New York Life is making a major move into residential mortgage credit, agreeing to take control of the investment manager behind Verus Mortgage Capital at a time when the non-agency platform is having its biggest securitization year yet.
New York Life Investment Management (NYLIM) announced Monday that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a majority ownership stake in Invictus Capital Partners, a U.S. single-family residential credit manager with more than $20 billion in gross assets.
NYLIM manages approximately $838 billion, including an approximately $304 billion global private-markets platform. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
Invictus's existing leadership will remain in place and retain a significant ownership stake, according to the companies.
But for mortgage lenders and brokers, the more interesting piece of the deal sits inside Invictus: Verus.
Verus Securitization Trust has issued approximately $8.9 billion across 14 transactions so far in 2026, according to CreditFlow Research data reviewed by National Mortgage Professional. That's already above the approximately $8.3 billion issued across 15 transactions during all of 2025.
The increase has been building for several years. CreditFlow data shows approximately $4.2 billion of issuance across nine transactions in 2022, $5.5 billion across 11 in 2023, and $6.4 billion across 12 in 2024.
Now one of the world's largest asset managers is buying control of the company behind that operation — and New York Life says it plans to put additional capital into it.
More Than An Asset Management Deal
Invictus has acquired more than $48 billion of residential loans since expanding into the sector in 2015, according to NYLIM. It has also completed more than 90 securitizations totaling more than $45 billion.
Verus provides the mortgage sourcing and operations piece of that business. The company is a major participant in the Non-QM and non-agency market, purchasing owner-occupied consumer mortgages and investor/business-purpose loans through its correspondent operation.
Verus's reach also extends directly to mortgage brokers. The company says it expanded into wholesale in 2023, and NMP reported in 2025 on Verus's efforts to grow its wholesale sales team and expand its presence in the broker community.
Combined, NYLIM says Invictus and Verus provide capabilities spanning mortgage sourcing, underwriting, financing, securitization, and asset management.
"Invictus has built a differentiated residential credit platform combining deep investment expertise with scaled proprietary sourcing and securitization capabilities," NYLIM CEO Naïm Abou-Jaoudé said in announcing the deal.
He described those capabilities as difficult to replicate and complementary to New York Life's permanent capital.
For New York Life's General Account, the company said the transaction will provide a "significant new source" of proprietary residential mortgage assets and access to Invictus's sourcing and securitization capabilities.
New York Life will also make what the companies described as a significant multi-year capital commitment to Invictus. The amount was not disclosed.
Invictus CEO Michael Warden said New York Life's capital strength, global reach, and long-term orientation complement the business Invictus has built.
“We see significant opportunity in a growing U.S. single-family residential credit market,” Warden said. “Together, we are well positioned to grow the business and serve a broader range of institutional investors.”
New York Life Was Already Looking For More Mortgages
The acquisition follows a residential mortgage strategy New York Life had already begun discussing publicly.
In June, New York Life Chief Investment Officer Craig Sabal told Institutional Investor that residential mortgage loans were an area where the insurer had been selectively building exposure and that he expected them to become a larger part of its roughly $380 billion General Account portfolio over time.
Three months later, New York Life is acquiring control of a business that gives it a position much earlier in the mortgage lifecycle, from loan sourcing through financing and securitization.
One Verus Deal Drew From 121 Originators
A recent securitization offers a snapshot of the sourcing network behind Verus. Verus Securitization Trust 2026-INV1 contained approximately $707 million across 1,780 mortgages from 121 separate originators, according to an August presale analysis by S&P Global Ratings.
Champions Funding originated 25.37% of that particular pool by balance, while the other 120 originators supplied the remainder, with each contributing less than 10%.
S&P also said Invictus requires 100% pre-purchase due diligence on acquired loans, including reviews of credit, regulatory compliance, property valuation, and fraud.
Verus Was Already Scaling
New York Life isn't buying into a new securitization operation.
Inside Nonconforming Markets ranked Invictus as the top issuer of non-agency mortgage-backed securities in 2023, with $5.75 billion of issuance.
The company has also been upgrading the technology behind its Non-QM operation. In July, Verus moved its Non-QM operations onto Vesta's loan platform, adding automation and AI tools intended to handle proprietary guidelines and the exception-heavy workflows common in Non-QM lending.
Verus President Dane Smith said at the time that the company needed technology that could scale across channels.
The developments show a Verus operation that was already investing in its infrastructure and increasing securitization volume before the ownership change was announced.
Institutional Capital Is Moving Closer To Mortgage Production
The transaction also fits into a broader trend NMP has been following in investor and non-agency lending.
Large investment managers aren't limiting themselves to purchasing mortgage assets. Some are putting capital behind — or acquiring ownership of — the businesses responsible for sourcing those loans.
Earlier this year, Castlelake acquired a majority stake in Resfin Partners, parent of correspondent platform Eastview and business-purpose lender Lendmarq. Castlelake had already purchased more than $2 billion of loans through Resfin's channels before taking the ownership stake.
Four months later, Castlelake connected that production to a $261 million residential mortgage-backed securities transaction, creating a revolving outlet for additional qualifying investor-loan production.
Invictus itself has previously attracted institutional capital intended for mortgage purchases.
Navigator Global Investments invested in Invictus beginning in 2022, when the company reported approximately $2.3 billion in assets under management. Navigator said at the time that much of its investment would support growth initiatives.
New York Life is going further by acquiring majority ownership. Rather than simply providing capital to purchase residential mortgages, it is taking control of a business with the infrastructure to source, finance, and securitize them.
