08$0.08$0.08$0.08$0.08$0.08$0.08$0.95
2024$0.05$0.05$0.06$0.06$0.06$0.08$0.08$0.08$0.08$0.08$0.08$0.08$0.83
2023$0.04$0.04$0.04$0.04$0.04$0.04$0.04$0.04$0.04$0.04$0.05$0.05$0.53
2022$0.07$0.07$0.07$0.06$0.06$0.06$0.06$0.06$0.06$0.05$0.05$0.05$0.70
2021$0.07$0.07$0.07$0.07$0.07$0.07$0.07$0.07$0.07$0.07$0.07$0.07$0.79

Drawdowns

Drawdowns Chart

The Drawdowns chart displays portfolio losses from any high point along the way. Drawdowns are calculated considering price movements and all distributions paid, if any.


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Worst Drawdowns

The table below displays the maximum drawdowns of the Nuveen Municipal Credit Income Fund. A maximum drawdown is a measure of risk, indicating the largest reduction in portfolio value due to a series of losing trades.

The maximum drawdown for the Nuveen Municipal Credit Income Fund was 48.55%, occurring on Oct 10, 2008. Recovery took 228 trading sessions.

The current Nuveen Municipal Credit Income Fund drawdown is 8.18%.


Depth

Start

To Bottom

Bottom

To Recover

End

Total

-48.55%Dec 28, 2006450Oct 10, 2008228Sep 8, 2009678
-37.42%Nov 10, 2021492Oct 25, 2023
-29.85%Feb 24, 202018Mar 18, 2020200Dec 31, 2020218
-24.09%Nov 26, 2012183Aug 16, 2013366Jan 30, 2015549
-15.44%Sep 2, 201094Jan 14, 2011165Sep 12, 2011259

Volatility

Volatility Chart

The chart below shows the rolling one-month volatility.


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