LEO vs NUW: Correlation
BNY Mellon Strategic Municipals, Inc. (LEO) and Nuveen AMT-Free Municipal Value Fund (NUW) show a strong relationship: their 3-year correlation of weekly returns is 0.72.
Data as of 2026-08-27 · refreshed every trading day · weekly returns · methodology
How correlated are LEO and NUW?
Over the past 3 years, LEO and NUW moved with a correlation of 0.72, which is strong. Little has changed lately, as the 1-year reading of 0.71 lands near the 3-year figure. Over 5 years the correlation is 0.66, and the annualized covariance of weekly returns is 75.7 %².
Among the 21 assets we track against LEO, NUW ranks #15 by 3-year correlation. Twelve-month performance is nearly a tie, at +10.2% for LEO and +5.9% for NUW.
How is this computed?
Pearson correlation on weekly returns: ρ(A,B) = cov(rA, rB) / (σA · σB), over windows of 52, 156 and 260 weeks. Covariance is annualized (×52) and expressed in %². Full definitions on the methodology page.
LEO vs NUW: side by side
| LEO (BNY Mellon Strategic Municipals, Inc.) | NUW (Nuveen AMT-Free Municipal Value Fund) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1-year return | +10.2% | +5.9% |
| 5-year return | -18.0% | -1.6% |
| Volatility (ann.) | 12.2% | 8.7% |
| Beta vs S&P 500 | 0.26 | 0.15 |
| Max drawdown (3Y) | -13.1% | -7.7% |
| Market cap | $0.4B | $0.2B |
| P/E (trailing) | 30.9 | 16.0 |
| Dividend yield | 4.41% | 0.00% |
| Sector / category | US Listed | US Listed |
Year-by-year returns
| Year | LEO | NUW |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | -24.1% | -15.2% |
| 2023 | +0.1% | +3.8% |
| 2024 | +6.9% | +3.6% |
| 2025 | +9.9% | +9.9% |
| 2026 | +0.4% | -0.0% |
Calendar-year price returns; the current year is year-to-date as of the data date above.
Are LEO and NUW good diversifiers for each other?
To a limited degree. At 0.72 the two still catch most of the same waves, so the pair smooths returns a little without insulating either from a shared selloff.
FAQ
What is the correlation between LEO and NUW?
Using weekly returns as of 2026-08-27: 0.72 over 3 years, with 0.71 over the last year and 0.66 over 5 years.
Is NUW a good diversifier for LEO?
To a limited degree. At 0.72 the two still catch most of the same waves, so the pair smooths returns a little without insulating either from a shared selloff.
What does a correlation of 0.72 mean?
On the −1 to +1 scale, 0.72 describes how much the two returns move together: +1 is lockstep, 0 is independence, negative values mean opposite directions. It says nothing about which performed better.
Use this data
$ curl https://www.pairbook.io/api/v1/pairs/leo-vs-nuw.json
Drop this badge in a README or notebook; it updates with the data:
[](https://www.pairbook.io/pair/leo-vs-nuw/)
No key needed, free to use. Full endpoint list in the API documentation.
Related comparisons
Hubs: LEO correlations · NUW correlations