2024-05-02MSLongDurationGovernmentOpportunitiesFund_497C_PSP_April2024
2023-12-31 false
0000730044 Morgan Stanley
Long Duration Government Opportunities Fund N-1A 497
2024-05-03 2024-05-035.600.102.402.660.016.435.552.0613.035.65 0000730044
2024-04-29
2024-04-29
0000730044
stanley:Dmslongdurationgovernmentopportunitiesfundcpspapril_16188Member
stanley:S000002426Member
2024-04-29
2024-04-29
0000730044
stanley:Dmslongdurationgovernmentopportunitiesfundcpspapril_16188Member
stanley:S000002426Member
stanley:C000006467Member
2024-04-29
2024-04-29
0000730044
stanley:Dmslongdurationgovernmentopportunitiesfundcpspapril_16188Member
stanley:S000002426Member
stanley:C000006469Member
2024-04-29
2024-04-29
0000730044
stanley:Dmslongdurationgovernmentopportunitiesfundcpspapril_16188Member
stanley:S000002426Member
stanley:C000006470Member
2024-04-29
2024-04-29
0000730044
stanley:Dmslongdurationgovernmentopportunitiesfundcpspapril_16188Member
stanley:S000002426Member
stanley:C000155939Member
2024-04-29
2024-04-29
0000730044
stanley:Dmslongdurationgovernmentopportunitiesfundcpspapril_16188Member
stanley:S000002426Member
stanley:C000006467Member
rr:AfterTaxesOnDistributionsMember
2024-04-29
2024-04-29
0000730044
stanley:Dmslongdurationgovernmentopportunitiesfundcpspapril_16188Member
stanley:S000002426Member
stanley:C000006467Member
rr:AfterTaxesOnDistributionsAndSalesMember
2024-04-29
2024-04-29
0000730044
stanley:Dmslongdurationgovernmentopportunitiesfundcpspapril_16188Member
stanley:S000002426Member
stanley:bench20240425441Member
2024-04-29
2024-04-29
0000730044
stanley:Dmslongdurationgovernmentopportunitiesfundcpspapril_16188Member
stanley:S000002426Member
stanley:bench20230530269Member
2024-04-29
2024-04-29
0000730044
stanley:Dmslongdurationgovernmentopportunitiesfundcpspapril_16188Member
stanley:S000002426Member
stanley:bench20240412427Member
2024-04-29
2024-04-29
0000730044
stanley:Dmslongdurationgovernmentopportunitiesfundcpspapril_16188Member
stanley:S000002426Member
stanley:bench20230407178Member
2024-04-29
2024-04-29
0000730044
stanley:Dmslongdurationgovernmentopportunitiesfundcpspapril_16188Member
stanley:S000002426Member
stanley:bench20230407179Member
2024-04-29
2024-04-29
0000730044
stanley:Dmslongdurationgovernmentopportunitiesfundcpspapril_16188Member
stanley:S000002426Member
stanley:bench20230407165Member
2024-04-29
2024-04-29
0000730044
stanley:Dmslongdurationgovernmentopportunitiesfundcpspapril_16188Member
stanley:S000002426Member
stanley:bench20230407180Member
2024-04-29
2024-04-29
0000730044
stanley:Dmslongdurationgovernmentopportunitiesfundcpspapril_16188Member
stanley:S000002426Member
stanley:bench20230407181Member
2024-04-29
2024-04-29
0000730044
stanley:Dmslongdurationgovernmentopportunitiesfundcpspapril_16188Member
stanley:S000002426Member
stanley:bench20230407182Member
2024-04-29
2024-04-29
0000730044
stanley:Dmslongdurationgovernmentopportunitiesfundcpspapril_16188Member
stanley:S000002426Member
stanley:bench20230407183Member
2024-04-29
2024-04-29
0000730044
stanley:Dmslongdurationgovernmentopportunitiesfundcpspapril_16188Member
stanley:S000002426Member
stanley:bench20230407184Member
2024-04-29
2024-04-29
0000730044
stanley:Dmslongdurationgovernmentopportunitiesfundcpspapril_16188Member
stanley:S000002426Member
stanley:bench20230407185Member
2024-04-29
2024-04-29
0000730044
stanley:Dmslongdurationgovernmentopportunitiesfundcpspapril_16188Member
stanley:S000002426Member
stanley:bench20230407175Member
2024-04-29
2024-04-29
0000730044
stanley:Dmslongdurationgovernmentopportunitiesfundcpspapril_16188Member
stanley:S000002426Member
stanley:bench20230407186Member
2024-04-29
2024-04-29
0000730044
stanley:Dmslongdurationgovernmentopportunitiesfundcpspapril_16188Member
stanley:S000002426Member
stanley:bench20230407174Member
2024-04-29
2024-04-29
0000730044
stanley:Dmslongdurationgovernmentopportunitiesfundcpspapril_16188Member
stanley:S000002426Member
stanley:bench20230407187Member
2024-04-29
2024-04-29
0000730044
stanley:Dmslongdurationgovernmentopportunitiesfundcpspapril_16188Member
stanley:S000002426Member
stanley:bench20230407188Member
2024-04-29
2024-04-29
0000730044
stanley:Dmslongdurationgovernmentopportunitiesfundcpspapril_16188Member
stanley:S000002426Member
stanley:bench20230407166Member
2024-04-29
2024-04-29
0000730044
stanley:Dmslongdurationgovernmentopportunitiesfundcpspapril_16188Member
stanley:S000002426Member
stanley:bench20230407196Member
2024-04-29
2024-04-29
0000730044
stanley:Dmslongdurationgovernmentopportunitiesfundcpspapril_16188Member
stanley:S000002426Member
rr:RiskNotInsuredDepositoryInstitutionMember
2024-04-29
2024-04-29
0000730044
stanley:Dmslongdurationgovernmentopportunitiesfundcpspapril_16188Member
stanley:S000002426Member
rr:RiskLoseMoneyMember
2024-04-29
2024-04-29
