This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in shares of 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 redeem all your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses, before fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Fund’s fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement arrangements will each remain in place for the durations noted in the table above. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in bonds. For these purposes, bonds include fixed-income securities of all types. The Fund primarily invests in a broad range of investment-grade bonds and fixed-income securities, including, but not limited to, U.S. Government securities, corporate bonds, taxable municipal securities and mortgage-backed or other asset-backed securities. The Fund may also invest in other fixed-income securities, including those of non-investment-grade quality (usually called “high-yield” or “junk bonds”). Securities of non-investment-grade quality are speculative in nature. The Fund may also invest in securities having a variable or floating interest rate. The Fund may invest in fixed-income securities of any duration. As of May 31, 2025, the duration of the Fund’s benchmark index, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, was 6.02 years. For purposes of the 80% investment policy, the term “assets” means net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes.

The Fund is actively managed and does not rely exclusively on rating agencies when making investment decisions. Instead, the Fund’s investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC (“Advisors”) performs its own credit analysis, paying particular attention to economic trends and other market events. Subject to the ESG criteria and Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (“TIAA”)’s proprietary Impact framework described below, individual securities or sectors may be overweighted or underweighted relative to the Fund’s benchmark index, when Advisors believes that the Fund can boost returns above that of the index.

When selecting investments for the Fund, Advisors considers certain ESG criteria or Impact framework. The Fund’s Impact framework, described in more detail below, provides direct exposure to issuers or projects that Advisors believes have the potential to have social or environmental benefits. The ESG criteria are generally implemented based on data provided by independent research vendor(s). In those limited cases where independent ESG criteria are not available for certain types of securities or for certain issuers, these securities may nonetheless be eligible for the Fund should they meet certain internal ESG criteria.

The corporate issuer evaluation process favors companies with leadership in ESG performance relative to their peers. Typically, environmental assessment categories include climate change, natural resource use, waste management and environmental opportunities. Social evaluation categories include human capital, product safety and social opportunities. Governance assessment categories include corporate governance, business ethics and government & public policy. How well companies adhere to international norms and principles and involvement in major ESG controversies (examples of which may relate to the environment, customers, human rights & community, labor rights & supply chain, and governance) are other considerations.

The ESG evaluation process with respect to corporate issuers is conducted on an industry-specific basis and involves the identification of key performance

indicators, which are given more or less relative weight compared to the broader range of potential assessment categories. When ESG concerns exist, the evaluation process gives careful consideration to how companies address the risks and opportunities they face in the context of their sector or industry and relative to their peers. The Fund will not generally invest in companies significantly involved in certain business activities including, but not limited to, the production of alcohol, tobacco, military weapons, firearms, nuclear power, thermal coal, and gambling products and services.

The ESG evaluation process with respect to government issuers favors issuers with leadership in ESG performance relative to all peers. Typically, environmental assessment categories include the issuer’s ability to protect, harness, and supplement its natural resources, and to manage environmental vulnerabilities and externalities. Social assessment categories include the issuer’s ability to develop a healthy, productive, and stable workforce and knowledge capital, and to create a supportive economic environment. Governance assessment categories include the issuer’s institutional capacity to support long-term stability and well-functioning financial, judicial, and political systems, and capacity to address environmental and social risks. The government ESG evaluation process is conducted on a global basis and reflects how an issuer’s exposure to and management of ESG risk factors may affect the long-term sustainability of its economy.

While Advisors may invest in issuers that meet these criteria, it is not required to invest in every issuer that meets these criteria. In addition, concerns with respect to one ESG assessment category may not automatically eliminate an issuer from being considered an eligible Fund investment. The ESG criteria and the Impact framework the Fund takes into consideration are both non-fundamental investment policies and may be changed without the approval of the Fund’s shareholders.

The Fund is not restricted from investing in any securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities. Advisors considers investments in these securities to be consistent with the Fund’s ESG criteria.

The Fund also invests in certain asset-backed securities, mortgage-backed securities and other securities that represent interests in assets such as pools of mortgage loans, automobile loans or credit card receivables. These securities are typically issued by legal entities established specifically to hold assets and to issue debt obligations backed by those assets. Asset-backed or mortgage-backed securities are normally created or “sponsored” by banks or other institutions or by certain U.S. Government-sponsored enterprises (“GSEs”) such as the Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac”). Advisors does not take into consideration whether the sponsor of an asset-backed security in which the Fund invests meets the ESG criteria or the Fund’s Impact framework. That is because asset-backed securities represent interests in pools of loans, and not of the ongoing business enterprise of the sponsor. It is therefore possible that the Fund could invest in an asset-backed or mortgage-backed security sponsored by a bank or other financial institution in which the Fund could not invest directly.

