NAD vs NEA: Correlation
How closely do Nuveen Quality Municipal Income Fund (NAD) and Nuveen AMT-Free Quality Municipal Income Fund (NEA) trade together? Their weekly returns over three years give a correlation of 0.94, which is very strong.
Data as of 2026-08-27 · refreshed every trading day · weekly returns · methodology
How correlated are NAD and NEA?
On 3 years of weekly data the NAD/NEA correlation comes out at 0.94, very strong, meaning they move nearly in lockstep. Little has changed lately, as the 1-year reading of 0.94 lands near the 3-year figure. The 5-year figure is 0.93, and annualized covariance runs at 112.6 %².
NEA is one of the assets that tracks NAD most closely: it ranks #1 out of the 26 assets we track against NAD. Twelve-month performance is nearly a tie, at +12.1% for NAD and +10.4% for NEA.
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.
NAD vs NEA: side by side
| NAD (Nuveen Quality Municipal Income Fund) | NEA (Nuveen AMT-Free Quality Municipal Income Fund) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1-year return | +12.1% | +10.4% |
| 5-year return | -2.4% | -4.4% |
| Volatility (ann.) | 11.0% | 10.9% |
| Beta vs S&P 500 | 0.27 | 0.28 |
| Max drawdown (3Y) | -11.7% | -11.3% |
| Market cap | $2.7B | $3.4B |
| P/E (trailing) | 14.9 | 14.5 |
| Dividend yield | 7.38% | 7.70% |
| Sector / category | US Listed | US Listed |
Year-by-year returns
| Year | NAD | NEA |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | -22.8% | -23.3% |
| 2023 | +1.3% | +0.8% |
| 2024 | +8.8% | +9.5% |
| 2025 | +11.4% | +11.3% |
| 2026 | +2.5% | +1.7% |
Calendar-year price returns; the current year is year-to-date as of the data date above.
Are NAD and NEA good diversifiers for each other?
No. With a correlation of 0.94, NAD and NEA move nearly in lockstep, so holding both adds very little diversification.
FAQ
What is the correlation between NAD and NEA?
Using weekly returns as of 2026-08-27: 0.94 over 3 years, with 0.94 over the last year and 0.93 over 5 years.
Is NEA a good diversifier for NAD?
No. With a correlation of 0.94, NAD and NEA move nearly in lockstep, so holding both adds very little diversification.
What does a correlation of 0.94 mean?
On the −1 to +1 scale, 0.94 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/nad-vs-nea.json
Drop this badge in a README or notebook; it updates with the data:
[](https://www.pairbook.io/pair/nad-vs-nea/)
No key needed, free to use. Full endpoint list in the API documentation.
Related comparisons
Hubs: NAD correlations · NEA correlations
