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NUVEEN  3

 

 

Chairman’s Letter to Shareholders

Dear Shareholders,

After a sluggish first half of 2016, the U.S. economy gained some momentum in the third quarter. In fact, it was the economy’s strongest quarterly acceleration in two years, propelled by healthy consumer spending, a temporary surge in exports and a turnaround in inventories. As the year wound down, 2016 looked on track to deliver the same steady-but-slow growth that has characterized the seven-year recovery.

A year ago, the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) took the first step toward policy “normalization” by raising its benchmark interest rate at its December 2015 meeting. Speculation about the Fed’s intentions since then has been a strong influence on the markets throughout 2016. After remaining on hold for a year, the Fed judged that the economy’s modest growth, the return to “full” employment and an uptick in inflation were sufficient to raise the target rate at the December 2016 meeting.

The global economy stayed on a path of low growth overall. Some concerns eased in 2016: China managed a gradual slowdown, stabilizing commodity prices provided some relief to emerging markets and the U.K. and eurozone economies held steady despite the U.K.’s surprise vote to leave the European Union. However, other uncertainties have surfaced. The threat of protectionism and potential trade wars has risen amid the populist sentiment underscoring the Brexit majority and the election of Donald Trump, as well as appearing in campaign rhetoric across Europe as elections loom in 2017. Moreover, there are growing concerns that global central banks’ unprecedented efforts to revive growth may be showing signs of fatigue. Interest rates are currently at or near zero across the developed world and only slightly higher than that in the U.S.; nonetheless, growth has remained subdued.

Since the election, U.S. stocks have rallied strongly on expectations that the Republican controlled Congress and Trump administration will pursue more business friendly policies. But the details have yet to be seen. Given muted global growth, the risk of policy errors by central banks around the world, the unfolding Brexit process and an uncertain political outlook (not just in the U.S. but also in Europe), we anticipate that turbulence remains on the horizon for the time being. In this environment, Nuveen remains committed to both managing downside risks and seeking upside potential. If you’re concerned about how resilient your investment portfolio might be, we encourage you to talk to your financial advisor. On behalf of the other members of the Nuveen Fund Board, we look forward to continuing to earn your trust in the months and years ahead.

Sincerely,

William J. Schneider
Chairman of the Board
January 23, 2017

4  NUVEEN

 

Portfolio Managers’ Comments

Nuveen Intermediate Duration Municipal Term Fund (NID)
Nuveen Intermediate Duration Quality Municipal Term Fund (NIQ)

These Funds feature portfolio management by Nuveen Asset Management, LLC (NAM), an affiliate of Nuveen Investments, Inc. Portfolio managers John V. Miller, CFA, Timothy T. Ryan, CFA, Steven M. Hlavin and Daniel J. Close, CFA, discuss key investment strategies and the six-month performance of these two Nuveen Funds. John, Tim and Steve have managed NID since its inception in December 2012 and Dan has managed NIQ since its inception in February 2013.

What key strategies were used to manage NID and NIQ during the six-month reporting period ended November 30, 2016?

After declining in the first half of the reporting period, interest rates began to rise moderately at first then accelerated steeply in the aftermath of the November U.S. presidential election. Fixed income yields, including those of municipal bonds, ended the six-month reporting period higher. Municipal bond credit spreads also widened in this reporting period, driven by a reversal of investor flows from high yield municipal bond mutual funds. This environment was negative for municipal bond performance, leading the broad market lower for the reporting period as a whole.

Despite the more challenging backdrop, our trading activity continued to focus on pursuing the Funds’ investment objectives. We continued to seek bonds in areas of the market that we expected to perform well as the economy continued to improve. The Funds’ positioning emphasized intermediate and longer maturities, some lower-rated credits and sectors offering higher yields. To fund these purchases, we generally reinvested the proceeds from called and maturing bonds. In some cases, we sold bonds that we believed had deteriorating fundamentals or could be traded for a better relative value, as well as selling short-dated, higher quality issues that we tend to hold over short timeframes as a source of liquidity.

