The folks at a 179-year-old insurer's $725-billion-AUM (as of March 31), multi-boutique asset manager are replacing their two fund brands with a single new brand.

Naïm Abou-Jaoudé New York Life Investment Management LLC CEO

A week ago, the New York Life Investments team completed the planned shift of all their fund families to the new NYLI Funds brand. That brand replaces both their 38-year-old MainStay Mutual Funds brand and their 18-year-old IndexIQ ETFs brand.

A spokesperson confirms that the shift took effect on August 28 and that it involved no portfolio management changes for any of the rebranded funds. And the New York Life team confirms that tickers and CUSIPs are unaffected (as no funds are being shuttered or merged).

Kirk Lehneis, head of U.S. retail and chief operating officer for New York Life Investments, first unveiled the planned branding shift back in June. At the time, he described the move as "exciting chapter" for the fund firm, offering "more distinction in the market, and greater brand clarity and consistency for New York Life Investments and [its] boutiques."

The rebranding was expected to affect 50 MainStay-branded open-end mutual funds and 23 IndexIQ-branded ETFs. Other rebranding products included 31 MainStay-branded variable annuity portfolios, two MainStay-branded listed closed-end funds, and one MainStay-branded closed-end interval fund.

New York Life first launched its MainStay fund family in 1986, two years after buying MacKay Shields. IndexIQ launched as an independent boutique in 2006, and New York Life bought the liquid alternative specialist in 2015. 

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