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 tax-exempt bonds, a type of municipal security, the interest on which, in the opinion of the issuer’s bond counsel at the time of issuance, is exempt from federal income tax, including federal alternative minimum tax (“AMT”). The Fund will generally invest in tax-exempt bonds that have a final maturity of between five and fifteen years. In pursuing its investment objective, the Fund seeks to weight investment in tax-exempt bonds such that at the time of investment in a particular bond at least 5% and not more than 15% of the Fund’s net assets (calculated based on the face (par) value of each tax-exempt bond) is invested in tax-exempt bonds with a final maturity in each year within the five- to fifteen-year maturity range. When a municipal security has a final maturity of less than five years, the Fund normally intends to sell that security within a year and reinvest the proceeds in securities with maturities in the five- to fifteen-year range. The Fund’s portfolio is “laddered” by investing in municipal obligations with different final maturities so that some obligations age out of the five- to fifteen-year maturity range during each year. The Fund may invest up to 20% of its assets in securities rated below investment-grade, or unrated securities of comparable quality, which are usually called “high-yield” or “junk bonds.” Securities of non-investment-grade quality are speculative in nature.

The Fund may also invest in other municipal securities including bonds, notes, commercial paper and other instruments (including participation interests in such securities) issued by or on behalf of the states, territories and possessions of the United States (including the District of Columbia) and their political subdivisions, agencies and instrumentalities, the interest on which, in the opinion of bond counsel for the issuers at the time of issuance, is exempt from regular federal income tax (i.e., excludable from gross income for individuals for federal income tax purposes but not necessarily exempt from AMT). Some of these securities may also be exempt from certain state and local income taxes. The Fund generally defines final maturity as (i) the stated final maturity of a bond, whether or not callable; (ii) the first call date of an existing pre-refunded bond; (iii) the earliest put date of a put bond; or (iv) the monthly re-set date of a municipal floating-rate bond or obligation. All municipal obligations maturing within a calendar year will be defined as having the same final maturity. For purposes of the 80% investment policy, the term “assets” means net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes.

Municipal securities are often issued to raise funds for various public purposes, including the construction of a wide range of public facilities such as bridges, highways, housing, hospitals, mass transportation facilities, schools, streets and public utilities such as water and sewer works.

The Fund does not have a specific target for its average portfolio duration. As of May 31, 2025, the duration of the Fund’s benchmark index, the Bloomberg 10-Year Municipal Bond Index, was 5.88 years.

The Fund may invest up to 20% of its assets in private activity bonds. Private activity bonds are tax-exempt bonds whose proceeds are used to finance private, for-profit organizations. The interest on these securities (including the Fund’s distribution of that interest) may be a preference item for purposes of the AMT. The AMT is a special tax system that ensures that individuals and certain corporations pay at least some federal taxes. Income from securities that are a preference item is included in the computation of the AMT.

The Fund can also invest in other municipal securities, including certificates of participation, municipal leases, municipal obligation components and municipal custody receipts. In addition, the Fund can invest in municipal bonds secured by mortgages on single-family homes and multi-family projects. The Fund’s investments in these securities are subject to prepayment and extension risk. All of the Fund’s assets are dollar-denominated securities.

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 pursues superior returns using historical yield spread and credit analysis to identify and invest in undervalued market sectors and individual securities. The Fund usually sells investments that Teachers Advisors, LLC (“Advisors”) believes to be overvalued on a relative basis.

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 for the last ten years. 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 and Class R6 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 broad-based securities market index and benchmark 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.

As of August 1, 2018, certain changes were made to the Fund’s investment strategy. As a result, the Fund’s performance may differ from the performance information shown below for the period prior to August 1, 2018 as the Fund did not employ a laddering approach during this period. 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 broad-based securities market index and benchmark index listed below are unmanaged, and you cannot invest directly in an index. The returns for the broad-based securities market index and 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: 6.94%, for the quarter ended December 31, 2023. Worst quarter: -6.78%, 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:

· Interest Rate Risk (a type of Market Risk)—The risk that changes in interest rates can adversely affect the value or liquidity of, and income generated by, fixed-income investments. This risk is heightened to the extent the Fund invests in longer duration fixed-income investments and during periods when prevailing interest rates are changing. There is a risk that interest rates across the financial system may change, possibly significantly and/or rapidly. In general, changing interest rates, including rates that fall below zero, or a lack of market participants may lead to decreased liquidity and increased volatility in the fixed-income or debt markets, making it more difficult for the Fund to sell fixed-income investments. When interest rates change, the values of longer duration fixed-income securities usually change more than the values of shorter duration fixed-income securities. Conversely, fixed-income securities with shorter durations or maturities will be less volatile but may provide lower returns than fixed-income securities with longer durations or maturities. Other factors that may affect the value of debt securities include, but are not limited to, economic, political, public health, and other crises and responses by governments and companies to such crises.

· Credit Risk (a type of Issuer Risk)—The risk that the issuer of fixed-income investments may not be able or willing, or may be perceived (whether by market participants, rating agencies, pricing services or otherwise) as not able or willing, to meet interest or principal payments when the payments become due. Actual or perceived changes in economic, social, public health, financial or political conditions in general or that affect a particular type of investment, issuer, guarantor or counterparty can reduce the ability of the party to meet its obligations, which can affect the credit quality, liquidity and/or value of an investment.

· State and Municipal Investment Risk—Because the Fund invests significantly in tax-exempt bonds and other municipal securities, events affecting states and municipalities may adversely affect the Fund’s investments and its performance. These events may include severe financial difficulties and continued budget deficits, economic or political policy changes, tax base erosion, state constitutional limits on tax increases, and changes in the credit ratings assigned to state and municipal issuers of debt instruments.

· Income Volatility Risk—The risk that the level of current income from a portfolio of fixed-income investments may decline in certain interest rate environments.

· 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.

· Non-Investment-Grade Securities Risk—Issuers of non-investment-grade securities, which are usually called “high-yield” or “junk bonds,” are typically

speculative in nature, in weaker financial health and such securities can be harder to value and sell and their prices can be more volatile than more highly rated securities. While these securities generally have higher rates of interest, they also involve greater risk of default than do securities of a higher-quality rating. In times of unusual or adverse market, economic or political conditions, these securities may experience higher than normal default rates.

· Tax Risk—Income from tax-exempt municipal obligations could be declared taxable because of unfavorable changes in tax laws, adverse interpretations by the Internal Revenue Service or the non-compliant conduct of a bond issuer.