The two Funds’ overall positioning remained stable over the reporting period. NID’s trading was moderately active. Most of NID’s buying was due to reinvesting the proceeds from called and maturing bonds, but we also sold a considerable portion of the Fund’s Virgin Islands paper and reinvested those proceeds. Additions to NID’s portfolio included local general obligation (GO) bonds issued for the Chicago Board of Education, health care credits and industrial development revenue (IDR) bonds. NIQ bought one state GO, one insured toll road credit, one AAA rated water and sewer issue and one utility bond. The purchases were funded by call and maturity proceeds.

 

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Certain statements in this report are forward-looking statements. Discussions of specific investments are for illustration only and are not intended as recommendations of individual investments. The forward-looking statements and other views expressed herein are those of the portfolio managers as of the date of this report. Actual future results or occurrences may differ significantly from those anticipated in any forward-looking statements, and the views expressed herein are subject to change at any time, due to numerous market and other factors. The Funds disclaim any obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or views expressed herein.

For financial reporting purposes, the ratings disclosed are the highest rating given by one of the following national rating agencies: Standard & Poor’s (S&P), Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (Moody’s) or Fitch, Inc. (Fitch). This treatment of split-rated securities may differ from that used for other purposes, such as for Fund investment policies. Credit ratings are subject to change. AAA, AA, A and BBB are investment grade ratings, while BB, B, CCC, CC, C and D are below investment grade ratings. Certain bonds backed by U.S. Government or agency securities are regarded as having an implied rating equal to the rating of such securities. Holdings designated N/R are not rated by these national rating agencies.

Bond insurance guarantees only the payment of principal and interest on the bond when due, and not the value of the bonds themselves, which will fluctuate with the bond market and the financial success of the issuer and the insurer. Insurance relates specifically to the bonds in the portfolio and not to the share prices of a Fund. No representation is made as to the insurers’ ability to meet their commitments.

Refer to the Glossary of Terms Used in this Report for further definition of the terms used within this section.

NUVEEN  5

 

 

Portfolio Managers’ Comments (continued)

As of November 30, 2016, both of these Funds continued to use inverse floating rate securities. We employ inverse floaters for a variety of reasons, including duration management, income enhancement and total return enhancement. As part of our duration management strategies, NID and NIQ also used duration shortening forward interest rate swaps to help maintain the Funds’ ten-year maximum duration mandate. Early in the reporting period, NIQ eliminated its duration hedge and did not hold any forward interest rate swap positions as of the end of the period. Since long-term interest rates generally increased during the holding periods of the swaps, the swaps had a negligible impact on performance.

How did NID and NIQ perform during the six-month reporting period ended November 30, 2016?

The tables in each Fund’s Performance Overview and Holding Summaries section of this report provide the Funds’ total returns for the six-month, one-year and since-inception periods ended November 30, 2016. Each Fund’s total returns at common share net asset value (NAV) are compared with the performance of a corresponding market index.

For the six months ended November 30, 2016, the total returns at common share NAV for NID and NIQ underperformed the returns for the S&P Intermediate Duration Municipal Yield Index and the S&P Municipal Bond Intermediate Index, respectively.

The main factors influencing the Funds’ relative performance during this reporting period were duration and yield curve positioning, ratings allocations, sector positioning and credit selection. In addition, the use of regulatory leverage was an important factor negatively affecting performance of the Funds. Leverage is discussed in more detail later in the Fund Leverage section of this report.

Duration and yield curve positioning was disadvantageous for NID’s relative performance but helped NIQ’s relative results. In this reporting period, interest rates increased more on the longer end of the yield curve than on the shorter end. As a result, short maturity municipal bonds outperformed long maturity municipal bonds. NID maintained a slightly longer duration than the benchmark index, and the Fund’s greater exposure to longer maturity bonds underperformed as the yield curve steepened. NIQ’s positioning, however, was underweight in the longest maturity bonds. This, together with an overweight to the shortest maturities, helped NIQ’s duration and yield curve positioning contribute positively to performance.