stanley:Years
iso4217:USD
xbrli:pure
xbrli:shares
iso4217:USD
xbrli:shares
Morgan
Stanley
Long
Duration Government Opportunities
Fund
Prospectus | April
29, 2024
| |
Share
Class |
Ticker
Symbol |
Class
A |
USGAX |
Class
L |
USGCX |
Class
I |
USGDX |
Class
C |
MSGVX |
This
Prospectus contains important information about the Fund. Please read it
carefully and keep it for future reference.
The
Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has not approved or disapproved these
securities or passed upon the adequacy
of this Prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal
offense.
An
investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured by the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other
government agency. An investment in the Fund involves investment risks,
and you may lose money in the Fund.
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Fund
Summary
Long
Duration Government Opportunities Fund
Investment
Objective
Morgan
Stanley Long Duration Government Opportunities Fund (the “Fund”) seeks a high
level of current income consistent with safety
of principal.
Fees
and Expenses
The
table below describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold
and sell shares of the Fund. You
may pay fees other
than the fees and expenses of the Fund, such as brokerage commissions and other
fees charged by financial intermediaries,
which are not reflected in the tables and examples
below.
For
purchases of Class A shares, you may qualify for a sales charge discount if the
cumulative net asset value per share (“NAV”) of Class
A shares of the Fund being purchased in a single transaction, together with the
NAV of any shares of the Fund and/or certain other
Morgan Stanley Multi-Class Funds already held in Related Accounts (as defined in
the section of this Prospectus entitled “Shareholder
Information
— Share Class Arrangements”)
as of the date of the transaction, amounts to $100,000
or more.
More information
about this combined purchase discount and other discounts is available from your
financial intermediary and on page 29
of
the Prospectus in the section entitled “Shareholder Information — Share Class
Arrangements” and in the section of the Fund’s Statement
of Additional Information (“SAI”) entitled “Purchase, Redemption and Pricing of
Shares.” In addition, Appendix A attached
to the Prospectus contains more information regarding financial
intermediary-specific sales charge waivers and
discounts.
Class
I shares may be available on brokerage platforms of firms that have agreements
with the Fund’s principal underwriter permitting
such firms to (i) offer Class I shares solely when acting as an agent for the
investor and (ii) impose on an investor transacting
in Class I shares through such platforms a commission and/or other forms of
compensation to the broker. Shares of the Fund
are available in other share classes that have different fees and
expenses.
Shareholder
Fees (fees
paid directly from your investment)
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Class
A |
Class
L |
Class
I |
Class
C |
|
Maximum
sales charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a percentage
of offering price) |
3.25% |
None |
None |
None |
|
Maximum
deferred sales charge (load) (as a percentage based on
the lesser of the offering price or NAV at redemption) |
1 |
None |
None |
%2 |
|
Annual
Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses
that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment)
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Class
A |
Class
L |
Class
I |
Class
C |
|
Advisory
Fee |
0.42% |
0.42% |
0.42% |
0.42% |
|
Distribution
and/or Shareholder Service (12b-1) Fee |
0.25% |
0.50% |
None |
1.00% |
|
Other
Expenses |
0.50% |
0.54% |
0.49% |
0.48% |
|
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses3
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
|
Fee
Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement3
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
|
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver
and/or Expense Reimbursement3
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
|
Example
The
example below is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund
with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.
The
example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund, your investment has a 5%
return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses
remain the same (except that the example incorporates the fee waiver and/or
expense reimbursement arrangement for only the
first year). After eight years, Class C shares of the Fund generally will
convert automatically to Class A shares of the Fund. The example
for Class C shares reflects the conversion to Class A shares after eight years.
