MainStay VP Funds Trust

05/01/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/01/2024 07:10

Summary Prospectus by Investment Company - Form 497K

MainStay VP Bond 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 [email protected]. 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 total return.

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

0.49

%

0.49

%

Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees

None

0.25

%

Other Expenses

0.03

%

0.03

%

Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses

0.52

%

0.77

%

1.The management fee is as follows: 0.50% on assets up to $500 million; 0.475% on assets from $500 million to $1 billion; 0.45% on assets from $1 billion to $3 billion; and 0.44% on assets over $3 billion.

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

$ 53

$ 167

$ 291

$ 653

Service Class

$ 79

$ 246

$ 428

$ 954

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 469% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Portfolio, under normal circumstances, invests at least 80% of its assets (net assets plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in bonds, which include all types of debt securities such as debt or debt-related securities issued or guaranteed by U.S. or foreign governments, their agencies or instrumentalities; obligations of international or supranational entities; debt securities issued by U.S. or foreign corporate entities; zero coupon bonds; mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities; and loan participation interests. 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. The effective maturity of this portion of the Portfolio's holdings will usually be in the intermediate range (three to ten years), although it may vary depending on market conditions as determined by NYL Investors LLC, the Portfolio's Subadvisor. Effective maturity is a measure of a debt security's maturity which takes into consideration the possibility that the issuer may call the debt security before its maturity date.

At least 65% of the Portfolio's total assets will generally be invested in investment grade debt securities as rated by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization ("NRSRO") (such as securities rated higher than Baa and BBB), or if unrated, determined to be of comparable quality. If NRSROs assign different ratings to the same security, the Portfolio will use the higher rating for purposes of determining the security's credit quality.

The Portfolio may invest in mortgage dollar rolls, which are transactions in which the Portfolio sells securities from its portfolio to a counterparty from whom it simultaneously agrees to buy a similar security on a delayed delivery basis.

Commercial paper must have the highest rating given by an NRSRO when purchased (such as Prime-1 or A-1), or if unrated, determined to be of comparable quality by the Subadvisor. The Portfolio's principal investments may have fixed or floating rates of interest. The Portfolio may also invest in derivatives, such as futures and options, to enhance returns or reduce the risk of loss of (hedge) certain of its holdings.

Investment Process: Fundamental analysis and interest rate trends are the principal factors considered by the Subadvisor in determining whether to increase or decrease the emphasis placed upon a particular type of security or industry sector within the Portfolio. Maturity shifts are based on a set of investment decisions that take into account a broad range of fundamental and technical indicators.

The Subadvisor's investment process relies on a comprehensive fundamental investment discipline, including, but not limited to, consideration of environmental, social and governance ("ESG") factors that may be material to a company's performance and prospects. In addition to internal research, the Subadvisor may use third-party ESG data to compare internal views with external perspectives.

The Subadvisor may sell a security if it no longer believes that the security will contribute to meeting the investment objective of the Portfolio. In considering whether to sell a security, the Subadvisor 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.

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.

Debt Securities Risk: The risks of investing in debt or fixed-income securities include (without limitation): (i) credit risk, e.g., the issuer or guarantor of a debt security may be unable or unwilling (or be perceived as unable or unwilling) to make timely principal and/or interest payments or otherwise honor its obligations, or changes in an issuer's credit rating or the market's perception of an issuer's creditworthiness may affect the value of the Portfolio's investments; (ii) maturity risk, e.g., a debt security with a longer maturity may fluctuate in value more than one with a shorter maturity; (iii) market risk, e.g., low demand for debt securities may negatively impact their price; (iv) interest rate risk, e.g., when interest rates go up, the value of a debt security generally goes down, and when interest rates go down, the value of a debt security generally goes up (long-term debt securities are generally more susceptible to interest rate risk than short-term debt securities); and (v) call or prepayment risk, e.g., during a period of falling interest rates, the issuer may redeem a security by repaying it early, which may reduce the Portfolio's income if the proceeds are reinvested at lower interest rates.

