MainStay VP S&P 500 Index Portfolio

Summary Prospectus

May 1, 2024

  
Before you invest, you may want to review the Portfolio's Prospectus, which contains more information about the Portfolio and its risks. You can find the Portfolio's Prospectus, reports to shareholders and other information about the Portfolio by going online to newyorklifeinvestments.com, by calling 800-598-2019 or by sending an e-mail to MainStayShareholderServices@nylim.com. The Portfolio’s Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, both dated May 1, 2024, as may be amended from time to time, are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus.
Investment Objective

The Portfolio seeks investment results that correspond to the total return performance (reflecting reinvestment of dividends) of common stocks in the aggregate as represented by the S&P 500® Index.

Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio

The table below describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Portfolio. The table does not include any separate account or policy fees or charges imposed under the variable annuity policies and variable universal life insurance policies for which the Portfolio is an investment option. If they were included, your costs would be higher. Investors should consult the applicable variable annuity policy or variable universal life insurance policy prospectus for more information.

          

 

 

Initial

 

Service

 

 

 

Class

 

Class

Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(fees paid directly from your investment)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Management Fees (as an annual percentage of the Portfolio's average daily net assets)1

 

0.16

%

 

0.16

%

Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees

 

None

 

 

 

0.25

%

 

Other Expenses

 

0.03

%

 

 

0.03

%

Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses

 

0.19

%

 

0.44

%

Waiver / Reimbursement2

 

(0.07

)%

(0.07

)%

Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses After Waivers / Reimbursements2

 

0.12

%

 

0.37

%

1. The management fee is as follows: 0.16% on assets up to $2.5 billion; and 0.15% on assets over $2.5 billion.

2. New York Life Investment Management LLC ("New York Life Investments") has contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses so that Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses (excluding taxes, interest, litigation, extraordinary expenses, brokerage and other transaction expenses relating to the purchase or sale of portfolio investments, and acquired (underlying) portfolio/fund fees and expenses) of Initial Class shares and Service Class shares do not exceed 0.12% and 0.37%, respectively, of the Portfolio's average daily net assets. This agreement will remain in effect until May 1, 2025, and thereafter shall renew automatically for one-year terms unless New York Life Investments provides written notice of termination prior to the start of the next term or upon approval of the Board of Trustees of the Portfolio.

Example

The Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Portfolio with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example does not include any separate account or policy fees or charges imposed under the variable annuity policies and variable universal life insurance policies for which the Portfolio is an investment option. If they were included, your costs would be higher. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Portfolio for the time periods indicated whether or not you redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Portfolio's operating expenses remain the same. The Example reflects the contractual fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement arrangement, if applicable, for the current duration of the arrangement only. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

          

 

 

1 Year

 

3 Years

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

 

 Initial Class

 

$        12

 

$        54

 

$      100

 

$      236

 

 Service Class

 

$        38

 

$      134

 

$      239

 

$      548

 

Portfolio Turnover

The Portfolio pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in annual Portfolio operating expenses or in the Example, affect the Portfolio's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Portfolio's portfolio turnover rate was 2% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Portfolio normally invests at least 80% of its assets (net assets plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in stocks as represented in the Standard & Poor's 500® Index ("S&P 500® Index”) in the same proportion, to the extent feasible.

The Portfolio may invest up to 20% of its total assets in options and futures contracts to maintain cash reserves, while being fully invested, to facilitate trading or to reduce transaction costs. The Portfolio may invest in such derivatives to try to enhance returns or reduce the risk of loss by hedging certain of its holdings.

    
  

 


Investment Process: IndexIQ Advisors LLC, the Portfolio's Subadvisor, uses statistical techniques to determine which stocks are to be purchased or sold to replicate the S&P 500® Index to the extent feasible. From time to time, adjustments may be made in the Portfolio's holdings because of changes in the composition of the S&P 500® Index. The correlation between the investment performance of the Portfolio and the S&P 500® Index is expected to be at least 0.95, before charges, fees and expenses, on an annual basis. A correlation of 1.00 would indicate perfect correlation, which would be achieved when the net asset value of the Portfolio, including the value of its dividend and capital gains distributions, increases or decreases in exact proportion to changes in the S&P 500® Index.

