MainStay DefinedTerm Municipal Opportunities Fund Appoints Chris Blunt, David H. Chow and Jacques P. Perold to Board of Trustees

NEW YORK--()--MainStay DefinedTerm Municipal Opportunities Fund (the “Fund”) (NYSE:MMD) today announced the appointment of Chris Blunt, David H. Chow and Jacques P. Perold to the Fund’s Board of Trustees. Mr. Blunt, president of New York Life’s Investments Group, joins the Board as a Class III trustee replacing John Kim who became president of New York Life in May 2015 in addition to remaining New York Life’s chief investment officer. Mr. Chow joins the Board as a Class III trustee replacing Roman Weil who is retiring. Mr. Perold is appointed as a Class I trustee. These recent appointments bring the total size of the Fund’s Board of Trustees to nine, eight of whom are independent.

Chris Blunt

Chris Blunt is the President of the Investments Group of New York Life, which includes NYL Investors, New York Life Investment Management (NYLIM), Retail Annuities, Institutional Annuities, and Seguros Monterrey New York Life Mexico. He was appointed to New York Life’s Executive Management Committee in September 2007.

Mr. Blunt joined the company in 2004 as Executive Vice President at New York Life Investment Management and was responsible for setting and executing New York Life Investment Management’s Retail Investments strategy, with particular emphasis on growing New York Life Investment Management’s sales of mutual funds and separate account wrap through all of its distribution partners. In March 2007 he was elected Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Life and Annuity and in 2008 was appointed Executive Vice President in charge of Retirement Income Security (RIS). Prior to his current role and starting in February 2012, he served as Co-President of the Insurance and Agency Group of New York Life Insurance Company, which encompassed the company’s U.S. Life Operations, Seguros Monterrey New York Life Mexico, and AARP Operations.

Prior to joining New York Life, Mr. Blunt was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of GivingCapital, Inc., a wealth management solutions provider serving the financial institutions marketplace, and before that spent 14 years in a variety of senior marketing and distribution roles in the investment management industry. Mr. Blunt was the Chief Marketing Officer – Americas, for Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, and President of Mercury Funds Distributors. Before working with Merrill Lynch, he was a Managing Director with Goldman Sachs & Co., and the National Sales Manager for Goldman Sachs Funds.

Mr. Blunt holds FINRA Series 7 and 24 registrations. He earned a BA in History from the University of Michigan and an M.B.A. in Finance from The Wharton School.

David H. Chow

Mr. Chow has served as an Advisory Board Member of the Fund since June 2015. Mr. Chow is founder and CEO of DanCourt Management, LLC, a Registered Investment Advisor that works primarily with high-net worth clients. Mr. Chow brings 30 years of experience in capital market transactions and private equity investing. He has been involved in every phase of the investment process through multiple economic cycles with service as lead director on the boards of companies funded by institutional private capital. Mr. Chow currently serves as independent Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Market Vectors group of Exchange-Traded Funds. He is also a Trustee of Berea College of Kentucky where, among other duties, he serves as Vice-Chair of the Investment Committee. Mr. Chow also serves on the Governing Council of the Independent Directors Council. Mr. Chow received his M.B.A. with Highest Distinction from Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business and his B.A. with Honors from Swarthmore College. He has been a CFA Charterholder since 1989.

Jacques P. Perold

Mr. Perold has served as an Advisory Board Member of the Fund since June 2015. Mr. Perold spent the majority of his career at Fidelity Investments and Geode Capital Management, from 1986 until 2014. Mr. Perold was president of Fidelity Management and Research Co., the investment advisor for Fidelity’s family of mutual funds, a position he held from 2009 until his retirement from Fidelity in 2014. He was, until May of 2014, a member of the Board of Governors and the Executive Committee of the ICI. Mr. Perold has more than 25 years of experience as a senior executive and investment manager of equity and alternative investments for institutional and mutual fund portfolios, with roles in trading, research and portfolio management. Mr. Perold was elected to the Board of Directors of the Allstate Corporation effective December 1, 2015. Mr. Perold has served as a member of Boston University’s Investment Committee since 2008 and is a Trustee of the University. Mr. Perold is currently an Advanced Leadership Initiative Fellow at Harvard University.

For additional information, please visit the Fund’s website at www.mainstayinvestments.com/mmd or by calling the Fund’s shareholder servicing agent at (855) 456-9683.

There are risks inherent in any investment, including market risk, interest rate risk, credit risk and the possible loss of principal. There can be no assurance that the Fund’s investment objectives will be achieved. Shares of closed-end funds frequently trade at a discount from their net asset value, which may increase investor risk.

About MainStay Investments

With $87.64 billion in assets under management as of November 30, 2015, across retail mutual funds, exchange traded funds (ETFs) and variable product sub-accounts, MainStay Investments is the mutual fund and ETF distribution arm of New York Life Insurance Company. MainStay provides access to a powerful mix of autonomous, institutional investment managers, delivered by experienced professionals who understand the needs of today's investors. For more information on MainStay Investments, please visit www.mainstayinvestments.com.

MainStay Investments® is a registered service mark and name under which New York Life Investment Management LLC does business.

About MacKay Shields LLC

MacKay Shields LLC (“MacKay”) serves as the Fund’s investment subadvisor. MacKay is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of New York Life Insurance Company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of New York Life Investment Management Holdings LLC. MacKay is a fixed-income focused investment management firm with $91.1 billion in assets under management as of November 30, 2015. MacKay manages fixed income strategies for high-net worth individuals, institutional clients and mutual funds, including unconstrained bond, global high yield, high yield, high yield active core, municipal high yield, short duration high yield, low volatility high yield, municipal short term, core investment grade, municipal investment grade, core plus, core plus opportunities, convertibles, emerging markets credit, and bank loans.

Contacts

New York Life
Media:
Allison Scott, 212-576-4517
allison_scott@newyorklife.com
Kevin Maher, 212-576-6955
kevin_b_maher@newyorklife.com
or
Investors:
855-456-9683

Contacts

New York Life
Media:
Allison Scott, 212-576-4517
allison_scott@newyorklife.com
Kevin Maher, 212-576-6955
kevin_b_maher@newyorklife.com
or
Investors:
855-456-9683