Rachael Zufall
About Rachael Zufall
Rachael Zufall serves as Vice President and Assistant Secretary of Nuveen Municipal Credit Opportunities Fund (NMCO). She was born in 1973 and is based at 8500 Andrew Carnegie Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28262; she has served as an officer of the Nuveen fund complex since 2022, with principal occupations including Managing Director and Associate General Counsel roles across Nuveen/TIAA investment entities as of March 1, 2025 . Officers of the Funds are elected annually, serve with an indefinite term, and receive no compensation from the Funds; any compensation for certain officers (e.g., CCO) is paid by the Adviser, not the Funds .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC | Managing Director and Assistant Secretary | Not disclosed (active as of Mar 1, 2025) | Legal/governance officer across Nuveen closed-end funds |
| College Retirement Equities Fund (CREF); TIAA Separate Account VA-1; TIAA-CREF Funds; TIAA-CREF Life Funds | Managing Director, Associate General Counsel and Assistant Secretary | Since 2014 (MD since 2017) | Legal and governance leadership for registered investment companies in TIAA/CREF complex |
| Teachers Advisors, LLC; TIAA-CREF Investment Management, LLC | Managing Director, Associate General Counsel and Assistant Secretary | Since 2011 (MD since 2017) | Legal oversight and assistant secretary functions for advisory entities |
| Nuveen, LLC; TIAA | Managing Director | Since 2017 | Senior legal/management responsibilities within Nuveen/TIAA |
External Roles
Not disclosed in NMCO proxy filings.
Fixed Compensation
- Officers of the Funds serve without compensation from the Funds; the proxy does not disclose individual officer salaries, bonuses, or equity awards for fund officers .
- The CCO’s pay is funded by the Adviser (Nuveen Fund Advisors), with reimbursed allocations for incentives; this structure underscores that officer compensation is not Fund-level and is not broken out by individual officer in the proxy .
Performance Compensation
Not disclosed for fund officers. The Funds indicate officers receive no compensation from the Funds and do not provide individual incentive metrics or payouts for officers in the proxy .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Metric | Disclosure |
|---|---|
| Individual beneficial ownership (Rachael Zufall) | Not disclosed in NMCO proxy Appendix A; only Board members are shown individually. Officers are reported as part of a group . |
| Officers and Board as a group | Less than 1% of outstanding shares of each Fund as of Feb 18, 2025 . |
| Pledging/Hedging | Not disclosed in the NMCO proxy filings for officers . |
| Stock ownership guidelines | Not disclosed for officers in NMCO proxy materials . |
| Section 16 compliance | Funds state Board members and officers complied with Section 16(a) filing requirements in the last fiscal year . |
Employment Terms
| Term | Disclosure |
|---|---|
| Title | Vice President and Assistant Secretary |
| Term of office | Indefinite; officers are elected annually by the Board to serve until successors are elected and qualified |
| Length of time served | Since 2022 (officer of Nuveen fund complex) |
| Principal occupations (past 5 years) | Managing Director and Assistant Secretary of Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC; Managing Director/Associate General Counsel/Assistant Secretary across CREF, VA-1, TIAA-CREF Funds/Life Funds; Teachers Advisors, LLC; TIAA-CREF Investment Management, LLC; Managing Director of Nuveen, LLC and TIAA |
| Employment agreement | Not disclosed in NMCO proxy or 8-K filings reviewed [Search: employment terms; no results]. |
| Severance / Change-of-control | Not disclosed for officers; NMCO proxy does not include officer employment economics [Search: severance/COC; no results]. |
| Clawbacks / Tax gross-ups | Not disclosed in NMCO proxy for officers [Search: clawback; no results]. |
Investment Implications
- Compensation alignment: As a fund officer, Zufall is not compensated by NMCO; pay is handled at the Adviser level and is not disclosed in fund proxies. This means traditional pay-for-performance levers (revenue/EBITDA/TSR-based incentives) are not visible at the Fund level and do not provide a trading signal for NMCO .
- Insider selling pressure: Individual officer ownership is not disclosed; officers and Board as a group own less than 1% of outstanding shares, implying limited insider-related supply risk for NMCO. Absence of individual Form 4 detail in proxy reduces visibility into personal transaction cadence .
- Retention and governance: Officers have indefinite terms, are elected annually, and occupy legal/assistant secretary roles rather than portfolio management. No disclosed employment contracts, severance, or change-of-control terms suggests standard fund-officer governance with retention risk largely tied to adviser-level employment rather than Fund economics .
- Red flags and compliance: Funds report full Section 16 compliance for Board members and officers in the last fiscal year; no disclosures of pledging, hedging, or legal proceedings related to Zufall in NMCO proxies or 8-Ks reviewed, indicating no obvious governance red flags from fund filings .
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