Nuveen Strategic Income Fund

(formerly Nuveen Total Return Bond Fund)

 

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Summary Prospectus    |    October 31, 2012

Ticker: Class A–FCDDX, Class B–FCBBX, Class C–FCBCX, Class R3–FABSX, Class I–FCBYX

 

This summary prospectus is designed to provide investors with key Fund information in a clear and concise format. Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund’s complete prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund’s prospectus and other information about the Fund online at www.nuveen.com/MutualFunds/FormsLiterature/Prospectuses.aspx. You can also get this information at no cost by calling (800) 257-8787 or by sending an e-mail request to mutualfunds@nuveen.com. If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the prospectus and other information will also be available from your financial intermediary. The Fund’s prospectus and statement of additional information, both dated October 31, 2012, are incorporated by reference into this summary prospectus and may be obtained, free of charge, at the website, phone number or e-mail address noted above.

Investment Objective

The investment objective of the Fund is to provide investors with total return.

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in the Fund or in other Nuveen Mutual Funds. More information about these and other discounts, as well as eligibility requirements for each share class, is available from your financial advisor and in “What Share Classes We Offer” on page 52 of the Fund’s prospectus, “How to Reduce Your Sales Charge” on page 55 of the prospectus and “Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares” on page S-91 of the Fund’s statement of additional information.

Shareholder Fees

(fees paid directly from your investment)

       Class A      Class B      Class C      Class R3      Class I  
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases
(as a percentage of offering price) 		     4.25%         None         None         None         None   
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load)
(as a percentage of the lesser of purchase price or redemption proceeds) 1 		     None         5.00%         1.00%         None         None   
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested Dividends      None         None         None         None         None   
Exchange Fee      None         None         None         None         None   
Annual Low Balance Account Fee (for accounts under $1,000) 2      $15         $15         $15         None         $15   

 

Annual Fund Operating Expenses

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

              
       Class A      Class B      Class C      Class R3      Class I  
Management Fees 3      0.54%         0.54%         0.54%         0.54%         0.54%   
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees      0.25%         1.00%         1.00%         0.50%         0.00%   
Other Expenses 3      0.11%         0.11%         0.11%         0.12%         0.12%   
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses      0.01%         0.01%         0.01%         0.01%         0.01%   
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses      0.91%         1.66%         1.66%         1.17%         0.67%   
Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements 4      (0.06)%         (0.06)%         (0.06)%         (0.07)%         (0.07)%   
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements      0.85%         1.60%         1.60%         1.10%         0.60%   
1 The contingent deferred sales charge ( “CDSC” ) on Class B shares declines over a six-year period from purchase. The CDSC on Class C shares applies only to redemptions within 12 months of purchase.

 

2 Fee applies to the following types of accounts under $1,000 held directly with the Fund: individual retirement accounts (IRAs), Coverdell Education Savings Accounts and accounts established pursuant to the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) or Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (UGMA).

 

3 Other Expenses have been restated to reflect current contractual fees.

 

4 The Fund’s investment adviser has contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse other Fund expenses through October 31, 2013 so that total annual fund operating expenses, after fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements and excluding Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, do not exceed 0.84% , 1.59%, 1.59%, 1.09%, and 0.59% for Class A, Class B, Class C, Class R3 and Class I shares, respectively. Fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements will not be terminated prior to that time without the approval of the Fund’s board of directors.

Example

The following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then either redeem or do not redeem your shares at the end of a period. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year,

 

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that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same, and the contractual fee waivers currently in place are not renewed beyond October 31, 2013. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

 

       Redemption    No Redemption         
         A      B      C      R3      I             A      B      C      R3      I         
1 Year      $ 508       $ 663       $ 163       $ 112       $ 61          $ 508       $ 163       $ 163       $ 112       $ 61      
3 Years      $ 697       $ 818       $ 518       $ 365       $ 207          $ 697       $ 518       $ 518       $ 365       $ 207      
5 Years      $ 902       $ 997       $ 897       $ 637       $ 366          $ 902       $ 897       $ 897       $ 637       $ 366      
10 Years      $ 1,492       $ 1,760       $ 1,960       $ 1,414       $ 828            $ 1,492       $ 1,760       $ 1,960       $ 1,414       $ 828        

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 199% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in debt securities, including:

 

•  

U.S. government securities (securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or its agencies or instrumentalities).

