Brett E. Black
Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer at Nuveen Preferred & Income Opportunities Fund
Executive
About Brett E. Black
Brett E. Black (born 1972) serves as Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) of Nuveen Preferred & Income Opportunities Fund (JPC); he has held officer roles in the Nuveen closed‑end fund complex since 2022 . The Funds report that officers receive no compensation from the Funds (the CCO’s compensation—base salary and incentive—is paid by the Adviser, with an allocable portion of the CCO’s incentive compensation reimbursed by the Funds) . Prior to Nuveen, Black was Vice President (2014–2022), Chief Compliance Officer, and Anti‑Money Laundering Compliance Officer (2017–2022) of BMO Funds, Inc. . Fund‑level TSR/revenue/EBITDA performance metrics are not disclosed for the officer’s compensation framework in JPC’s proxy .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nuveen (Fund complex) | Managing Director; Chief Compliance Officer | Since 2022 | Oversees fund complex compliance; provides quarterly reports and private sessions with Board’s Compliance, Risk Management & Regulatory Oversight Committee . |
| BMO Funds, Inc. | Vice President | 2014–2022 | Senior compliance leadership at registered funds . |
| BMO Funds, Inc. | Chief Compliance Officer; Anti‑Money Laundering Compliance Officer | 2017–2022 | Led fund CCO and AML programs . |
External Roles
No external directorships or outside board roles are disclosed for Brett E. Black in JPC’s proxy officer biographies .
Fixed Compensation
- Officers receive no compensation from the Funds; the Funds have no employees .
- The CCO’s compensation (composed of base salary and incentive) is paid by the Adviser, and the Funds reimburse the Adviser for an allocable portion of the CCO’s incentive compensation .
- Specific amounts (base, target bonus %, actual bonus) for the CCO are not disclosed in the proxy .
Performance Compensation
- The only disclosed structure is that the CCO has “incentive compensation”; no performance metric definitions, weightings, targets, or payout curves are provided for JPC or the Nuveen closed‑end fund complex .
- The CCO regularly reports to and meets privately with the Board’s Compliance, Risk Management & Regulatory Oversight Committee, which oversees compliance and risk matters; this indicates governance linkage but not explicit pay‑for‑performance metrics .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Ownership metric | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| JPC common shares outstanding (record date: Feb 18, 2025) | 321,699,932 | JPC outstanding shares per proxy . |
| Beneficial ownership by Board Members and officers as a group (JPC) | 3,835 shares | Group holdings shown in Appendix A . |
| Group ownership as % of JPC shares | ≈0.0012% | Calculated from 3,835 / 321,699,932; proxy states group beneficially owns <1% of each Fund . |
- Individual officer holdings (including Brett E. Black) are not itemized; only group totals are provided .
- Pledging/hedging and officer stock ownership guidelines for JPC officers are not disclosed; a governance principle applies to Board Members (not officers) to invest at least one year of compensation in the Fund Complex .
Employment Terms
| Term element | Disclosure |
|---|---|
| Position | Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer |
| Term of office | Indefinite; officers are elected annually by the Board to serve until successors are elected and qualified |
| Length of service | Since 2022 (officer in Nuveen fund complex) |
| Employer/Payor | Compensation paid by Adviser; Funds reimburse part of CCO incentive compensation |
| Severance / Change‑of‑Control | Not disclosed |
| Ownership reporting | Funds indicate Board Members and officers complied with Section 16(a) filing requirements during the last fiscal year |
| Governance interface | CCO provides quarterly reports and private sessions with the Board’s Compliance Committee; committee oversees compliance, risk management, and regulatory matters |
Investment Implications
- Compensation alignment: JPC officers (including the CCO) are paid by the Adviser; the Funds reimburse only a portion of the CCO’s incentive compensation. Absent disclosed metrics/targets, there is limited visibility into direct pay‑for‑performance linkage to JPC‑specific outcomes .
- Insider selling pressure and alignment: Individual officer ownership is not disclosed; group holdings in JPC are de minimis relative to shares outstanding (~0.0012%), suggesting minimal direct equity‑based selling pressure or alignment signals from officer ownership at the fund level .
- Retention and governance: Indefinite term with annual Board election for officers and structured Compliance Committee oversight of the CCO role indicate institutionalized governance processes; however, the absence of severance/change‑of‑control disclosure limits assessment of retention economics or potential transition costs .