Principal Risks

You can lose money by investing in the Portfolio. An investment in the Portfolio is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. The investments selected by the Subadvisor may underperform the market in which the Portfolio invests or other investments. The Portfolio may receive large purchase or redemption orders which may have adverse effects on performance if the Portfolio were required to sell securities, invest cash or hold a relatively large amount of cash at times when it would not otherwise do so.

The principal risks of investing in the Portfolio are summarized below.

Market Risk: Changes in markets may cause the value of investments to fluctuate, which could cause the Portfolio to underperform other funds with similar investment objectives and strategies. Such changes may be rapid and unpredictable. From time to time, markets may experience periods of stress as a result of various market, economic and geopolitical factors for potentially prolonged periods that may result in: (i) increased market volatility; (ii) reduced market liquidity; and (iii) increased redemptions of shares. Such conditions may add significantly to the risk of volatility in the net asset value of the Portfolio's shares and adversely affect the Portfolio and its investments.

Portfolio Management Risk: The investment strategies, practices and risk analyses used by the Subadvisor may not produce the desired results or expected returns.

Equity Securities Risk: Investments in common stocks and other equity securities are particularly subject to the risk of changing economic, stock market, industry and company conditions and the risks inherent in the ability to anticipate such changes that can adversely affect the value of portfolio holdings.

Index Strategy Risk: The Portfolio employs an index strategy that seeks to invest in stocks as represented in the S&P 500® Index. If the value of the S&P 500® Index declines, the net asset value of shares of the Portfolio will also decline. Also, the Portfolio’s fees and expenses will reduce the Portfolio’s returns, whereas the S&P 500® Index is not subject to fees and expenses.

Correlation Risk: The ability to track the S&P 500® Index may be affected by, among other things, transaction costs; changes in either the composition of the S&P 500® Index or the number of shares outstanding for the components of the S&P 500® Index; and timing and amount of purchases and redemptions of the Portfolio's shares. Therefore, there is no assurance that the investment performance of the Portfolio will equal or exceed that of the S&P 500® Index.

Derivatives Risk: Derivatives are investments whose value depends on (or is derived from) the value of an underlying instrument, such as a security, asset, reference rate or index. Derivative strategies may be riskier than investing directly in the underlying instrument and often involve leverage, which may exaggerate a loss, potentially causing the Portfolio to lose more money than it originally invested and would have lost had it invested directly in the underlying instrument. Derivatives may be difficult to sell, unwind and/or value. Derivatives may also be subject to counterparty risk, which is the risk that the counterparty (the party on the other side of the transaction) on a derivative transaction will be unable or unwilling to honor its contractual obligations to the Portfolio. Futures and other derivatives may be more volatile than direct investments in the instrument underlying the contract, and may not correlate perfectly to the underlying instrument. Futures and other derivatives also may involve a small initial investment relative to the risk assumed, which could result in losses greater than if they had not been used. Due to fluctuations in the price of the underlying instrument, the Portfolio may not be able to profitably exercise an option and may lose its entire investment in an option. To the extent that the Portfolio writes or sells an option, if the decline in the value of the underlying instrument is significantly below the exercise price in the case of a written put option or increase above the exercise price in the case of a written call option, the Portfolio could experience a substantial loss. Derivatives may also increase the expenses of the Portfolio.

Regulatory Risk: The Portfolio as well as the issuers of the securities and other instruments in which the Portfolio invests are subject to considerable regulation and the risks associated with adverse changes in laws and regulations governing their operations.

Market Capitalization Risk: Investments in securities issued by small-, mid-, or large-cap companies will be subject to the risks associated with securities issued by companies of the applicable market capitalization.  Securities of small-cap and mid-cap companies may be subject to greater price volatility, significantly lower trading volumes, cyclical, static or moderate growth prospects and greater spreads between their bid and ask prices than securities of larger companies. Smaller capitalization companies frequently rely on narrower product lines and niche markets and may be more vulnerable to adverse business or market developments.  Securities issued by larger companies may have less growth potential and may not be able to attain the high growth rates of successful smaller companies, especially during strong economic periods.  In addition, larger companies may be less capable of responding quickly to competitive challenges and industry changes, including those resulting from improvements in technology, and may suffer sharper price declines as a result of earnings disappointments.  There is a risk that the securities issued by companies of a certain market capitalization may underperform the broader market at any given time.

