New York Life Investment Management Completes Acquisition of IndexIQ

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:

• IQ Hedge Multi-Strategy Plus Fund (IQHIX – I Share Class; IQHOX – A Share Class), the first open-end, no-load hedge fund replication mutual fund;
• IQ Hedge Multi-Strategy Tracker ETF (NYSE Arca: QAI), the first US-listed hedge fund replication ETF;
• IQ Hedge Market Neutral Tracker ETF (NYSE Arca: QMN), providing exposure to the market neutral hedge fund universe;
• IQ Hedge Macro Tracker ETF (NYSE Arca: MCRO), the first Global Macro/Emerging Markets hedge fund replication ETF;
• IQ Hedge Event-Driven Tracker ETF (NYSE Arca: QED), the first ETF designed to capture the collective returns of hedge funds that use an event-driven investment style;
• IQ Hedge Long/Short Tracker ETF (NYSE Arca: QLS), the first ETF designed to mirror the collective returns of hedge funds that use a long/short equity investment style;
• IQ Merger Arbitrage ETF (NYSE Arca: MNA), the first merger arbitrage ETF;
• IQ Real Return ETF (NYSE Arca: CPI), the first US-listed “real return” ETF, which seeks to generate a real return above the rate of inflation as measured by changes in the Consumer Price Index;
• IQ US Real Estate Small Cap ETF (NYSE Arca: ROOF), the first U.S. real estate small cap ETF;
• IQ Global Resources ETF (NYSE Arca: GRES), the first hedged global natural resources ETF;
• IQ Global Agribusiness Small Cap ETF (NYSE Arca: CROP), the first agribusiness small cap ETF;
• IQ Global Oil Small Cap ETF (NYSE Arca: IOIL), the first global oil small cap ETF;
• IQ Canada Small Cap ETF (NYSE Arca: CNDA), the first Canada small cap ETF; and
• IQ Australia Small Cap ETF (NYSE Arca: KROO), the first Australia small cap ETF.

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 http://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 http://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.

For more information about MainStay Funds®, call 800-MAINSTAY (624-6782) for a prospectus or summary prospectus. For more information about IndexIQ® Funds, call 888-934-0777 for a prospectus or summary prospectus. Investors are asked to consider the objectives, risks, and charges and expenses of the investment carefully before investing. The prospectus or summary prospectus contains this and other information about the investment company. Please read the prospectus or summary prospectus carefully before investing.

MainStay Investments® is a registered service mark and name under which New York Life Investment Management LLC does business. MainStay Investments, an indirect subsidiary of New York Life Insurance Company, New York, NY 10010, provides investment advisory products and services. IndexIQ® is the indirect wholly owned subsidiary of New York Life Investment Management Holdings LLC. ALPS Distributors, Inc. (ALPS) is the principal underwriter of the ETFs. NYLIFE Distributors LLC is a distributor of the ETFs and the principal underwriter of the mutual fund. NYLIFE Distributors LLC is located at 169 Lackawanna Ave, Parsippany, NJ 07054. ALPS Distributors, Inc. is not affiliated with NYLIFE Distributors LLC. NYLIFE Distributors LLC is a Member FINRA/SIPC.

NYLIM 1647011

1 Source: As of 3/31/15, IndexIQ ranked the largest provider in terms of assets under management of Alternative ETFs as classified by ETFDB.com.