MutualFundWire.com: An $80B-AUM NYLI Team Adds an ETF

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Wednesday, May 7, 2025

An $80B-AUM NYLI Team Adds an ETF

The folks at an $80-billion-AUM (as of March 31) active muni bond team are powering a new fund. That team is part of a $152-billion-AUM boutique with a Gotham insurer's $754-billion-AUM asset management arm.

Sanjit Gill
MacKay Shields LLC
Director

Yesterday, Sanjit Gill, director at New York Life Investments' MacKay Shields LLC [profile], unveiled the launch of the NYLI MacKay Muni Short Duration ETF (MMSD on the NYSE Arca, Inc.). New York Investment Management LLC serves as the new ETF's investment advisor, while MacKay Shields serves as subadvisor.

MMSD's inception date was yesterday (May 6), and the new fund comes with an expense ratio of 25 basis points (which bakes in a 19bps fee waiver). The ETF had about $25 million in AUM yesterday.

The new fund is designed to invest in short-term muni bonds that are high-quality. MMSD is run by MacKay Shields' MacKay Municipal Managers team, including:

Vineeth Krishnakumar, director at MacKay Shields;

John Lawlor, managing director;

Scott Sprauer, senior managing director; and

Gill himself.

Gill puts the launch of MMSD in the context of investors seeking "new ways to generate income while still appropriately managing risk" amid ongoing market volatility.

"With normalizing interest rates, it's important to look outside of cash to pursue and capitalize on attractive income streams," Gill states. "Short-term municipal strategies already offer higher tax-equivalent income potential, and we believe they will outperform cash products this year."

MMSD is an actively managed series of the New York Life Investments Active ETF Trust. The new ETF's other service providers include:

SS&C's Alps Distributors, Inc. as distributor;

the Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon) as administrator, custodian, dividend paying agent, securities lending agent, and transfer agent;

Chapman and Cutler LLP as counsel; and

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as independent accounting firm.