Chad W. Phillips

You don’t compile over $142 billion in assets under management and secure a presence in over 35 major cities throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia without a long-term accumulation of frequent, sizable deals. 

One factor helping Chad W. Phillips in this regard has been raising $320 million for Nuveen’s U.S. Cities Retail Fund, which targets necessity-based neighborhood retail. The fund ties into Nuveen’s overall investment philosophy under Phillips, which involves both a local and a sector-specific focus.

“We have people who focus on industrial, and they only do industrial,” said Phillips. “We’re also local. We have 15 offices in the U.S. So, when you combine the sector-specific knowledge and expertise with a local component, it’s a very good formula.”

This fits in with Phillips’s preference toward needs-based real estate, seeking investments that benefit communities. 

“We’re not going after what I’ll call the luxury segments,” said Phillips. “In housing, for example, we’re going after 80 to 120 percent of area median income, not shiny luxury towers. Or, for industrial, we’re going after light industrial, not the 500,000- or 1 million-square-foot boxes by the port. We’re going for infill. These are needs-based. They’re the highest points of demand.”

Nuveen has already closed on over $1 billion worth of real estate deals in 2025, with another $4 billion in the pipeline. Asked about the company’s significant deals of late, Phillips mentions a $305 million grocery portfolio in California, a $180 million apartment building in Southern California, and a $147 million infill industrial portfolio in Texas. Looking ahead, it’s clear that for Phillips the best time to invest is now. 

“We’re coming off a correction on real estate where values are down anywhere from 15 to 40 percent,” said Phillips. “That means we can buy below replacement cost into what I think is going to be an upward swing. We’ve already taken our medicine from a capital markets perspective, and now we think it’s a good time to be a buyer.”