Another Institutional Capital Fund from Mainstay

MainStay Investments, the retail distribution arm of New York Life Investment Management, introduced the MainStay Institutional Capital (ICAP) Global Fund to advisors at the annual Morningstar conference in late June. Global joins ICAP's Equity, Select Equity, and International mutual funds, which are also products of MainStay Investments. The Fund's objective is to "seek a superior total return by investing primarily in equity securities of U.S. and foreign companies with market capitalizations of at least $2 billion."

Joseph Rodriguez, director of investment management for NYLIM MainStay ICAP, noted that over the past few years, "over $20 billion a year in net new flows" have come into mutual funds with global strategies, with investors and intermediaries looking to take advantage of the 60% of worldwide capitalization that is outside the United States, along with the risk-adjusted diversification benefits. The new fund will follow the ICAP "relative value" approach to large-cap stocks, and will typically hold between 50-80 securities, of which at least 40% will be ex-U.S.

"By limiting investments to only U.S. equity markets, investors miss out on approximately 60% of the world's total market capitalization. With the new Fund, portfolio managers–in one product–can capture large cap opportunities from a global perspective, while providing valuable diversification benefits and potentially reducing risk to shareholders," said Mike Coffey, managing director and head of distribution for MainStay Investments, in announcing the Fund.