John M. McCann
About John M. McCann
John M. McCann (born 1975) serves as Vice President and Assistant Secretary of Nuveen Variable Rate Preferred & Income Fund (NPFD), and is Senior Managing Director and Division General Counsel of Nuveen, with parallel managing director and assistant secretary roles across multiple TIAA/Nuveen entities; he has served as an officer in the Nuveen fund complex since 2022 . The Funds report no officer compensation at the fund level and disclose no personal performance metrics for officers (e.g., TSR, revenue, EBITDA), so pay-for-performance details are not available and not applicable to this fund structure .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Covariance Capital Management, Inc. | General Counsel and Assistant Secretary | 2014–2017 | Not disclosed |
| Nuveen Alternative Advisors LLC | Vice President; Associate General Counsel; Assistant Secretary | Associate GC/Asst. Secretary since 2011; Vice President since 2017 | Not disclosed |
| College Retirement Equities Fund; TIAA Separate Account VA-1; TIAA‑CREF Funds; TIAA‑CREF Life Funds | Managing Director; Director; Associate General Counsel; Assistant Secretary | Managing Director since 2018/2019; prior Director/Associate GC roles as disclosed | Not disclosed |
| TIAA SMA Strategies LLC | Managing Director; Assistant Secretary | Managing Director since 2021; Assistant Secretary since 2016 | Not disclosed |
| Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America; Teacher Advisors LLC; TIAA‑CREF Investment Management, LLC | Managing Director; Associate General Counsel; Assistant Secretary | Managing Director since 2018; prior Director/Associate GC roles as disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC; Nuveen Asset Management, LLC; Nuveen, LLC | Managing Director; Associate General Counsel; Assistant Secretary | Since 2018–2021 per entity disclosures | Not disclosed |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| None disclosed for McCann (officer profiles do not list external directorships) | — | — | — |
Fixed Compensation
- Officers receive no compensation from the Funds; compensation for the Funds’ Chief Compliance Officer is paid by the Adviser, with the Funds reimbursing an allocable portion of the Adviser’s cost of the CCO’s incentive compensation .
- No base salary, target bonus, or cash retainer is disclosed for fund officers (including McCann) at the Fund level .
Performance Compensation
- No equity awards (RSUs/PSUs/options), performance metrics, targets, or payout outcomes are disclosed for Fund officers; the Funds report no officer compensation at the Fund level .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
- The Funds disclose beneficial ownership for trustees and officers as a group only; as of February 18, 2025, each Board Member’s individual beneficial shareholdings and the Board Members and executive officers as a group beneficially owned less than 1% of the outstanding shares of each Fund .
- NPFD had 24,164,141 common shares and 85,000 preferred shares outstanding as of the record date; no individual officer holdings (including McCann) are broken out in NPFD’s proxy .
- Pledging, hedging, vesting status, and option exercises for McCann are not disclosed in the proxy; Section 16(a) compliance was affirmed (no delinquent filings) for Board Members and officers in the latest fiscal year .
Employment Terms
| Term element | Disclosure |
|---|---|
| Office and service | Vice President and Assistant Secretary; service since 2022 |
| Election/term mechanics | Officers are elected annually by the Board to serve until successors are elected and qualified; term listed as “Indefinite” in officer tables |
| Compensation source | Officers receive no compensation from the Funds (compensation for CCO paid by Adviser; partial reimbursement of incentive cost) |
| Contract, severance, CoC | Not disclosed for Fund officers |
| Non‑compete/solicit, garden leave | Not disclosed for Fund officers |
| Proxy authority | Named as proxy holder on NPFD proxy cards alongside Kevin J. McCarthy and Mark L. Winget |
Performance & Track Record
- The proxy statements do not report officer‑specific performance outcomes (e.g., TSR under tenure, revenue/EBITDA growth) for the Funds or their officers; these metrics are not applicable in closed‑end fund proxy officer disclosures .
Board Governance (context for officer role)
- McCann is an officer (not a trustee); trustees oversee Fund governance via standing committees (Audit, Dividend, Compliance, Investment, Nominating & Governance, Closed‑End Fund) and meet regularly; committee rosters and meeting counts are disclosed, but officers do not receive Fund compensation and are not listed as committee members .
Risk Indicators & Red Flags
- Section 16(a) ownership filing compliance: Funds report compliance for Board Members and officers; no delinquent filings in the latest fiscal year .
- Control share by‑laws: Prior control share provisions were eliminated from the Funds’ by‑laws in February 2024 (contextual governance change, not officer‑specific) .
- No disclosures of hedging/pledging, legal proceedings, tax gross‑ups, or option repricing for McCann in NPFD’s proxy .
Notes on Insider Transactions
- We attempted to fetch Form 4 insider transactions for “John M. McCann” at NPFD using the insider‑trades skill but were unable to retrieve data due to an authorization error. For trading pressure analysis, monitor SEC EDGAR Form 4 filings directly; NPFD’s proxy indicates Section 16(a) compliance for officers (no delinquent ownership reports) .
Investment Implications
- Alignment: Fund officers receive no compensation from the Funds and individual officer ownership is not disclosed; alignment is therefore primarily via employment at the Adviser (Nuveen/TIAA), not Fund‑level equity or cash pay—limiting pay‑for‑performance evaluation at the Fund level .
- Retention risk: Officers have indefinite terms and are elected annually by trustees; no employment contract terms (severance/CoC) are disclosed at the Fund level, keeping retention/transition analysis opaque .
- Trading signals: With no Fund‑level officer comp and no disclosed individual officer holdings for NPFD, insider selling pressure cannot be assessed from the proxy; Section 16(a) compliance suggests timely reporting but does not provide transaction detail—monitor Form 4s for updates .
- Governance context: The fund complex emphasizes trustee oversight via committees, with officers supporting administration and legal/compliance; investors should focus analysis on portfolio strategy, leverage, distribution policy, and market discount dynamics rather than officer‑level incentives for closed‑end funds .