 

•  

residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities.

 

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asset-backed securities.

 

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domestic and foreign corporate debt obligations, including obligations issued by special-purpose entities that are backed by corporate debt obligations.

 

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debt obligations of foreign governments.

The Fund may invest up to 30% of its total assets in non-dollar denominated debt obligations of foreign corporations and governments, including debt obligations issued by governmental and corporate issuers that are located in emerging market countries. The Fund may invest without limitation in U.S. dollar denominated securities of foreign issuers.

The Fund may invest up to 50% of its total assets in securities rated lower than investment grade or unrated securities of comparable quality as determined by the Fund’s sub-adviser (securities commonly referred to as “high yield” or “junk bonds”). The Fund will not invest in securities rated lower than CCC at the time of purchase or in unrated securities of equivalent quality. Unrated securities will not exceed 25% of the Fund’s total assets.

The Fund’s sub-adviser makes buy, sell, and hold decisions using a “top-down” approach, which begins with the formulation of the sub-adviser’s general economic outlook. Following this, various sectors and industries are analyzed and selected for investment. Finally, the sub-adviser selects individual securities within these sectors or industries. The sub-adviser also analyzes expected changes to the yield curve under multiple market conditions to help define maturity and duration selection.

To generate additional income, the Fund may invest up to 25% of its total assets in dollar roll transactions. In a dollar roll transaction, the Fund sells mortgage-backed securities for delivery in the current month while contracting with the same party to repurchase similar securities at a future date.

Under normal market conditions the Fund attempts to maintain a weighted average effective maturity for its portfolio securities of fifteen years or less and an average effective duration of three to eight years. The Fund’s weighted average effective maturity and average effective duration are measures of how the Fund may react to interest rate changes.

The Fund may utilize the following derivatives: options; futures contracts; options on futures contracts; interest rate caps, collars, and floors; foreign currency contracts; options on foreign currencies; swap agreements, including swap agreements on interest rates, currency rates, security indexes and specific securities, and credit default swap agreements; and options on the foregoing types of swap agreements. The Fund may enter into standardized derivatives contracts traded on domestic or foreign securities exchanges, boards of trade, or similar entities, and non-standardized derivatives contracts traded in the over-the-counter (“OTC”) market. The Fund may use these derivatives in an attempt to manage market risk, currency risk, credit risk and yield curve risk, to manage the effective maturity or duration of securities in the Fund’s portfolio or for speculative purposes in an effort to increase the Fund’s yield or to enhance returns. The Fund may also use derivatives to gain exposure to non-dollar denominated securities markets to the extent it does not do so through direct investments. The use of a derivative is speculative if the Fund is primarily seeking to enhance returns, rather than offset the risk of other positions. The Fund may not use any derivative to gain exposure to a security or type of security that it would be prohibited by its investment restrictions from purchasing directly.

Principal Risks

The price and yield of this Fund will change daily, which means you could lose money. 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 include:

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

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. In addition, parties to other financial contracts with the Fund could default on their obligations.

 

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Derivatives Risk —The use of derivatives involves additional risks and transaction costs which could leave the Fund in a worse position than if it had not used these instruments. 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 performance. Recent legislation requires the development of a new regulatory framework for the derivatives market. The impact of the new regulations is still unknown, but has the potential to increase the costs of using derivatives, may limit the availability of some forms of derivatives or the Fund’s ability to use derivatives, and may adversely affect the performance of some derivative instruments used by the Fund as well as the Fund’s ability to pursue its investment objective through the use of such instruments.

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.

High Yield Securities Risk —High yield securities are high risk investments that may cause income and principal losses for the Fund. They generally have greater credit risk, are less liquid, and have more volatile prices than investment grade securities.

Income Risk —The Fund’s income could decline during periods of falling interest rates.

Interest Rate Risk —Interest rate risk is the risk that the value of the Fund’s portfolio will decline because of rising interest rates. When interest rates change, the values of longer-duration debt securities usually change more than the values of shorter-duration debt securities.

Market Risk —The market values of the Fund’s investments may decline, at times sharply and unpredictably.

Mortgage- and Asset-Backed Securities Risk —These securities generally can be prepaid at any time. 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, resulting in slower prepayments of the securities.

