NVG vs PCQ: Correlation
Nuveen AMT-Free Municipal Credit Income Fund (NVG) and PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund (PCQ) show a very strong relationship: their 3-year correlation of weekly returns is 0.80.
Data as of 2026-08-27 · refreshed every trading day · weekly returns · methodology
How correlated are NVG and PCQ?
Over the past 3 years, NVG and PCQ moved with a correlation of 0.80, which is very strong, meaning they move nearly in lockstep. Little has changed lately, as the 1-year reading of 0.77 lands near the 3-year figure. Over 5 years the correlation is 0.60, and the annualized covariance of weekly returns is 129.0 %².
Within NVG's tracked universe of 28 assets, PCQ comes in at #10 by 3-year correlation. Their 12-month results are close: +12.4% for NVG against +11.3% for PCQ.
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.
NVG vs PCQ: side by side
| NVG (Nuveen AMT-Free Municipal Credit Income Fund) | PCQ (PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1-year return | +12.4% | +11.3% |
| 5-year return | -7.8% | -40.9% |
| Volatility (ann.) | 13.0% | 12.5% |
| Beta vs S&P 500 | 0.32 | 0.25 |
| Max drawdown (3Y) | -12.9% | -17.4% |
| Market cap | $2.7B | – |
| P/E (trailing) | 13.8 | 291.0 |
| Dividend yield | 7.75% | 4.94% |
| Sector / category | US Listed | US Listed |
Year-by-year returns
| Year | NVG | PCQ |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | -28.5% | -14.7% |
| 2023 | +2.0% | -35.4% |
| 2024 | +10.8% | +1.5% |
| 2025 | +11.6% | +1.5% |
| 2026 | +1.9% | +3.3% |
Calendar-year price returns; the current year is year-to-date as of the data date above.
Are NVG and PCQ good diversifiers for each other?
No: a correlation of 0.80 means NVG and PCQ tend to fall together, which is precisely when diversification is supposed to help.
FAQ
What is the correlation between NVG and PCQ?
As of 2026-08-27, the correlation of weekly returns between NVG and PCQ is 0.80 over 3 years, 0.77 over 1 year and 0.60 over 5 years.
Is PCQ a good diversifier for NVG?
No: a correlation of 0.80 means NVG and PCQ tend to fall together, which is precisely when diversification is supposed to help.
What does a correlation of 0.80 mean?
On the −1 to +1 scale, 0.80 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/nvg-vs-pcq.json
Markdown for the live badge, attribution link included:
[](https://www.pairbook.io/pair/nvg-vs-pcq/)
No key needed, free to use. Full endpoint list in the API documentation.
Related comparisons
Hubs: NVG correlations · PCQ correlations