Interest rate risk is the risk that the value of the Portfolio's investments in fixed-income or debt securities will change because of changes in interest rates. There is a risk that interest rates across the financial system may change, possibly significantly and/or rapidly. Changes in interest rates or a lack of market participants may lead to decreased liquidity and increased volatility in the fixed-income or debt markets, making it more difficult for the Portfolio to sell its fixed-income or debt holdings. Decreased liquidity in the fixed-income or debt markets also may make it more difficult to value some or all of the Portfolio's fixed-income or debt holdings. For most fixed-income investments, when market interest rates fall, prices of fixed-rate debt securities rise. However, when market interest rates fall, prices of certain variable and fixed-rate debt securities may be adversely affected (i.e., falling interest rates bring the possibility of prepayment risk, as an instrument may be redeemed before maturity). Very low or negative interest rates may magnify interest rate risk. Low interest rates (or negative interest rates) may magnify the risks associated with rising interest rates. There is a risk that the income generated by investments may not keep pace with inflation. Actions by governments and central banking authorities can result in increases or decreases in interest rates. Periods of higher inflation could cause such authorities to raise interest rates, which may adversely affect the Portfolio and its investments. The Portfolio may also be subject to heightened interest rate risk when the Federal Reserve raises interest rates. Changing interest rates, including rates that fall below zero, may have unpredictable effects on markets, may result in heightened market volatility and may detract from Portfolio performance to the extent the Portfolio is exposed to such interest rates and/or volatility. Other factors that may affect the value of debt securities include, but are not limited to, economic, political, public health, and other crises and responses by governments and companies to such crises. Not all U.S. government debt securities are guaranteed by the U.S. government-some are backed only by the issuing agency, which must rely on its own resources to repay the debt. The Portfolio's yield will fluctuate with changes in short-term interest rates.

Loan Participation Interest Risk: There may not be a readily available market for loan participation interests, which in some cases could result in the Portfolio disposing of such interests at a substantial discount from face value or holding such interests until maturity. In addition, the Portfolio may be exposed to the credit risk of the underlying corporate borrower as well as the lending institution or other participant from whom the Portfolio purchased the loan participation interests. The Portfolio may not always have direct recourse against a borrower if the borrower fails to pay scheduled principal and/or interest and may be subject to greater delays, expenses and risks than if the Portfolio had purchased a direct obligation of the borrower. Substantial increases in interest rates may cause an increase in loan obligation defaults.

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Foreign Securities Risk: 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 (or another similar third party). The issuer's "country of risk" is determined based on a number of criteria, which may change from time to time and currently include, but are not limited to, its country of domicile, the primary stock exchange on which it trades, the location from which the majority of its revenue comes, and its reporting currency. Although a Portfolio will generally rely on an issuer's "country of risk" (or similar designation) as determined by Bloomberg (or another similar third party) when categorizing securities as either U.S. or foreign-based, it is not required to do so.

Investments in foreign (non-U.S.) securities may be riskier than investments in U.S. securities. Foreign regulatory regimes and securities markets can have less stringent investor protections and disclosure standards and less liquid trading markets than U.S. regulatory regimes and securities markets, and can experience political, social and economic developments that may affect the value of investments in foreign securities. Foreign securities may also subject the Portfolio's investments to changes in currency rates. Changes in the value of foreign currencies may make the return on an investment increase or decrease, unrelated to the quality or performance of the investment itself. Economic sanctions may be, and have been, imposed against certain countries, organizations, companies, entities and/or individuals. Economic sanctions and other similar governmental actions or developments could, among other things, effectively restrict or eliminate the Portfolio's ability to purchase or sell certain foreign securities or groups of foreign securities, and thus may make the Portfolio's investments in such securities less liquid or more difficult to value. Such sanctions may also cause a decline in the value of securities issued by the sanctioned country or companies located in or economically tied to the sanctioned country. In addition, as a result of economic sanctions and other similar governmental actions or developments, the Portfolio may be forced to sell or otherwise dispose of foreign investments at inopportune times or prices. The Portfolio may seek to hedge against its exposure to changes in the value of foreign currency, but there is no guarantee that such hedging techniques will be successful in reducing any related foreign currency valuation risk.

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.

Zero Coupon Bond Risk: Because zero-coupon securities bear no interest and compound semi-annually at the rate fixed at the time of issuance, their value generally is more volatile than the value of other fixed-income securities. An investment in zero-coupon and delayed interest securities may cause the Portfolio to recognize income, and therefore the Portfolio may be required to make distributions to shareholders before the Portfolio receives any cash payments on its investment.