Past Performance

The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Portfolio by showing changes in the Portfolio’s performance from year to year and by showing how the Portfolio’s average annual returns compare with those of a broad measure of market performance over time. Separate variable annuity and variable universal life insurance account and policy fees and charges are not reflected in the bar chart and table. If they were, returns would be less than those shown. The Portfolio has selected the S&P 500® Index, which represents a broad measure of market performance, and is generally representative of the market sectors or types of investments in which the Portfolio invests.

Index returns reflect no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes, except for foreign withholding taxes where applicable.

   

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Performance data for the classes varies based on differences in their fee and expense structures. Past performance is not necessarily an indication of how the Portfolio will perform in the future. The Portfolio’s subadvisor changed effective January 1, 2018 due to an organizational restructuring whereby all investment personnel of Cornerstone Capital Management Holdings LLC, the former subadvisor, transitioned to MacKay Shields LLC.

The Portfolio's subadvisor changed again effective June 10, 2022 due to the transition of Francis J. Ok, the Portfolio's portfolio manager, from MacKay Shields LLC, a former subadvisor, to IndexIQ Advisors LLC, which is a wholly-owned, indirect subsidiary of New York Life Investment Holdings LLC.

Annual Returns, Initial Class Shares
(by calendar year 2014-2023)

PerformanceBarChartData(2014:13.35,2015:1.1,2016:11.62,2017:21.49,2018:-4.52,2019:31.25,2020:18.24,2021:28.55,2022:-18.19,2023:26.14)

   

Best Quarter

 

2020, Q2

20.51

%

Worst Quarter

 

2020, Q1

-19.62

%

Average Annual Total Returns (for the periods ended December 31, 2023)

          

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inception

 

       1 Year

5 Years

10 Years

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Initial Class

1/29/1993

 

26.14

%

15.53

%

11.81

%

 

Service Class

6/5/2003

 

25.83

%

15.25

%

11.53

%

 

S&P 500® Index1

26.29

%

15.69

%

12.03

%

 

1.  The S&P 500® Index is widely regarded as the standard index for measuring large-cap U.S. stock market performance.

Management

New York Life Investment Management LLC serves as the Manager. IndexIQ Advisors LLC serves as the Subadvisor. The individuals listed below are jointly and primarily responsible for day-to-day portfolio management.

   

Subadvisor

Portfolio Managers

Service Date

   

IndexIQ Advisors LLC

Francis J. Ok, Managing Director

Since 2004

 

Greg Barrato, Senior Vice President

Since 2023

How to Purchase and Sell Shares

Shares of the Portfolio are currently offered to certain separate accounts to fund variable annuity policies and variable universal life insurance policies issued by New York Life Insurance and Annuity Corporation ("NYLIAC") and may also be offered to fund variable annuity policies and variable universal life insurance policies issued by other insurance companies. Shares of the Portfolio are also offered as underlying investments of the MainStay VP Asset Allocation Portfolios ("Asset Allocation Portfolios") and other variable insurance funds.

Individual investors do not transact directly with the Portfolio to purchase and redeem shares. Rather, investors select underlying investment options offered by the applicable policy. Please refer to the prospectus for the variable annuity policy or variable universal life insurance policy that offers the Portfolio as an underlying investment option for information on the allocation of premium payments and on transfers among the investment divisions of the separate account.

   
  

3


Tax Information

Because the Portfolio's shareholders are the separate accounts of NYLIAC or other insurance companies through which you purchased your variable annuity policy or variable universal life insurance policy and the Asset Allocation Portfolios and other variable insurance funds, no discussion is included here as to the federal income tax consequences at the shareholder level. For information concerning the federal income tax consequences to variable annuity and variable universal life insurance policy owners, consult the prospectus relating to the appropriate policy.

Compensation to Broker/Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

The Portfolio and/or its related companies may pay NYLIAC or other participating insurance companies, broker/dealers, or other financial intermediaries for the sale of Portfolio shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker/dealer or other financial intermediary or your sales person to recommend the Portfolio over another investment and/or a policy that offers this Portfolio over another investment. Ask your individual salesperson or visit your broker/dealer’s or other financial intermediary firm’s website for more information. For additional information about these payments, please see the section entitled "The Trust and its Management" in the Prospectus.

“New York Life Investments” is both a service mark, and the common trade name, of certain investment advisors affiliated with New York Life Insurance Company.

   

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