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Nuveen ESG Large-Cap Growth
ETF |
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Ticker
NULG
Listing Exchange: Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc.
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28 February
2025 as supplemented
30 April 2025 |
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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, reports to shareholders and other information about the Fund online at www.nuveen.com/etf. You can also get this
information at no cost by calling (888) 290-9881 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 or financial advisor), the prospectus, reports to shareholders and other information will also be available from your financial intermediary. The Fund’s prospectus
and statement of additional information, both dated February 28, 2025, are incorporated by reference into this summary prospectus and may be obtained, free of charge, at the website or phone number noted above.
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Summary
Prospectus
Investment Objective
Nuveen ESG Large-Cap Growth ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to track the investment results, before fees and expenses, of
the Nuveen ESG USA Large-Cap Growth Index (the “Index”) (formerly, TIAA ESG USA Large-Cap Growth Index).
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
The table below describes the fees and expenses
that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, when buying or selling shares of the Fund, which are not reflected in this table or
the example that follows:
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses
that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
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| Management Fees |
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0.25 |
% |
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| Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees |
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0.00 |
% |
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| Other Expenses |
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0.01 |
% |
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| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
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0.26 |
% |
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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. The example does not reflect brokerage commissions that you may pay when you purchase and sell Fund shares. Although your actual
costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
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| 1 Year |
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$27 |
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| 3 Years |
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$84 |
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| 5 Years |
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$ |
146 |
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| 10 Years |
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$ |
331 |
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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 60% of the average value of its
portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund seeks to track the
investment results of the Index, which is comprised of equity securities with growth characteristics issued by large capitalization companies listed on U.S. exchanges that meet certain environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”)
criteria. The Index selects from the securities included in the MSCI USA Growth Index (the “Base Index”), which generally consists of large-and
mid-capitalization U.S. equity securities that exhibit overall growth style characteristics based on five variables: long-term forward earnings per share (“EPS”) growth rate, short-term
forward EPS growth rate, current internal growth rate, long-term historical EPS growth trend, and long-term historical sales per share growth trend. Securities in the Base Index are weighted based on market capitalization. MSCI Inc.
(“MSCI”) is the index provider for the Index and the Base Index. The Index and the Base Index are owned, calculated and controlled by MSCI, in its sole discretion. Neither the Fund’s investment adviser, sub-adviser nor their affiliates has any discretion to select Index components or change the Index methodology.
The Index identifies equity securities from the Base Index that satisfy certain ESG criteria, based on ESG performance
data collected by MSCI ESG Research, Inc., an affiliate of the index provider. ESG performance is measured on an industry-specific basis, with assessment categories varying by industry. Companies are scored and ranked against industry peers using a
consistent set of key performance indicators to determine relative ESG strength. Environmental assessment categories can include how a company is addressing climate change, natural resource use, and waste management and emission management. Social
evaluation categories can include a company’s relations with employees and suppliers, product safety and sourcing practices. Governance assessment categories can include governance practices and business ethics. The ESG criteria also consider
how well a company adheres to national and international laws and regulations related to ESG matters. Index rules exclude companies with significant activities in the following controversial businesses: alcohol production, tobacco production,
nuclear power, gambling, and weapons and firearm production. Companies otherwise eligible for inclusion in the Index that exceed certain carbon-based ownership and emissions thresholds are excluded from the Index.
Companies that are not excluded by the ESG criteria are then ranked within their respective sectors based on their ESG performance score. The highest ranked companies in
each sector are identified as eligible for inclusion in the Index until such point that the aggregate weight of companies in the sector reaches 50% of the market cap of such sector in the Base Index. For example, if the market capitalization of all
consumer discretionary sector companies included in the Base Index totals $200 billion, then the Index would screen these consumer discretionary sector companies, rank them based on ESG performance scores, and add the highest scoring companies
to the Index until such point that their combined total market capitalization reaches $100 billion. Those companies identified as eligible for inclusion in the Index are market capitalization weighted within their respective sectors. Once the
universe of eligible Index components is established, the Index optimizes the market cap weightings of individual components to approximate the sector weightings of the Base Index, within certain constraints established by the Index. As of the date
of this prospectus, a significant portion of the Index is comprised of companies in the information technology sector, although the Index’s sector exposure may change over time.
In seeking to track the investment results of the Index, the Fund attempts to replicate the Index by investing all, or substantially all, of its assets in the securities
represented in the Index in approximately the same proportions as the Index. The Index is normally rebalanced and reconstituted quarterly in February, May, August, and November. The Index may also remove a security at any time in response to a
corporate event such as bankruptcy, delisting, merger or acquisition that causes the security to become ineligible for inclusion in the Index. The Fund makes changes to its portfolio shortly after any Index changes are made public. As of
December 31, 2024, the Index was comprised of 74 securities.
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 component securities of the Index. For purposes of the Index, large-capitalization companies are defined as companies that fall in the range of companies included in the MSCI USA Large Cap Index as
of the last business day of the month in which its most recent reconstitution was completed. As of December 31, 2024, the MSCI USA Large Cap Index had a float-adjusted market capitalization range from $4.4 billion to $3.8 trillion, with an
average market capitalization of $87.7 billion. “Float-adjusted” means that the share amounts used in calculating the Index reflect only shares available to investors, with shares held by control groups, public companies and
government agencies excluded.