Mortgage-Related and Other Asset-Backed Securities Risk: Investments in mortgage-related securities (such as mortgage-backed securities) and other asset-backed securities generally involve a stream of payments based on the underlying obligations. These payments, which are often part interest and part return of principal, vary based on the rate at which the underlying borrowers repay their loans or other obligations. Asset-backed securities are subject to the risk that borrowers may default on the underlying obligations and that, during periods of falling interest rates, these obligations may be called or prepaid and, during periods of rising interest rates, obligations may be paid more slowly than expected. Impairment of the underlying obligations or collateral, such as by non-payment, will reduce the security's value. Enforcing rights against such collateral in events of default may be difficult or insufficient. The value of these securities may be significantly affected by changes in interest rates, the market's perception of issuers, and the creditworthiness of the parties involved. The ability of the Portfolio to successfully utilize these instruments may depend on the ability of the Subadvisor to forecast interest rates and other economic factors correctly. These securities may have a structure that makes their reaction to interest rate changes and other factors difficult to predict, making their value highly volatile.

Mortgage Dollar Roll Transaction Risk: A mortgage dollar roll is a transaction in which the Portfolio sells mortgage-related securities from its portfolio to a counterparty from whom it simultaneously agrees to buy a similar security on a delayed delivery basis. Mortgage dollar roll transactions are subject to certain risks, including the risk that securities returned to the Portfolio at the end of the roll, while substantially similar, may be inferior to what was initially sold to the counterparty.

Mortgage Pass-Through Securities Risk: Investments in mortgage pass-through securities are subject to similar market risks as fixed-income securities, which include, but are not limited to, interest rate risk, credit risk, prepayment risk, and extension risk.

Liquidity and Valuation Risk: The Portfolio's investments may be illiquid at the time of purchase or liquid at the time of purchase and subsequently become illiquid due to, among other things, events relating to the issuer of the securities, market events, operational issues, economic conditions, investor perceptions or lack of market participants. The lack of an active trading market may make it difficult to sell or obtain an accurate price for a security. If market conditions or issuer specific developments make it difficult to value securities, the Portfolio may value these securities using more subjective methods, such as fair value pricing. In such cases, the value determined for a security could be different than the value realized upon such security's sale. As a result, an investor could pay more than the market value when buying shares or receive less than the market value when selling shares. This could affect the proceeds of any redemption or the number of shares an investor receives upon purchase. The Portfolio is subject to the risk that it could not meet redemption requests within the allowable time period without significant dilution of remaining investors' interests in the Portfolio. To meet redemption requests or to raise cash to pursue other investment opportunities, the Portfolio may be forced to sell securities at an unfavorable time and/or under unfavorable conditions, which may adversely affect the Portfolio's performance. These risks are heightened for fixed-income instruments in a changing interest rate environment.

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High-Yield Securities Risk: Investments in high-yield securities or non-investment grade securities (commonly referred to as "junk bonds") are considered speculative because investments in such securities present a greater risk of loss than investments in higher quality securities. Such securities may, under certain circumstances, be less liquid than higher rated securities. These securities pay investors a premium (a high interest rate or yield) because of the potential illiquidity and increased risk of loss. These securities can also be subject to greater price volatility. In times of unusual or adverse market, economic or political conditions, these securities may experience higher than normal default rates.

Yield Risk: There can be no guarantee that the Portfolio will achieve or maintain any particular level of yield.

Portfolio Turnover Risk: The strategy of the Portfolio may result in high portfolio turnover. A high turnover rate may increase transaction costs, which are paid by the Portfolio.

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 Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond 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.

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.

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

Best Quarter

2023, Q4

6.95

%

Worst Quarter

2022, Q1

-6.27

%

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

Inception

1 Year

5 Years

10 Years

Initial Class

1/23/1984

5.58

%

0.96

%

1.70

%

Service Class

6/4/2003

5.31

%

0.71

%

1.45

%

Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index1

5.53

%

1.10

%

1.81

%

1.The Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index is a broad-based benchmark that measures the performance of the investment grade, U.S. dollar-denominated, fixed-rate taxable bond market, including Treasuries, government-related and corporate securities, mortgage-backed securities (agency fixed-rate and hybrid adjustable rate mortgage pass-throughs), asset-backed securities and commercial mortgage-backed securities.

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Management

New York Life Investment Management LLC serves as the Manager. NYL Investors 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

NYL Investors LLC

Kenneth Sommer, Managing Director

Since 2017

Matthew Downs, Senior Director

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.

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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