NEW YORK, NY — April 15, 2015 — New York Life Investment Management (NYLIM), the third party global asset management business of New York Life, announced today that it has completed its acquisition of IndexIQ, the leader in the liquid alternative exchange-traded fund (ETF) industry. 1 The completion of the acquisition comes at a time when the ETF market is experiencing tremendous growth and is increasingly being recognized for efficient investment vehicles to help investors build diversified portfolios.
IndexIQ is now fully integrated into NYLIM’s family of investment boutiques as a complement to NYLIM’s current capabilities in fixed income, equities and alternative investments. IndexIQ adds $1.7 billion to NYLIM’s more than $310 billion in assets under management. IndexIQ’s products will be distributed and marketed through New York Life’s industry-leading MainStay Investments platform.
“We are very pleased to welcome IndexIQ as a valuable and strategic addition to our roster of world class asset managers, a perfect complement to our MainStay fund family,” said Drew Lawton, Chief Executive Officer, New York Life Investment Management. “This acquisition allows us to further strengthen and diversify our investment product offerings to best serve the needs of retail and institutional investors around the world.”
“IndexIQ is a pioneer and true leader in the ETF industry and we look forward to leveraging their already robust ETF platform as a gateway for NYLIM and our boutiques to add new and innovative ETF solutions in the future,” added Stephen Fisher, Co-President of NYLIM and President of MainStay Investments.
IndexIQ currently offers 13 ETFs and one mutual fund, many of which were first-of-their-kind and now have five- and six-year track records, along with a full suite of separately managed accounts (SMAs), ETF model portfolios, and indexes. IndexIQ recently introduced two new ETFs, focused on Event-Driven and Long/Short hedge fund strategies, respectively. With these new funds, investors now have the ability to build their own diversified hedge fund replication portfolio by managing the weightings of the various strategies offered by IndexIQ. Most of the firm’s offerings aim to replicate the risk-adjusted return characteristics of hedge funds using strategies that include long/short equity, global macro, market neutral, event-driven, fixed income arbitrage, emerging markets and others commonly used by hedge fund managers.
“This is the ideal time for us to merge our robust ETF manufacturing capabilities and market-leading investment solutions with New York Life’s financial strength, sterling reputation and powerful distribution capabilities,” said Adam Patti, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of IndexIQ. “We believe we are still in the early stages of growth for our products as more and more investors and their advisors use our family of ETFs to enhance portfolio construction for their clients. Having a trusted partner like New York Life’s MainStay will help us reach a far broader universe of investors with an expanded range of high quality investment solutions.”
IndexIQ Indexes underlie a variety of investment products globally including ETFs, mutual funds, and institutional accounts. IndexIQ products are designed to be liquid, transparent, low cost and accessible to a broad range of investors.
IndexIQ’s current offerings include:
RBC Capital Markets acted as exclusive financial advisor to IndexIQ in connection with the transaction.
About IndexIQ
IndexIQ is a leading issuer of liquid alternative investment solutions focused on absolute return and real asset strategies. IndexIQ solutions are offered as ETFs, Mutual Funds, Separate Accounts and Model Portfolios. IndexIQ’s philosophy is to democratize investment management by making innovative alternative investment strategies available to investors in low cost, liquid and transparent products.* Additional information about the company and its products can be found at www.IQetfs.com.
About New York Life
New York Life Insurance Company, a Fortune 100 company founded in 1845, is the largest mutual life insurance company in the United States** and one of the largest life insurers in the world. New York Life has the highest possible financial strength ratings currently awarded to any life insurer from all four of the major credit rating agencies: A.M. Best (A++), Fitch (AAA), Moody’s Investors Service (Aaa), Standard & Poor’s (AA+).*** Headquartered in New York City, New York Life’s family of companies offers life insurance, retirement income, investments and long-term care insurance. New York Life Investments**** provides institutional asset management. Other New York Life affiliates provide an array of securities products and services, as well as retail mutual funds. Please visit New York Life’s website at www.newyorklife.com for more information.
*IndexIQ’s ETF holdings are available daily on IndexIQ’s website. Brokerage commissions apply to ETFs. ETFs are liquid in that they are exchange-traded.
**Based on revenue as reported by “Fortune 500 ranked within Industries, Insurance: Life, Health (Mutual),” Fortune magazine, 6/16/14. For methodology, please see fortune.com/fortune500/.
***Individual independent rating agency commentary as of 3/26/15.
****New York Life Investments is a service mark used by New York Life Investment Management Holdings LLC and its subsidiary, New York Life Investment Management LLC.
Karen Derr Gilbert
FTV CAPITAL
(415) 229-3044
kgilbert@ftvcapital.com