Ratings allocation had a relatively neutral effect on NID’s performance and was beneficial for NIQ’s performance. NIQ’s underweight allocation to AAA rated credits, a group which underperformed, and an overweight to non-rated bonds, which performed well, drove relative gains.

Sector positioning detracted from both Funds’ relative performance. NID’s significant underweight to Puerto Rico bonds was detrimental to relative returns. Puerto Rico bonds performed strongly during this reporting period due to positive sentiment surrounding new legislation designed to help the Commonwealth manage its debt burden. NID was also hurt by its overweight to some of the sectors that saw greater-than-average credit spread widening during this reporting period, namely health care, tobacco and IDR. For NIQ, the higher education sector was favorable to performance, but gains were offset by its allocation to appropriation bonds. In addition, in August 2016, we established a position in the bonds of FirstEnergy Generation Corp., an energy producer that unexpectedly announced possible future debt restructuring tied to the company’s financial difficulties. Following this announcement, the bonds lost significant value and had a negative impact on the Fund’s results.

 

6  NUVEEN

An Update Involving Puerto Rico

As noted in the Funds’ previous shareholder reports, we continue to monitor situations in the broader municipal market for any impact on the Funds’ holdings and performance: the ongoing economic problems of Puerto Rico is one such case. Puerto Rico’s continued economic weakening, escalating debt service obligations, and long-standing inability to deliver a balanced budget led to multiple downgrades on its debt over the past two years. Puerto Rico has warned investors since 2014 that the island’s debt burden may be unsustainable and the Commonwealth has been exploring various strategies to deal with this burden, including Chapter 9 bankruptcy, which is currently not available by law. On June 30, 2016, President Obama signed the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA) into law. The legislation creates a path for Puerto Rico to establish an independent oversight board responsible for managing the government’s financial operations and restructure debt. Implementation is expected to take time, as the law focuses on developing a comprehensive five-year fiscal plan.

In terms of Puerto Rico holdings, shareholders should note that NID had limited exposure, which was insured, to Puerto Rico debt during this reporting period, generally totaling under 0.5%, while NIQ had no exposure to Puerto Rico bonds. The Puerto Rico credits offered higher yields, added diversification and triple exemption (i.e., exemption from most federal, state and local taxes). Puerto Rico general obligation debt is currently rated Caa2/CC/CC (below investment grade) by Moody’s, S&P and Fitch, respectively, with negative outlooks.

A Note About Investment Valuations

The municipal securities held by the Funds are valued by the Funds’ pricing service using a range of market-based inputs and assumptions. A different municipal pricing service might incorporate different assumptions and inputs into its valuation methodology, potentially resulting in different values for the same securities. These differences could be significant, both as to such individual securities, and as to the value of a given Fund’s portfolio in its entirety. Thus, the current net asset value of a Fund’s shares may be impacted, higher or lower, if the Fund were to change pricing service, or if its pricing service were to materially change its valuation methodology. On October 4, 2016, the Funds’ current municipal bond pricing service was acquired by the parent company of another pricing service. The two services have not yet combined their valuation organizations and process, but may do so in the future. Thus there is an increased risk that the organization acting as each Fund’s pricing service may change, or that the Funds’ pricing service may change its valuation methodology, either of which could have an impact on the net asset value of each Fund’s shares.

 

