Fund Evaluator:

NYLI Epoch U.S. Equity Yield Class A Overview

NYLI Epoch U.S. Equity Yield Class A (EPLPX) is an actively managed U.S. Equity Large Value fund. New York Life Investment Management LLC launched the fund in 2009.

The investment seeks current income and capital appreciation. The fund generally invests in a diversified portfolio consisting of equity securities of U.S. companies that have a history of attractive dividend yields and positive growth in operating cash flow. It invests at least 80% of its assets (net assets plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities of dividend-paying U.S. companies across all market capitalizations. The fund may invest up to 15% of its net assets in foreign securities.

About NYLI Epoch U.S. Equity Yield Class A (EPLPX)

There are 4 members of the management team with an average tenure of 4.50 years: Kera Van Valen (2013), William Booth (2026), Michael Jin (2024), Lin Lin (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 Russell 1000 Value TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. NYLI Epoch U.S. Equity Yield Class A has 112 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 19.8% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

NYLI Epoch U.S. Equity Yield Class A is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the U.S. Equity fund group. NYLI Epoch U.S. Equity Yield Class A has 2.3% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 97.0%. There is 2.3% 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 Epoch U.S. Equity Yield Class A has 0.7% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $673 million in total assets, which is below the $1 billion average for the Large Value 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.

EPLPX 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 Epoch U.S. Equity Yield Class A expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Large Value category. NYLI Epoch U.S. Equity Yield Class A has an expense ratio of 1.05%, which is 14% higher than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a D. 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 Epoch U.S. Equity Yield Class A has a portfolio turnover rate of 21%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 62% for the Large Value category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, NYLI Epoch U.S. Equity Yield Class A returned 2.1%, which earned it a grade of D, as the Large Value category had an average return of 2.9%. 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 Epoch U.S. Equity Yield Class A has a trailing yield of 1.43%, which is above the 1.20% category average. The fund normally distributes its income quarterly 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 Epoch U.S. Equity Yield Class A Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 17.3%, 3.0 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of B. The fund has returned 25.1% over the past year (grade of C), 17.6% over the past three years (grade of B) and 12.0% per year over the past five years (grade of B) and 10.7% per year over the past 10 years (grade of D).

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