NAD vs NZF: Correlation
How closely do Nuveen Quality Municipal Income Fund (NAD) and Nuveen Municipal Credit Income Fund (NZF) trade together? Their weekly returns over three years give a correlation of 0.90, which is very strong.
Data as of 2026-08-27 · refreshed every trading day · weekly returns · methodology
How correlated are NAD and NZF?
On 3 years of weekly data the NAD/NZF correlation comes out at 0.90, very strong, meaning they move nearly in lockstep. Recent behaviour matches the longer record: 0.83 over 1 year against 0.90 over 3. The 5-year figure is 0.89, and annualized covariance runs at 115.6 %².
Few assets follow NAD as closely as NZF, which ranks #3 of 26 tracked partners. Neither side won the trailing year by much: +12.1% against +10.8%.
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 NZF: side by side
| NAD (Nuveen Quality Municipal Income Fund) | NZF (Nuveen Municipal Credit Income Fund) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1-year return | +12.1% | +10.8% |
| 5-year return | -2.4% | -4.1% |
| Volatility (ann.) | 11.0% | 11.6% |
| Beta vs S&P 500 | 0.27 | 0.30 |
| Max drawdown (3Y) | -11.7% | -12.4% |
| Market cap | $2.7B | $2.4B |
| P/E (trailing) | 14.9 | 13.5 |
| Dividend yield | 7.38% | 7.80% |
| Sector / category | US Listed | US Listed |
Year-by-year returns
| Year | NAD | NZF |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | -22.8% | -25.5% |
| 2023 | +1.3% | +2.5% |
| 2024 | +8.8% | +10.1% |
| 2025 | +11.4% | +11.8% |
| 2026 | +2.5% | +2.4% |
Calendar-year price returns; the current year is year-to-date as of the data date above.
Are NAD and NZF good diversifiers for each other?
No: a correlation of 0.90 means NAD and NZF tend to fall together, which is precisely when diversification is supposed to help.
FAQ
What is the correlation between NAD and NZF?
As of 2026-08-27, the correlation of weekly returns between NAD and NZF is 0.90 over 3 years, 0.83 over 1 year and 0.89 over 5 years.
Is NZF a good diversifier for NAD?
No: a correlation of 0.90 means NAD and NZF tend to fall together, which is precisely when diversification is supposed to help.
What does a correlation of 0.90 mean?
On the −1 to +1 scale, 0.90 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-nzf.json
Drop this badge in a README or notebook; it updates with the data:
[](https://www.pairbook.io/pair/nad-vs-nzf/)
The core API is free. Terms and every endpoint in the API documentation.
Related comparisons
Hubs: NAD correlations · NZF correlations
