William W. Priest
Executive Chairman, Co-CIO
Bill Priest

Bill is Executive Chairman and Co-Chief Investment Officer of Epoch Investment Partners, which he co-founded in 2004, and co-portfolio manager to the MainStay Epoch U.S. Equity Yield, MainStay Epoch Global Equity Yield, MainStay Epoch Capital Growth and MainStay Income Builder Funds. On September 15, 2023, Epoch announced Mr. Priest would no longer serve as co-portfolio manager to these funds effective March 31, 2024. 

Previously, Bill was a member of the Global Executive Committee of Credit Suisse Asset Management (CSAM), Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Credit Suisse Asset Management Americas, and CEO and Portfolio Manager of its predecessor firm BEA Associates, which he co-founded in 1972. During his 30-year tenure at BEA and CSAM, he developed the firm into a well-recognized investment manager with over $100B under management. He has worked in the financial services industry since 1965.

Bill is the author of several published articles and papers on investing and finance, including the books, The Financial Reality of Pension Funding Under ERISA, Free Cash Flow and Shareholder Yield: New Priorities for the Global Investor, and the more recent Winning at Active Management: The Essential Roles of Culture, Philosophy, and Technology (with co-authors Steven Bleiberg and Michael Welhoelter).  

Bill earned a B.A. in Accounting and Political Science from Duke University and an M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton Graduate School of Business.

Affiliations

Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)

Council on Foreign Relations Member 

Former CPA

Member of Barron’s Roundtable 

William W. Priest Chair in Finance at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business

   

Products Managed

Performance data quoted represents past performance. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Due to market volatility, current performance may be less or higher than the figures shown. Investment return and principal value will fluctuate so that upon redemption, shares may be worth more or less than their original cost. Performance figures for all Funds reflect contractual waivers and/or expense limitations, without which total returns may have been lower. These limitations may be modified or terminated only with Board approval.


The Morningstar Rating™ for funds, or "star rating", is calculated for managed products (including mutual funds, variable annuity and variable life subaccounts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, and separate accounts) with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product's monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance (this does not include the effects of sales charges, loads, and redemption fees). The top 10% of products in each product category receive 5stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a managed product is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The weights are: 100% three-year rating for 36-59 months of total returns, 60% five-year rating/40% three-year rating for 60-119 months of total returns, and 50% 10-year rating/30% five-year rating/20% three-year rating for 120 or more months of total returns. While the 10-year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10-year period, the most recent three-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods.


Click on the product name for the most recent overall risk-adjusted Morningstar ratings shown above, including ratings by share class and time period and the number of funds in each category. The Fund page also includes the prospectus, investment objectives, performance, risk and other important information.