NUVEEN  7

Fund Leverage

IMPACT OF THE FUNDS’ LEVERAGE STRATEGIES ON PERFORMANCE

One important factor impacting the returns of the Funds relative to their comparative benchmarks was the Funds’ use of leverage through their issuance of preferred shares and/or investments in inverse floating rate securities, which represent leveraged investments in underlying bonds. The Funds use leverage because our research has shown that, over time, leveraging provides opportunities for additional income, particularly in the recent market environment where short-term market rates are at or near historical lows, meaning that the short-term rates the Fund has been paying on its leveraging instruments have been much lower than the interest the Fund has been earning on its portfolio of long-term bonds that it has bought with the proceeds of that leverage. However, use of leverage also can expose the Fund to additional price volatility. When a Fund uses leverage, the Fund will experience a greater increase in its net asset value if the municipal bonds acquired through the use of leverage increase in value, but it will also experience a correspondingly larger decline in its net asset value if the bonds acquired through leverage decline in value, which will make the Fund’s net asset value more volatile, and its total return performance more variable over time. In addition, income in levered funds will typically decrease in comparison to unlevered funds when short-term interest rates increase and increase when short-term interest rates decrease. Leverage had a negative impact on the performance of both Funds over this reporting period.

 

THE FUNDS’ REGULATORY LEVERAGE

As of November 30, 2016, the Funds have issued and outstanding Variable Rate MuniFund Term Preferred (VMTP) Shares as shown in the accompanying table.

 

Refer to Notes to Financial Statements, Note 4 — Fund Shares, Preferred Shares for further details on VMTP Shares and each Fund’s respective transactions.

 

8  NUVEEN

Common Share Information

COMMON SHARE DISTRIBUTION INFORMATION

The following information regarding the Funds’ distributions is current as of November 30, 2016. Each Fund’s distribution levels may vary over time based on each Fund’s investment activity and portfolio investment value changes.

During the current reporting period, each Fund’s distributions to common shareholders were as shown in the accompanying table.

 

Each Fund in this report seeks to pay regular monthly dividends out of their net investment income at a rate that reflects its past and projected net income performance. To permit each Fund to maintain a more stable monthly dividend, the Fund may pay dividends at a rate that may be more or less than the amount of net income actually earned by the Fund during the period. If a Fund has cumulatively earned more than it has paid in dividends, it will hold the excess in reserve as undistributed net investment income (UNII) as part of the Fund’s net asset value. Conversely, if a Fund has cumulatively paid in dividends more than it has earned, the excess will constitute a negative UNII that will likewise be reflected in the Fund’s net asset value. Each Fund will, over time, pay all its net investment income as dividends to shareholders.

As of November 30, 2016, the Funds had positive UNII balances, based upon our best estimate, for tax purposes. NID had a positive UNII balance while NIQ had a negative UNII balance for financial reporting purposes.

All monthly dividends paid by each Fund during the current reporting period were paid from net investment income. If a portion of the Fund’s monthly distributions was sourced from or comprised of elements other than net investment income, including capital gains and/or a return of capital, shareholders would have received a notice to that effect. For financial reporting purposes the

 

NUVEEN  9

Common Share Information (continued)

composition and per share amounts of each Fund’s dividends for the reporting period are presented in this report’s Statement of Changes in Net Assets and Financial Highlights, respectively. For income tax purposes distribution information for each Fund as of its most recent tax year end is presented in Note 6 — Income Tax Information within the Notes to Financial Statements of this report.

COMMON SHARE REPURCHASES

During August 2016, the Funds’ Board of Trustees reauthorized an open-market share repurchase program, allowing each Fund to repurchase an aggregate of up to approximately 10% of its outstanding shares.

As of November 30, 2016, and since the inception of the Funds’ repurchase programs, the Funds have cumulatively repurchased and retired common shares as shown in the accompanying table. 

 

 

 

10  NUVEEN

Risk Considerations

Fund shares are not guaranteed or endorsed by any bank or other insured depository institution, and are not federally insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Nuveen Intermediate Duration Municipal Term Fund (NID)

Investing in closed-end funds involves risk; principal loss is possible. There is no guarantee the Fund’s investment objectives will be achieved. Closed-end fund shares may frequently trade at a discount or premium to their net asset value. Debt or fixed income securities such as those held by the Fund, are subject to market risk, credit risk, interest rate risk, derivatives risk, liquidity risk, and income risk. As interest rates rise, bond prices fall. Lower credit debt securities may be more likely to fail to make timely interest or principal payments. Leverage increases return volatility and magnifies the Fund’s potential return and its risks; there is no guarantee a fund’s leverage strategy will be successful. For these and other risks, including the Fund’s limited term and inverse floater risk, see the Fund’s web page at www.nuveen.com/NID.