To the extent the Index concentrates (i.e., holds 25% or more of its total assets) in the securities of companies in a
particular industry or group of industries, the Fund will concentrate its investments to approximately the same extent as the Index.
The Fund is classified as a
diversified investment company, as defined under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”). However, However, the Fund tracks the investment results of the Index and may become
non-diversified under the 1940 Act without the approval of Fund
shareholders solely as a result of a change in relative market capitalization or index weighting of one or more Index constituents.
Principal Risks
The value of your investment in this Fund will change
throughout the day each day the Fund’s primary listing exchange is open. 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 below are presented alphabetically to facilitate your ability to find particular risks and compare them with the risks of other funds. The significance
of any specific risk to an investment in the Fund will vary over time depending on the composition of the Fund’s portfolio, market conditions and other factors. Each risk summarized below is considered a “principal risk” of investing
in the Fund, regardless of the order in which it appears.
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 or sector, 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 or sector.
Cybersecurity Risk—Cybersecurity
risk is the risk of an unauthorized breach and access to Fund assets, customer data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, or the risk of an incident occurring that causes the Fund, its investment adviser or sub-adviser, custodian, transfer agent, distributor or other service provider, a financial intermediary or the issuers of securities held by the Fund to suffer a data breach, data corruption or lose operational
functionality. Successful cyber-attacks or other cyber-failures or events affecting the Fund, its service providers or the issuers of securities held by the Fund may adversely impact the Fund or its shareholders. Additionally, a cybersecurity breach
could affect the issuers in which the Fund invests, which may cause the Fund’s investments to lose value.
Equity Security Risk—Equity securities in
the Fund’s portfolio may decline significantly in price over short or extended periods of time, and such declines may occur because of declines in the equity market as a whole, or because of declines in only a particular country, company,
industry, or sector of the market. From time to time, the Fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in companies in one or more related sectors or industries which would make the Fund more vulnerable to adverse developments affecting such
sectors or industries.
ESG Strategy Risk—Because the Fund’s ESG investment strategy will exclude securities of certain issuers for non-financial reasons based on the ESG criteria of the Index (i.e., companies that do not demonstrate sustainable ESG characteristics or are involved in certain prohibited activities), the Fund may forgo some
market opportunities available to funds that do not use an ESG investment strategy or may be required to sell a security when it might otherwise be disadvantageous to do so. This may cause the Fund to underperform the stock market as a whole or
other funds that do not use an ESG investment strategy. Moreover, the Fund’s adherence to its ESG investment strategy when selecting securities may affect the Fund’s performance depending on whether such investments are in or out of favor.
In addition, there is a risk that the companies identified by the Fund’s ESG investment strategy do not operate as expected when addressing ESG issues or exhibit positive ESG characteristics. Furthermore, data availability and reporting with
respect to ESG criteria may not always be available or may become unreliable and the sub-adviser does not guarantee the accuracy of such data. ESG data may be incomplete or erroneous, which could cause the
index provider to incorrectly assess a company’s ESG characteristics. Moreover, the third-party data providers may differ in the data they provide for a given security or between industries, or may only take into account one of many ESG-related components of a company. Additionally, the sub-adviser may not apply the relevant ESG criteria correctly causing it to assess inaccurately a company’s ESG
characteristics.
Growth Stock Risk—Growth stocks tend to be more volatile than certain other types of stocks and their
prices usually fluctuate more dramatically than the overall stock market. A stock with growth characteristics can have sharp price declines due to decreases in current or expected earnings and may lack dividends that can help cushion its share price
in a declining market.
Index Provider Risk—There is no assurance that the Index will be determined, maintained, constructed, reconstituted, rebalanced,
composed, calculated or disseminated accurately. To correct any such error, an index provider may carry out an unscheduled rebalance or other modification of the Index constituents or weightings, which may increase the Fund’s
costs. Unusual market conditions may cause an index provider to postpone a scheduled rebalance. Such a postponement in a time of market volatility could mean a constituent that would otherwise be removed at rebalance may remain, causing the
performance and constituents of the index to vary from those expected under normal conditions. Index providers generally do not provide any representation or warranty in relation to the quality, accuracy or completeness of data in the indexes in
which they license, and generally do not guarantee that an index will be calculated in accordance with its stated methodology. Losses or costs associated with any index provider errors generally will be borne by the Fund and its shareholders.
Information Technology Sector Risk—The Fund currently invests a significant portion of its assets in the information technology sector, although this may
change over time. The Information technology sector includes, for example, software and internet software companies, manufacturers and distributors of technology hardware and equipment, such as communications equipment, cellular phones, computers,
electronics and related components, and producers of semiconductors and semiconductor equipment. Securities of companies in this sector can be significantly affected by changes in, among other things, the supply and demand for specific products and
services, cyclical market patterns, the pace of technological development and product obsolescence, market competition, and government regulation. Information technology companies, including software and semiconductor companies, are also heavily
dependent on patent and intellectual property rights, the loss or impairment of which may adversely impact such companies.