Please refer to the section of the Prospectus entitled
“Shareholder Information—Conversion Features” for more information. Although
your actual costs may be higher or lower, based
on these assumptions your costs would be:
|
|
|
|
| |
If
You SOLD Your Shares |
|
|
1
Year |
3
Years |
5
Years |
10
Years |
|
Class
A |
$409 |
$654 |
$918 |
$1,672 |
|
Class
L |
$114 |
$428 |
$765 |
$1,717 |
|
Class
I |
$50 |
$248 |
$463 |
$1,081 |
|
Class
C |
$265 |
$570 |
$1,000 |
$2,009 |
|
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Fund
Summary
Long
Duration Government Opportunities Fund (Con’t)
|
|
|
|
| |
If
You HELD Your Shares |
|
|
1
Year |
3
Years |
5
Years |
10
Years |
|
Class
A |
$409
|
$654 |
$918 |
$1,672 |
|
Class
L |
$114 |
$428
|
$765 |
$1,717 |
|
Class
I |
$50 |
$248
|
$463 |
$1,081 |
|
Class
C |
$165 |
$570 |
$1,000
|
$2,009
|
|
1 |
Investments
in Class A shares that are not subject to any sales charges at the time of
purchase are subject to a contingent deferred sales charge (“CDSC”)
of 0.75% that will be imposed if you sell your shares within 12 months
after purchase, except for certain specific circumstances. See
“Shareholder
Information—Share Class Arrangements” for further information about the
CDSC waiver categories.
|
2 |
The
Class C CDSC is only applicable if you sell your shares within one year
after the last day of the month of purchase. See “Shareholder
Information—Share
Class Arrangements” for a complete discussion of the
CDSC.
|
3 |
The
Fund’s “Adviser” and “Administrator,” Morgan Stanley Investment Management
Inc., has agreed to reduce its advisory fee, its administration fee
and/or
reimburse the Fund so that Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses, excluding
acquired fund fees and expenses (as applicable), certain investment
related
expenses, taxes, interest and other extraordinary expenses (including
litigation), will not exceed 0.85% for Class A, 1.12% for
Class L, 0.49% for Class I
and 1.62% for Class C. The fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements will
continue for at least one year from the date of this Prospectus or
until
such time as the Fund’s Board of Trustees acts to discontinue all or a
portion of such waivers and/or reimbursements when it deems such action is
appropriate. |
Portfolio
Turnover
The
Fund 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 and may result in higher
taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account.
These costs, which are not reflected in Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses or
in the example, affect the Fund’s performance.
During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was
512% of
the average value of its portfolio.
Principal
Investment Strategies
The
Fund normally invests at least 80% of its net assets in a portfolio of U.S.
government securities. This policy may be changed without
shareholder approval; however, you would be notified upon 60 days’ notice in
writing of any changes. In making investment decisions,
the Adviser considers economic developments, interest rate trends and other
factors. The
Fund
is not limited as to the maturities
of the U.S.
government securities in
which it may invest. The U.S. government securities that
the Fund may purchase include:
U.S. Treasury bills, notes and bonds, all of which are direct obligations of the
U.S. Government; securities (including mortgage-backed
securities) issued by agencies and instrumentalities of the U.S. Government
which are backed by the full faith and credit
of the United States; securities (including mortgage-backed securities) issued
by agencies and instrumentalities which are not backed
by the full faith and credit of the United States, but whose issuing agency or
instrumentality has the right to borrow, to meet its
obligations, from the U.S. Treasury; securities issued by agencies and
instrumentalities which are backed solely by the credit of the issuing
agency or instrumentality; and securities guaranteed by the U.S. Government or
its agencies and instrumentalities or securities supported
by the U.S. Government in some other way, such as the discretionary authority of
the U.S. Government to purchase certain
obligations of the agency or instrumentality. The Fund’s investments may include
zero coupon securities, which are purchased
at a discount and generally accrue interest, but make no payment until maturity.
Under normal circumstances, the Adviser expects
to construct an investment portfolio for the Fund with a dollar-weighted average
effective duration of at least ten years.
Duration
measures the time-weighted expected cash flows of a fixed-income
security.
The
mortgage-backed securities in which the Fund may invest include mortgage
pass-through securities, commercial mortgage-backed
securities (“CMBS”), collateralized mortgage obligations (“CMOs”), stripped
mortgage-backed securities (“SMBS”) and inverse
floating rate obligations (“inverse floaters”). In addition, the Fund may invest
in to-be-announced pass-through mortgage securities,
which settle on a delayed delivery basis
(“TBAs”).