Nuveen Intermediate Duration Quality Municipal Term Fund (NIQ)

Investing in closed-end funds involves risk; principal loss is possible. There is no guarantee the Fund’s investment objectives will be achieved. Closed-end fund shares may frequently trade at a discount or premium to their net asset value. Debt or fixed income securities such as those held by the Fund, are subject to market risk, credit risk, interest rate risk, derivatives risk, liquidity risk, and income risk. As interest rates rise, bond prices fall. Leverage increases return volatility and magnifies the Fund’s potential return and its risks; there is no guarantee a fund’s leverage strategy will be successful. For these and other risks, including the Fund’s limited term and inverse floater risk, see the Fund’s web page at www.nuveen.com/NIQ.

NUVEEN  11

NID

Nuveen Intermediate Duration Municipal Term Fund
Performance Overview and Holding Summaries as of November 30, 2016

Refer to the Glossary of Terms Used in this Report for further definition of the terms used within this section.

Average Annual Total Returns as of November 30, 2016

 

Since inception returns are from 12/05/12. Past performance is not predictive of future results. Current performance may be higher or lower than the data shown. Returns do not reflect the deduction of taxes that shareholders may have to pay on Fund distributions or upon the sale of Fund shares. Returns at NAV are net of Fund expenses, and assume reinvestment of distributions. Comparative index and Lipper return information is provided for the Fund’s shares at NAV only. Indexes are not available for direct investment.

12  NUVEEN

This data relates to the securities held in the Fund’s portfolio of investments as of the end of the reporting period. It should not be construed as a measure of performance for the Fund itself. Holdings are subject to change.

For financial reporting purposes, the ratings disclosed are the highest rating given by one of the following national rating agencies: Standard & Poor’s Group, Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or Fitch, Inc. This treatment of split-rated securities may differ from that used for other purposes, such as for Fund investment policies. Credit ratings are subject to change. AAA, AA, A and BBB are investment grade ratings; BB, B, CCC, CC, C and D are below-investment grade ratings. Certain bonds backed by U.S. Government or agency securities are regarded as having an implied rating equal to the rating of such securities. Holdings designated N/R are not rated by these national rating agencies.

 

 

 

 

 

NUVEEN  13

NIQ

Nuveen Intermediate Duration Quality Municipal Term Fund
Performance Overview and Holding Summaries as of November 30, 2016

Refer to the Glossary of Terms Used in this Report for further definition of the terms used within this section.

Average Annual Total Returns as of November 30, 2016

 

Since inception returns are from 2/07/13. Past performance is not predictive of future results. Current performance may be higher or lower than the data shown. Returns do not reflect the deduction of taxes that shareholders may have to pay on Fund distributions or upon the sale of Fund shares. Returns at NAV are net of Fund expenses, and assume reinvestment of distributions. Comparative index and Lipper return information is provided for the Fund’s shares at NAV only. Indexes are not available for direct investment.

 

14  NUVEEN

This data relates to the securities held in the Fund’s portfolio of investments as of the end of the reporting period. It should not be construed as a measure of performance for the Fund itself. Holdings are subject to change.

For financial reporting purposes, the ratings disclosed are the highest rating given by one of the following national rating agencies: Standard & Poor’s Group, Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or Fitch, Inc. This treatment of split-rated securities may differ from that used for other purposes, such as for Fund investment policies. Credit ratings are subject to change. AAA, AA, A and BBB are investment grade ratings; BB, B, CCC, CC, C and D are below-investment grade ratings. Certain bonds backed by U.S. Government or agency securities are regarded as having an implied rating equal to the rating of such securities. Holdings designated N/R are not rated by these national rating agencies.

 

 

 

 

NUVEEN  15

 

 

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18  NUVEEN

 

NUVEEN  19

 

 

20  NUVEEN

 

NUVEEN  21

 

 

22  NUVEEN