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. The downturn in the housing market and the resulting recession in the United States have negatively affected, and may continue to negatively affect, both the price and liquidity of certain mortgage-backed securities.

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. Also, changes in currency exchange rates may affect the Fund’s net asset value, the value of dividends and interest earned, and gains and losses realized on the sale of securities.

Fund Performance

The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the potential risks of investing in the Fund. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available at www.nuveen.com/MutualFunds/PricingPerformance/Performance.aspx or by calling (800) 257-8787.

The bar chart below shows the variability of the Fund’s performance from year to year for Class A shares. The performance of the other share classes will differ due to their different expense structures. The bar chart and highest/lowest quarterly returns that follow do not reflect sales charges, and if these charges were reflected, the returns would be less than those shown.

Class A Annual Total Return*

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  * Class A year-to-date total return as of September 30, 2012 was 10.71%.

During the ten-year period ended December 31, 2011, the Fund’s highest and lowest quarterly returns were 22.45% and -8.60%, respectively, for the quarters ended June 30, 2009 and September 30, 2008.

The table below shows the variability of the Fund’s average annual returns and how they compare over the time periods indicated with those of a broad measure of market performance and an index of funds with similar investment objectives. All after-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. After-tax returns are shown for Class A shares only; after-tax returns for other share classes will vary. Your own actual after-tax returns will depend on your specific tax situation and may differ from what is shown here. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold Fund shares in tax-deferred accounts such as IRAs or employer-sponsored retirement plans.

 

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Both the bar chart and the table assume that all distributions have been reinvested. Performance reflects fee waivers, if any, in effect during the periods presented. If any such waivers were not in place, returns would be reduced.

 

     Average Annual Total Returns
for the Periods Ended
December 31, 2011 		 
       1 Year      5 Years      10 Years  
Class A (return before taxes)      (1.05 )%       5.86%         5.55%   
Class A (return after taxes on distributions)      (2.41 )%       3.83%         3.65%   
Class A (return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares)      (0.69 )%       3.77%         3.59%   
Class B (return before taxes)      (2.45 )%       5.77%         5.20%   
Class C (return before taxes)      2.52 %       5.96%         5.21%   
Class R3 (return before taxes)      3.03 %       6.42%         5.79%   
Class I (return before taxes)      3.55 %       7.00%         6.26%   
Barclays Aggregate Bond Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)      7.84 %       6.50%         5.78%   
Lipper Multi-Sector Income Classification Average (reflects no deduction for taxes or certain expenses)      2.82 %       5.20%         6.84%   

Management

Investment Adviser

Nuveen Fund Advisors, Inc.

Sub-Adviser

Nuveen Asset Management, LLC

Portfolio Managers

 

Name

    

Title

    

Portfolio Manager of Fund Since

Timothy A. Palmer, CFA      Managing Director      May 2005
Jeffrey J. Ebert, CFA      Senior Vice President      February 2000
Marie A. Newcome, CFA      Vice President      October 2010

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

You may purchase, redeem or exchange shares of the Fund on any business day, which is any day the New York Stock Exchange is open for business. You may purchase, redeem or exchange shares of the Fund either through a financial advisor or other financial intermediary or directly from the Fund. Class B shares are available only through exchanges and dividend reinvestments by current Class B shareholders. The Fund’s initial and subsequent investment minimums generally are as follows, although the Fund may reduce or waive the minimums in some cases:

 

         Class A and Class C    Class R3    Class I
Eligibility and Minimum Initial Investment     

$3,000 for all accounts except:

 

•   $2,500 for Traditional/Roth IRA accounts.

 

•   $2,000 for Coverdell Education Savings Accounts.

 

•   $250 for accounts opened through fee-based programs.

 

•   No minimum for retirement plans.

  

Available only through certain retirement plans.

 

No minimum.

  

Available only through fee-based programs and certain retirement plans, and to other limited categories of investors as described in the prospectus.

 

$100,000 for all accounts except:

 

•   $250 for clients of financial intermediaries and family offices that have accounts holding Class I shares with an aggregate value of at least $100,000 (or that are expected to reach this level).

 

•   No minimum for eligible retirement plans and certain other categories of eligible investors as described in the prospectus.

Minimum Additional Investment      $100    No minimum.    No minimum.

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 IRA or 401(k) plan.

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, its distributor or its investment adviser may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. 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 financial advisor or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

 

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