John Spence

Nuveen to Launch 5 Treasury Index ETFs, Announces Monthly Tax-Free Dividends for Closed-End ETFs

Chicago-based Nuveen Investments announced that it plans to launch the first exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that track U.S. Treasury Indexes. The new ETFs will be called Fixed Income Trust Receipts (FITRs) and will be based on Ryan Treasury Indexes of 1-year, 2-year, 5-year, and 10-year Treasury issues and 20-year Treasury STRIPs.

STRIPs, which stands for Separate Trading of Registered Interest and Principal Securities, are created by bond dealers by dividing individual interest-paying securities into component cash flows and selling each one separately. When a bond gets "stripped" of its interest payments, it becomes a zero-coupon bond. The owner is not paid any interest, but buys the right to repayment of principal at a discount to the face value.

The new ETFs will be traded on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX), pending final regulatory approval.

The Nuveen funds will track Ryan Treasury Indexes, the first set of bond indexes developed by Ronald J. Ryan in 1983. Ryan previously served as Director of Fixed Income Research at Lehman Brothers before he left in 1982 to found a fixed-income quantitative research firm that would later become Ryan Labs, Inc.

Below is a table that lists historical performance of Ryan Treasury Indexes that the Nuveen ETFs will be based upon, as of 11/30/2000.

* annualized returns               Source: Ryan Labs, Inc.[/:Author:]
The new Treasury Index ETFs may be attractive to many investors in 2001 should stock prices continue to sag. "These new ETFs will make buying and selling Treasury securities as convenient as buying and selling stocks," said Gary Gastineau, Managing Director of ETF Product Development at Nuveen. "They will benefit both retail and institutional investors."

Nuveen Closed-End Exchange-Traded Funds and Portfolios Declare Monthly Tax-free Dividends

Sixty closed-end Nuveen exchange-traded funds and portfolios declared their monthly dividends today. In October, Nuveen announced its plans to launch its first open-ended ETF based on the America's Fastest Growing Companies Index, an index comprised of 500 small cap companies that meet specific earnings growth criteria.

All of the listed dividends, excepting the Nuveen Senior Loan Fund, are tax-free.

Record Date: 1/15/2001
Ex-Dividend Date: 1/10/2001
Payable Date: 2/1/2001

Exchange-Traded Portfolios

Source: Nuveen Investments[/:Author:]
Non-Leveraged ETFs

Source: Nuveen Investments[/:Author:]
National Leveraged ETFs

Source: Nuveen Investments[/:Author:]
California Leveraged ETFs

Source: Nuveen Investments[/:Author:]
Florida Leveraged ETFs

Source: Nuveen Investments[/:Author:]
New York Leveraged ETFs

Source: Nuveen Investments[/:Author:]
Other State Leveraged ETFs

Source: Nuveen Investments[/:Author:]
Senior Loan ETF