Company: NPFD
Filing Date: 2025-10-03
Form Type: N-CSR
Source: 0001193125-25-230111
Chunk: 6

Company: Nuveen Variable Rate Preferred & Income Fund
Filing Date: 2025-10-03
Form: N-CSR
Chunk 6
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 12-monthreporting period ended July 31, 2025, JPC returned 10.29%. The Fund outperformed the JPC Blended Benchmark, which returned 8.44%. Top contributors to relative performance

| • |     | The Fund’s use of leverage through bank borrowings, reverse repurchase agreements and the issuance of preferred 
 shares. In addition, the Fund’s use of leverage was accretive to overall common share income.                   |

| • |     | Yield curve positioning, particularly an underweight to the longer maturity segments of the curve. |

| • |     | Underweight to $25 par preferred securities. |

| • |     | Security selection within the insurance and banking industries. |

Top detractors from relative performance

| • |     | Underweight to CoCos. |

| • |     | Longer leverage-adjusted effective duration. |

Nuveen Securities & Income Opportunities Fund (JPI) What factors affected markets during the reporting period?

| • |     | The Federal Reserve (Fed) cut its target federal funds rate by 50 basis points in September, plus two additional 25                                                                                          
 basis point cuts before year-end 2024, bringing the range to 4.25% to 4.50%. Fed policymakers remained on hold with rates throughout the second half of the reporting period to assess the impact of tariffs 
 announced in early April 2025, which were subsequently delayed.                                                                                                                                              |

| • |     | Uncertainty surrounding Fed monetary policy and U.S. trade policy under the new administration kept volatility                                                                                                             
 elevated in the bond market, but the backdrop of continued positive economic growth and labor market strength supported risk assets, including the preferred securities and contingent capital securities (CoCos) markets. |

| • |     | Preferred securities and CoCos also benefited from positive news from the global banking sector, the largest issuer                                                                           
 in these segments. In the United States, banks reported earnings that generally exceeded expectations, while all 22 banks participating in the Fed’s 2025 annual stress test passed the exam. |

What key strategies were used to manage the Fund during the reporting period?

| • |     | The Fund continued to overweight the $1000 par preferred securities segment versus the $25 par preferred securities 
 and CoCos segments, both of which remained underweights relative to the benchmark.                                  |

| • |     | The underweight to CoCos resulted in an overweight to U.S.-domiciled issuers relative to the benchmark.