Top 5 Nuveen National Municipal Bond Closed End Funds

This article will provide Top 5 High Yield Leverage Tax Free Nuveen National Municipal CEFs list. The top funds includes Nuveen Select Quality Municipal,  Nuveen Muni High Income Opportunity  and more.

These municipal bond closed end funds are typically:

• They are part of leveraged funds
• They have tax free high yield compare to mutual funds
• They have higher risks due to interest rate risk

The Top 5 Tax Free Nuveen National Municipal CEFs are:

1. Nuveen Select Quality Municipal (NQS)
2. Nuveen Muni High Income Opportunity (NMZ)
3. Nuveen Dividend Advantage 3 (NZF)
4. Nuveen Municipal High Income Opportunity 2 (NMD)
5. Nuveen Dividend Advantage 2 (NXZ)

1. Nuveen Select Quality Municipal (NQS)

The investment objective of Nuveen Select Quality Municipal fund is to provide current income exempt from federal income tax rate. This muni bond CEF invests most of assets in a diversified portfolio of tax free investment grade municipal bonds. The fund manager is Thomas C. Spalding Jr.

This top municipal bond fund has a distribution rate of 6.56%. Based on 35% federal tax rate, the taxable equivalent yield is 10.1%. The expense ratio is 1.53%. It also has $784 million of total net assets. The effective leverage is 37%.

It has a 5 year annualized return of 6.91%. Morningstar has ranked this closed end fund with 4 stars. As of March 2012, the average duration is 14.28 years and the average maturity is 19.84 years. Its annual portfolio turnover rate is 13%. The top 5 sectors in its portfolio are health care (21.13%), limited tax obligation (17.98%), general tax obligation (13.27%), transportation (12.3%), and US Guaranteed (6.89%).

2. Nuveen Municipal High Income Opportunity (NMZ)

This Nuveen Municipal High Income Opportunity fund uses its assets to purchase a portfolio of investment grade municipal bonds and non-investment grade municipal bonds. John Miller is the fund manager since 2003. As of May 28, 2012, this best muni bond fund is trading 4.34% premium to NAV.

The total nets assets are $462 million. This municipal bond CEF has returned 17.80% over the past 3 year, and 3.09% over the past 5 year. The average coupon is 7.68%. It has 274 holdings in its assets.

3. Nuveen Dividend Advantage 3 (NZF)

Nuveen Dividend Advantage 3 fund has a distribution rate of 6.44%. This yield is distributed monthly. The total expense ratio is 1.50% per year. Its total net assets are $861 million. The total leverage ratio is 35.41%. This top fund is managed by Paul Brennan.

This tax free municipal bond fund is ranked with 4 stars rating by Morningstar. The fund has a 5 year average return of 6.66%.

Disclosure: No Position

also: Top 5 High Yield Tax Free Nuveen National Municipal Bond CEFs

Fund Performance

1. Nuveen Select Quality Muni (NQS) - 37.08%
2. Nuveen Muni High Inc Opp (NMZ) - 39.90%
3. Nuveen Dividend Advantage 3 (NZF) - 35.42%
4. Nuveen Muni High Inc Opp 2 (NMD) - 34.24%
5. Nuveen Dividend Advantage 2 (NXZ) - 32.54%
6. Nuveen Investment Quality Muni (NQM) - 35.90%
7. Nuveen Municipal Advantage (NMA) - 35.24%
8. Nuveen Premium Income Muni 2 (NPM) - 37.11%
9. Nuveen Premier Muni Income (NPF) - 36.83%
10. Nuveen Premium Income Muni (NPI) - 36.23%
11. Nuveen Premium Income Muni 4 (NPT) - 36.07%
12. Nuveen Quality Municipal Fund (NQI) - 37.29%