The Fund invests approximately 60% of its assets (net assets plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in stocks and 40% of its assets in fixed-income securities (such as bonds) and cash equivalents. Although this 60/40 ratio may vary, under normal market conditions, the Fund has adopted a fundamental policy that it will be a "balanced" fund. This fundamental policy cannot be changed without the approval of the Fund's shareholders. As a "balanced" fund, the Fund will invest at least 25% of the value of its assets (net assets plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in fixed-income securities. Asset allocation decisions are made by New York Life Investment Management LLC, the Fund’s Manager, based on its tactical view of the market. The Fund may invest in exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), including ETFs advised by affiliates of the Manager and ETFs advised by unaffiliated advisers, to facilitate rebalancing the Fund’s allocation between equity and fixed-income exposures.

The Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in foreign securities, but only in such securities that NYL Investors LLC (“NYL Investors”), the Subadvisor for the fixed-income portion of the Fund, and Wellington Management Company LLP (“Wellington”), the Subadvisor for the equity portion of the Fund, select in accordance with each Subadvisor's investment process described below. The Fund may also invest in derivatives, such as futures and options, to try to enhance returns or reduce the risk of loss by hedging certain of its holdings.

Under normal market conditions, the Subadvisors seek to keep the portfolio fully invested rather than taking temporary cash positions with respect to their portions of the Fund's assets. The Subadvisors will sell a security if it becomes relatively overvalued, if better opportunities are identified, or if they determine that the initial investment expectations are not being met.

Equity Investment Process: Wellington invests in equity securities issued by companies of any size or market capitalization range. While Wellington does not limit its investments to issuers within a particular capitalization range, it generally invests in large capitalization companies (as represented by the market cap range of the Russell 1000® Index, which ranged from $1.0 billion to $4.5 trillion as of December 31, 2025). Wellington may invest in securities of foreign issuers, including emerging market securities. An issuer of a security is considered to be a U.S. or foreign issuer based on the issuer's "country of risk," (or similar designation) as determined by a third-party such as Bloomberg. Wellington defines emerging market countries as those countries that are included in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.

Wellington seeks to identify companies that are financially sound but temporarily out-of-favor, and that provide above-average potential total returns at below average valuations. Wellington employs a “bottom-up” approach to investment research, and seeks to capitalize on investor behavioral biases by investing in companies with an attractive combination of valuation, quality and capital return, and by taking a long-term view. Quality can be assessed across metrics including free cash flow margin, return on invested capital and net debt to EBITDA (earning before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization). Wellington may sell stocks when Wellington’s target price is achieved, Wellington’s fundamental outlook with respect to the stock has changed, or in the event Wellington believes more attractive investment alternatives exist.

To better assess strategic business issues that impact the performance of a company, Wellington may also give consideration to financially material environmental, social and/or governance (“ESG”) factors. Wellington has discretion to determine the materiality of, as well as the level at which, financially relevant ESG factors are imbedded into its overall fundamental analysis when making an investment decision.

Fixed-Income Investment Process: In pursuing the Fund’s investment strategy, NYL Investors conducts a continuous review of expected returns, yields and other information derived from a database which it maintains in managing fixed income portfolios.

Fundamental economic cycle analysis, credit quality and interest rate trends are the principal factors considered by NYL Investors in managing the Fund and determining whether to increase or decrease the emphasis placed upon a particular type of security or industry sector within the Fund's investment portfolio. NYL Investors’ investment process includes a risk analysis that gives consideration to a variety of security-specific risks, including but not limited to, environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) risks that may have a material impact on the performance of a security. In addition to proprietary research, NYL Investors may use screening tools and, to the extent available, third-party data to identify ESG risk factors that may not have been captured through its own research. NYL Investors’ consideration of ESG risk is weighed against other criteria and no sectors or industries are explicitly excluded from the Fund. Maturity duration shifts adjustments are based on a set of investment decisions that take into account a broad range of economic, fundamental and technical indicators.

NYL Investors may sell a security if it no longer believes that the security will contribute to meeting the investment objective of the Fund. In considering whether to sell a security, NYL Investors may evaluate, among other things, the condition of the economy, meaningful changes in the issuer's financial condition, and changes in the condition and outlook in the issuer's industry.