Founded in 1898, Nuveen Investments began as John Nuveen & Company, when founder John Nuveen, Sr. created the firm as an investment banking company specializing in the underwriting and distribution of municipal bonds. The first bond it underwrote was for a Minnesota water company. After World War II, John Nuveen, Jr. helped with the
Marshall Plan administration. In 1969, it was purchased by
Investors Diversified Services (IDS). In 1974, the company was sold to
The St. Paul Companies. It was privatised in 2007 after being acquired by a private equity group led by
Madison Dearborn Partners for $5.4 billion. Following turbulence of both the
2008 financial crisis and the
European debt crisis and in the face of increasing consolidation in the financial services industry, Nuveen merged with current parent TIAA and has since taken over the entirety of its investment operations. Nuveen came under criticism during 2008 for its involvement in the
auction rate securities auction failures, during which assets held in Nuveen's closed-end funds, totaling $15 billion, became illiquid. Those funds had two share classes: auction-rate
preferred shares that hold first claim on the underlying assets (and pay income at rates set in weekly auctions), and
common shares that typically pay higher income in exchange for greater risk of loss of principal. During the auction failures, while common shareholders suffered worse than preferred shareholders in terms of principal losses, they were able to sell their shares on the NYSE while preferred shareholders had no market in which to sell. The company later set refinancing for $2.7 Billion in taxable auction-rate preferred shares and has placed $500 Million of VRDP refinancing for its municipal auction rate preferred shares. Nuveen is among the signatories of the "Principles for a Responsible Civilian Firearms Industry," which seeks to engage firearms manufacturers, dealers, and retailers in promoting
gun safety. In October 2022, Nuveen agreed to buy Europe's largest private lender, Arcmont Asset Management, for over US$1billion. Following completion, the company plans to form a new unit called Nuveen Private Capital, which will include Arcmont and Churchill Asset Management businesses. ==Sponsorships==