I'm not ready to jump on the shear-stability bandwagon just yet.
You mention the "upgraded" product is "high VI". There are lots of ways to get an increase in VI. The most common is to convert to a PAO-based fluid. PAOs have naturally high VI. As such they need less VI improver and should be much more shear stable. You could also use mineral with added VI improver. (Most mineral hydraulics don't contain VII.) In that case, shear stability can be an issue.
Are you certain you are seeing a change in VI? You only quote the viscosity change at 40C. If the problem related to VII, you would see some atypical response in the 100C as well.
What other maintenance was performed when you made the conversion? Was there a flush? If so, what did you flush with and what was its viscosity? It may be a contamination issue, either a one-time event because low-vis flushing medium wasn't all drained from the system, or ongoing because of something got mis-connected during the outage when the conversion was made.