Joseph Castro
About Joseph Castro
Joseph T. Castro serves as Executive Vice President, Chief Risk and Compliance Officer (CRCO) at Nuveen and is a Vice President (officer) of JLS, appointed in 2025; year of birth: 1964 . He joined Nuveen in 2011 after 14 years at Fidelity Investments in senior compliance leadership roles (including CCO roles across multiple broker-dealers) and previously held compliance positions at Citibank and began his compliance career at PaineWebber; he holds a BSBA in Finance from the University of Denver . Officers of the Fund serve without compensation from the Fund (compensation paid by the Adviser), and executive officers as a group beneficially owned less than 1% of each Fund’s outstanding shares as of February 18, 2025, limiting trading-pressure signals tied to fund-level pay or ownership .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nuveen | EVP, Chief Risk & Compliance Officer; previously Head of Compliance (2013–2025); joined as SVP & Deputy CCO | 2011–present | Leads global Compliance, Operational Risk, and Investment Risk programs; designed and executed enterprise compliance frameworks |
| Fidelity Investments | Senior compliance leadership; at times CCO for four broker-dealers; SVP & Deputy CCO | 14 years | Designed/implemented programs covering federal securities laws; managed firm-wide AML and U.S. Sanctions compliance |
| Citibank | VP & Group Compliance Officer (emerging markets capital markets and corporate finance); prior compliance roles | 7 years | Led compliance oversight for complex international activities |
| PaineWebber | Early compliance roles | Not disclosed | Foundation of securities compliance career |
External Roles
- None disclosed in JLS proxy or Nuveen profile materials specific to Castro .
Fixed Compensation
- Officers receive no compensation from the Funds; compensation (including base salary and incentive components for compliance roles) is paid by the Adviser, not itemized at the fund level .
Performance Compensation
- Not disclosed at the fund level for officers; no RSU/PSU/option details, performance metric weightings, or payout schedules for Castro in the JLS proxy .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
- Beneficial ownership: As of February 18, 2025, executive officers as a group beneficially owned less than 1% of outstanding shares of each Fund, indicating limited fund-level skin-in-the-game and minimal potential insider selling pressure from officer holdings .
- Pledging/hedging: No pledging or hedging disclosures for Castro were identified in the proxy .
- Section 16 compliance: The Funds reported compliance with applicable Section 16(a) filing requirements during the last fiscal year (covering officers/affiliates) .
Employment Terms
| Item | Disclosure |
|---|---|
| Fund Officer Title | Vice President (officer) of JLS |
| Term & Length of Service | Term: Indefinite; Length of Service: Since 2025 |
| Election & Tenure Mechanics | Officers are elected by the Board on an annual basis to serve until successors are elected and qualified |
| Compensation Source | No compensation from the Funds; compensation paid by the Adviser |
| Severance/Change-of-Control | Not disclosed in the fund proxy for officers |
| Clawbacks/Ownership Guidelines | Not disclosed at the fund level for officers |
Investment Implications
- Compensation alignment and pay-for-performance analysis not assessable at the fund level: Castro’s compensation is paid by the Adviser (Nuveen/TIAA), with no fund-level disclosure of salary/bonus/equity or performance metrics, limiting direct inference on pay-for-performance alignment for JLS; this reduces predictive signals from fund proxies .
- Insider selling pressure appears minimal: Executive officers as a group own <1% of outstanding shares, suggesting low risk of material selling pressure impacting JLS from officer holdings; no pledging/hedging red flags disclosed .
- Retention risk likely low based on tenure/experience: Castro’s long tenure at Nuveen (since 2011) and senior CRCO role indicate institutional continuity and robust compliance leadership, which typically mitigates operational and governance risks for funds overseen by Nuveen .
- Governance/process risk oversight: The proxy shows structured board committee oversight and compliance frameworks across the fund complex; while not specific to Castro, his CRCO purview and officer role support disciplined risk and compliance execution—positive for operational reliability but not a direct trading signal without performance-linked compensation disclosure .