The Fund’s investments in mortgage-backed securities can include pass-through securities sold by private, governmental and government-related organizations and collateralized mortgage obligations (“CMOs”). Mortgage pass-through securities are created when mortgages are pooled together and interests in the pool are sold to investors. The cash flow from the underlying mortgages is “passed through” to investors in periodic principal and interest payments. CMOs are obligations that are fully collateralized directly or indirectly by a pool of mortgages from which payments of principal and interest are dedicated to the payment of principal and interest on the CMO.

The Board of Trustees of the Trust or a designated committee thereof (“Board of Trustees”) reviews the ESG criteria used to evaluate securities held by the Fund and the ESG vendor(s) that provide the data that help inform this criteria. Subject to Board of Trustees review, Advisors has the right to change the ESG vendor(s) at any time and to add to the number of vendors providing the ESG data.

Additionally, Advisors invests a portion of the Fund’s assets in fixed-income instruments taking into consideration the Impact framework as implemented by the Fund’s portfolio management team. As of March 31, 2025, these investments were 39.7% of the portfolio. These investments provide direct exposure to issuers and/or individual projects that Advisors, through its proprietary analysis, believes have the potential to have social or environmental benefits. Within this exposure to impact investments, the Fund seeks opportunities to invest in publicly traded fixed-income securities that finance initiatives in areas including affordable housing, community and economic development, renewable energy and climate change, and natural resources. These investments will be selected based on the same financial criteria used by Advisors in selecting the Fund’s other fixed-income investments. The portion of the Fund invested in accordance with the Impact framework is not additionally subject to ESG criteria. Advisors engages with certain issuers of investments deemed by Advisors to represent impact securities to communicate impact reporting preferences and encourage alignment with industry best practices regarding responsible investment.

Investing on the basis of ESG criteria and according to the Fund’s Impact framework is qualitative and subjective by nature. There can be no assurance that every Fund investment will meet ESG criteria or the Impact framework, or will do so at all times, or that the ESG criteria and the Impact framework or any judgment exercised by Advisors will reflect the beliefs or values of any particular investor.

The Fund may also use a trading technique called “mortgage rolls” or “dollar rolls” in which the Fund “rolls over” an investment in a mortgage-backed security before its settlement date in exchange for a similar security with a later settlement date.

The Fund may also engage in relative value trading, a strategy in which the Fund reallocates assets across different sectors and maturities. Relative value

trading is designed to enhance the Fund’s returns but increases the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate.

The Fund may purchase and sell futures, options, swaps, forwards and other fixed-income derivative instruments to carry out the Fund’s investment strategies. The Fund may also invest in foreign securities, including emerging markets fixed-income securities and non-dollar-denominated instruments. Under most circumstances, the Fund’s investments in fixed-income securities of foreign issuers constitute less than 40% of the Fund’s assets.

The Fund may also seek exposure to Regulation S fixed-income securities through investment in a Cayman Islands exempted company that is wholly owned and controlled by the Fund (the “Regulation S Subsidiary”). A Cayman Islands exempted company is a corporate entity established under the laws of the Cayman Islands for the purpose of conducting business mainly outside the Cayman Islands. Regulation S fixed-income securities are debt securities of U.S. and non-U.S. issuers that are issued through private placement offerings without registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) pursuant to Regulation S under the Securities Act of 1933. These may include sovereign or quasi-sovereign bonds, corporate bonds and structured notes issued pursuant to Regulation S. The Regulation S Subsidiary is advised by Advisors and has the same investment objective as the Fund, except that the Regulation S Subsidiary may invest without limitation in Regulation S securities.

The Fund may also seek exposure to certain bonds or fixed-income securities that are sold subject to selling restrictions under the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 (“TEFRA”), which generally restricts the purchase of such bonds to non-U.S. persons (as defined for applicable U.S. federal income tax purposes) (“TEFRA Bonds”) through investment of up to 25% of its total assets in a separate Cayman Islands exempted company that is wholly owned and controlled by the Fund (the “TEFRA Bond Subsidiary”). These may include sovereign or quasi-sovereign bonds, corporate bonds and structured notes issued pursuant to TEFRA. The TEFRA Bond Subsidiary is advised by Advisors and has the same investment objective as the Fund, except that the TEFRA Bond Subsidiary may invest without limitation in TEFRA Bonds.

