- Business
- Nuveen Mortgage and Income Fund (NYSE: JLS) is a closed-end fixed income fund that seeks to generate high current income through opportunistic investments in securitized credit, primarily in the U.S. fixed income markets. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in mortgage-related assets including mortgage-backed securities (MBS) such as residential MBS (RMBS) and commercial MBS (CMBS), and other income-producing securities including asset-backed securities (ABS), bonds, debt securities and similar instruments; it allocates at least 50% of its managed assets to MBS and up to 50% to non-mortgage-related ABS such as collateralized loan obligations, pools of consumer auto loans, credit card receivables, aircraft leases and maintenance agreements, timeshare agreements, and solar photovoltaics, with a maximum of 5% in catastrophe bonds. The Fund employs leverage to enhance returns and uses fundamental analysis focused on credit performance of underlying mortgage loan portfolios, security structures, and servicer strength, with a portfolio benchmarked against the ICE BofA U.S. ABS and CMBS Index.
Launched on November 25, 2009, as Nuveen Mortgage Opportunity Term Fund and later renamed, the Fund is managed by Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC and Nuveen Asset Management, LLC, with Teachers Advisors, LLC serving as subadviser, and is headquartered at 333 West Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois. It primarily targets income-focused investors seeking exposure to undervalued, often below-investment-grade mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities with favorable total return potential.
In recent quarters as of June 30, 2025, the Fund maintained a tactical approach amid tight spreads by selectively exiting higher-quality positions such as a credit risk transfer security and esoteric ABS to rotate into opportunities offering greater upside, with no major portfolio positioning changes; below-investment-grade ABS, collateralized loan obligations, and mezzanine CMBS contributed positively, while MBS and certain solar ABS holdings detracted amid stable spreads. The Fund outperformed its benchmark for the second quarter of 2025, driven by strong performance in ABS and CMBS sectors. No significant acquisitions, partnerships, funding rounds, or structural reorganizations have been reported for JLS in the last 1-2 years.