Fund Evaluator:

NYLI Cushing® MLP Premier Class I Overview

NYLI Cushing® MLP Premier Class I (CSHZX) is an actively managed Sector Equity Energy Limited Partnership fund. New York Life Investment Management LLC launched the fund in 2010.

The investment seeks current income and capital appreciation. The fund, under normal market conditions, invests at least 80% of its assets (net assets plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in a portfolio of master limited partnerships ("MLPs") and MLP-related investments. "MLPs" are generally treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes and are generally organized under state law as limited partnerships or limited liability companies. The fund may invest in companies of any market capitalization size. It is non-diversified.

About NYLI Cushing® MLP Premier Class I (CSHZX)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 4.45 years: John Musgrave (2020), Todd Sunderland (2024). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 2 primary benchmarks: Russell 3000 TR USD index with a weighting of 100% and Alerian Midstream Energy Select TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. NYLI Cushing® MLP Premier Class I has 26 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 64.1% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a nondiversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

NYLI Cushing® MLP Premier Class I is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the Sector Equity fund group. NYLI Cushing® MLP Premier Class I has 19.9% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 79.2%. There is 19.9% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). NYLI Cushing® MLP Premier Class I has 0.9% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $620 million in total assets, which is above the $288 million average for the Energy Limited Partnership category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

CSHZX Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The NYLI Cushing® MLP Premier Class I expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Energy Limited Partnership category. NYLI Cushing® MLP Premier Class I has an expense ratio of 1.24%, which is 28% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a B. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. NYLI Cushing® MLP Premier Class I has a portfolio turnover rate of 31%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 40% for the Energy Limited Partnership category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, NYLI Cushing® MLP Premier Class I returned 2.7%, which earned it a grade of D, as the Energy Limited Partnership category had an average return of 3.5%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all funds in that category.

NYLI Cushing® MLP Premier Class I has a trailing yield of 5.16%, which is below the 5.20% category average. The fund normally distributes its income monthly and its capital gains annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

NYLI Cushing® MLP Premier Class I Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 27.7%, 1.7 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of B. The fund has returned 27.0% over the past year (grade of B), 25.3% over the past three years (grade of A) and 23.1% per year over the past five years (grade of B) and 10.1% per year over the past 10 years (grade of B).

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