The following chart and table help illustrate some of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year. The bar chart shows the annual total returns of Class R6 of the Fund, before taxes, in each full calendar year since inception of Class R6. Because the expenses vary across share classes, the performance of Class R6 may vary from the other share classes. Below the bar chart are the best and worst returns of Class R6 for a calendar quarter during the full calendar-year periods covered by the bar chart. The performance table following the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns for Class A, Class I, Premier Class, Class R6 and Retirement Class over the applicable one-year, five-year, ten-year and since-inception periods ended December 31, 2024, and how those returns compare to those of the Fund’s benchmark and broad-based securities market index. After-tax performance is shown only for Class R6 shares, and after-tax returns for the other classes of shares will vary from the after-tax returns presented for Class R6 shares.

The returns shown below reflect previous agreements by Advisors to waive or reimburse the Fund for certain fees and expenses. Without these waivers and reimbursements, the returns of the Fund would have been lower. Past performance of the Fund (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how it will perform in the future. The benchmark and broad-based securities market index listed below is unmanaged, and you cannot invest directly in an index. The returns for the benchmark index reflect no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes.

For current performance information of each share class, including performance to the most recent month-end, please visit www.nuveen.com/performance or call 800-257-8787.

Best quarter: 6.51%, for the quarter ended December 31, 2023. Worst quarter: -5.99%, for the quarter ended March 31, 2022.

After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates in effect during the periods shown and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on the investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown. The after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-deferred arrangements such as 401(a), 401(k) or 403(b) plans or Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). After-tax returns are shown for only one class, and after-tax returns for other classes will vary.

Principal investment risks

You could lose money over short or long periods by investing in this Fund. An investment in the Fund, due to the nature of the Fund’s portfolio holdings, typically is subject to the following principal investment risks:

· ESG Criteria and Impact Risk—The risk that because the Fund’s ESG criteria and/or proprietary Impact framework exclude securities of certain issuers for nonfinancial reasons, the Fund may forgo some market opportunities available to funds that do not use these criteria.

· Prepayment Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, borrowers may pay off their mortgage loans sooner than expected, forcing the Fund to reinvest the unanticipated proceeds at lower interest rates and resulting in a decline in income.

· Issuer Risk (often called Financial Risk)—The risk that an issuer’s earnings prospects, credit rating and overall financial position will deteriorate, causing a decline in the value of the issuer’s financial instruments over short or extended periods of time.

· Credit Spread Risk—The risk that credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield between securities that is due to differences in each security’s respective credit quality) may increase when market participants believe that bonds generally have a greater risk of default, which could result in a decline in the market values of the Fund’s debt securities.

· Market Volatility, Liquidity and Valuation Risk (types of Market Risk)—The risk that volatile or dramatic reductions in trading activity make it difficult for the Fund to properly value its investments and that the Fund may not be able to purchase or sell an investment at an attractive price, if at all.

· Active Management Risk—The risk that Advisors’ strategy, investment selection or trading execution may cause the Fund to underperform relative to the benchmark index or mutual funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies and may not produce the desired results or expected returns.

· Mortgage Roll Risk—The risk that Advisors will not correctly predict mortgage prepayments and interest rates, which will diminish the Fund’s performance.

· Regulation S Securities Risk—The risk that Regulation S securities may be less liquid than publicly traded securities. Regulation S securities may not be subject to the disclosure and other investor protection requirements that would be applicable to publicly traded securities. As a result, Regulation S securities may involve a high degree of business and financial risk and may result in losses.

· Risks of Investments in the Fund’s Wholly Owned Subsidiaries—Neither the Regulation S Subsidiary nor the TEFRA Bond Subsidiary (together with the Regulation S Subsidiary, the “Subsidiaries”) is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”), and the Subsidiaries are not subject to its investor protections (except as otherwise noted in the Prospectus). As an investor in the Subsidiaries, the Fund does not have all of the protections offered to investors by the 1940 Act. However, the Subsidiaries are wholly owned and controlled by the Fund and managed by Advisors.

· Illiquid Investments Risk—The risk that illiquid investments may be difficult to sell for the value at which they are carried, if at all, or at any price within the desired time frame.

· U.S. Government Securities Risk—Securities issued by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities may receive varying levels of support from the U.S. Government, which could affect the Fund’s ability to recover should they default. To the extent the Fund invests significantly in securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities, any market movements, regulatory changes or changes in political or economic conditions that affect the securities of the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities in which the Fund invests may have a significant impact on the Fund’s performance.

· Portfolio Turnover Risk—Depending on market and other conditions, the Fund may experience high portfolio turnover, which may result in greater transactional expenses, such as brokerage commissions, bid-ask spreads, or dealer mark-ups, and capital gains (which could increase taxes and, consequently, reduce returns).