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 or in response to changing market
conditions. As a result, the Fund’s performance may be adversely affected by a general decline in the market segments relating to the Index. In addition, because the Index selects securities for inclusion based on ESG criteria, the Fund may
forgo some market opportunities available to funds that do not use these criteria.
Large-Cap Company
Risk—Because it invests primarily in securities of large-capitalization companies, the Fund may underperform funds that invest primarily in securities of smaller capitalization companies during periods when the securities of such companies
are in favor.
Market Risk—The market value of the Fund’s investments may go up or down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably and for short or
extended periods of time, due to the particular circumstances of individual issuers or due to general conditions impacting issuers more broadly. Global economies and financial markets have become highly interconnected, and thus economic, market or
political conditions or events in one country or region might adversely impact the value of the Fund’s investments whether or not the Fund invests in such country or region. Events such as war, terrorism, natural and environmental disasters and
the spread of infectious illnesses or other public health emergencies may have a severe negative impact on the global economy, could cause financial markets to experience extreme volatility and losses, and could result in the disruption of trading
and the reduction of liquidity in many instruments. Additionally, to the extent the rate of inflation increases, the value of the Fund’s assets may decline.
Market Trading Risks—The Fund is an exchange-traded fund (“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 (which may be especially pronounced for smaller funds). 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). In times of market stress, the Fund’s underlying portfolio holdings may become less
liquid, which in turn may affect the liquidity of the Fund’s shares and/or lead to more significant differences between the Fund’s market price and its NAV. Market makers are under no obligation to make a market in the Fund’s shares,
and authorized participants are not obligated to submit purchase or redemption orders for the Fund’s shares. In the event market makers cease making a market in the Fund’s shares or authorized participants stop submitting creation or
redemption orders, Fund shares may trade at a larger premium or discount to NAV.
Non-Diversification Risk—While
the Fund is considered to be a diversified investment company under the 1940 Act, the Fund tracks the investment results of the Index and may become non-diversified under the 1940 Act, without Fund shareholder
approval, solely as a result of a change in relative market capitalization or index weighting of one or more Index constituents. A non-diversified fund may invest a larger portion of its assets in the
securities of a limited number of issuers and may be more sensitive to any single economic, business, political or regulatory occurrence affecting an issuer than a diversified fund. Poor performance by any one of these issuers would adversely affect
a non-diversified fund to a greater extent than a more broadly diversified fund.
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 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 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. Tracking
error also may result because the Fund incurs fees and expenses, but the Index does not.
Fund Performance
The
following bar chart and table provide some indication of the potential risks of investing in the Fund. Both the bar chart and the table assume that all distributions have been reinvested. 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/etf or by calling (800) 257-8787.
During the period reflected in the bar chart above, the Fund’s highest and lowest quarterly returns were 30.36% and -20.62%, respectively, for the quarters ended June 30, 2020 and June 30, 2022.
The table below shows the variability of
the Fund’s average annual returns and how they compare over the time periods indicated with the MSCI USA Index and the Index. In accordance with new regulatory requirements, the Fund has selected the MSCI USA Index as the broad measure of U.S.
equity market performance as it is generally representative of the market sectors or types of investments in which the Fund invests. Performance is also shown for the MSCI USA Growth Index, which more closely represents the large-cap growth exposure sought by the Fund. 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. 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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Average Annual Total Returns
for the Periods Ended
December 31, 2024 |
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Inception
Date |
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1 Year |
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5 Years |
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Since
Inception |
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| NULG (return before taxes) |
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12/13/16 |
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23.85% |
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17.73% |
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18.51% |
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| NULG (return after taxes on distributions) |
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23.80% |
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17.04% |
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17.81% |
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| NULG (return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares) |
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14.15% |
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14.09% |
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15.26% |
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| MSCI USA Index
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
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25.08% |
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14.56% |
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14.54% |
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| MSCI USA Growth Index
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
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35.99% |
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19.64% |
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19.48% |
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| Nuveen ESG USA Large-Cap
Growth Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
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24.17% |
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18.11% |
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18.92% |
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Management
Investment
Adviser
Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC
Sub-Adviser
Teachers Advisors, LLC
Portfolio Managers
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| Name |
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Title |
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Portfolio Manager of Fund Since |
| Philip James (Jim) Campagna, CFA |
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Managing Director |
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December 2016 |
| Nazar Romanyak, CFA |
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Senior Director |
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June 2024 |
| Darren Tran, CFA |
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Managing Director |
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June 2024 |
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The Fund is
an ETF. Shares of the Fund are listed on a national securities exchange and can only be bought and sold in the secondary market 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”). An investor may also incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase Fund
shares (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for Fund shares (ask) when buying and selling shares in the secondary market (the “bid/ask spread”). Recent information regarding the Fund, including its NAV, market
price, premiums and discounts, and bid/ask spreads, is available on the Fund’s website at www.nuveen.com/etf.
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.
NPM-NULG-0525P