-Recognized for Excellence in Service to Mutual Fund Shareholders for Five Consecutive Years-

PARSIPPANY, N.J., January 10, 2006 - New York Life Investment Management LLC (NYLIM) today announced that NYLIM Service Company LLC received the 2005 DALBAR Mutual Fund Service Award.

DALBAR, Inc. is a financial services research firm that measures the performance of customer service programs in the financial services industry.  To be recognized among the industry's elite service providers, companies are evaluated over a 12-month period in which DALBAR initiates a series of rigorous evaluations examining each company’s servicing capabilities both over the telephone and in written communications. Only those firms that exceed predetermined levels in all four of DALBAR’s key service categories are awarded the Service Award.

This marks the fifth consecutive year that NYLIM Service Company has received a DALBAR Award in recognition of its outstanding level of customer service to shareholders.  NYLIM Service Company was one of only 12 service organizations to qualify for DALBAR‘s 2005 Mutual Fund Service Award. 

“We are pleased to be recognized by DALBAR as one of the top service providers in the industry,” said Chris Blunt, president of MainStay Investments and executive vice president of New York Life Investment Management.  “The award demonstrates NYLIM’s commitment to providing exceptional service to our shareholders.”

New York Life Investment Management LLC and its affiliates, with more than $198 billion in assets under management as of November 30, 2005, provide a wide range of investment services to institutional, individual, corporate, public, and Taft-Hartley clients, including institutional asset management, retail investments, retirement services, guaranteed products, real estate investments, and alternative investments.  For more information, visit the New York Life Investment Management website at www.nylim.com .

DALBAR, Inc., the nation’s leading financial-services market research firm, continues its nearly three-decade commitment to raising the standards of excellence in the industry.  With offices in the US and Canada, DALBAR develops standards for, and provides research, ratings, and rankings of intangible factors that influence the overall customer-service experience in the mutual fund, broker/dealer, managed account, retirement plan, life insurance and property and casualty insurance industries.  Such factors include print communications, Internet, interactive voice response, call center, and financial-professional touch points. www.dalbar.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Bliss, Gouverneur & Associates
Meghan Lantier
ml@blisspr.com
212-840-1661

New York Life Investment Management LLC
Nancy Paris
973-394-4410