The
Fund may also invest in (i) asset-backed
securities and (ii)
commercial paper rated in the highest investment grade (currently A1/P1/F1)
by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”), S&P Global Ratings Group, a
division of S&P Global Inc. (“S&P”) or Fitch
Ratings Inc. (“Fitch”). For
purposes of rating restrictions, if securities are rated differently by two or
more rating agencies, the highest
rating is used. The
Fund may invest in restricted and illiquid
securities.
The
Fund may, but it is not required to, use derivative instruments for risk
management or other portfolio management purposes, including
to adjust the Fund’s dollar-weighted average effective duration. The Fund’s use
of derivatives may involve the purchase and sale
of derivative instruments such as futures, options, swaps and other related
instruments and techniques. These derivative instruments
will be counted toward the Fund’s 80% policy discussed above to the extent they
have economic characteristics similar to the
securities included within that policy.
The
Fund is not a money market fund, does not seek to maintain a stable NAV and does
not qualify for the tax relief afforded to money
market funds by the U.S. Treasury.
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Fund
Summary
Long
Duration Government Opportunities Fund (Con’t)
Principal
Risks
There
is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective, and you can
lose money investing in this Fund.
The principal
risks of investing in the Fund include:
• |
U.S.
Government Securities.
Different types of U.S. government securities are subject to different
levels of credit risk, including the risk
of default, depending on the nature of the particular government support
for that security. For example, a U.S. government-sponsored
entity, such as Federal National Mortgage Association or Federal Home Loan
Mortgage Corporation, although chartered
or sponsored by an Act of Congress, may issue securities that are neither
insured nor guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury and,
therefore, are not backed by the full faith and credit of the United
States. With respect to U.S. government securities that are not
backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, there is the
risk that the U.S. Government will not provide financial support
to such U.S. government agencies, instrumentalities or sponsored
enterprises if it is not obligated to do so by
law. |
• |
Zero
Coupon Securities.
The interest earned on zero coupon securities is, implicitly,
automatically compounded and paid out at maturity.
While such compounding at a constant rate eliminates the risk of receiving
lower yields upon reinvestment of interest if prevailing
interest rates decline, the owner of a zero coupon security will be unable
to participate in higher yields upon reinvestment
of interest received on interest-paying securities if prevailing interest
rates rise. A zero coupon security pays no interest
to its holder during its life. Therefore, to the extent the Fund invests
in zero coupon securities, it will not receive current cash
available for distribution to shareholders. In addition, zero coupon
securities are subject to substantially greater price fluctuations
during periods of changing prevailing interest rates than are comparable
securities which pay interest on a current basis. |
• |
Credit
and Interest Rate Risk.
Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer or guarantor of a
security will be unable or unwilling
or perceived to be unable or unwilling to make interest payments and/or
repay the principal on its debt,
including the risk
of default.
In such instances, the value of the Fund could decline and the Fund could
lose money. Interest rate risk refers to the
decline in the value of a fixed-income security resulting from changes in
the general level of interest rates. When the general level
of interest rates goes up, the prices of most fixed-income securities go
down. When the general level of interest rates goes down,
the prices of most fixed-income securities go up. The Fund may invest in
variable and floating rate loans and other variable and
floating rate securities. Although these instruments are generally less
sensitive to interest rate changes than fixed rate instruments,
the value of variable and floating rate loans and other securities may
decline if their interest rates do not rise as quickly,
or as much, as general interest rates. The Fund may face a heightened
level of interest rate risk in times of monetary policy
change and/or uncertainty, such as when the Federal Reserve Board adjusts
a quantitative easing program and/or changes rates.
A changing interest rate environment increases certain risks, including
the potential for periods of volatility, increased redemptions,
shortened durations (i.e., prepayment risk) and extended durations (i.e.,
extension risk). For example, during periods when
interest rates are low, the Fund’s yield (and total return) also may be
low or otherwise adversely affected or the Fund may be unable
to maintain positive returns. Credit ratings may not be an accurate
assessment of liquidity or credit risk. Although credit ratings
may not accurately reflect the true credit risk of an instrument, a change
in the credit rating of an instrument or an issuer can
have a rapid, adverse effect on the instrument’s liquidity and make it
more difficult for the Fund to sell at an advantageous price
or time. |
• |
Asset-Backed
Securities.
Asset-backed securities are subject to credit (such as a borrower’s
default on its mortgage obligation and the
default or failure of a guarantee underlying the asset-backed security),
interest rate and certain additional risks, including the risk
that various federal and state consumer laws and other legal and economic
factors may result in the collateral backing the securities
being insufficient to support payment on the securities. Some asset-backed
securities also entail prepayment risk and extension
risk, which may vary depending on the type of asset. Due to these risks,
asset-backed securities may become more volatile
in certain interest rate
environments. |
• |
Mortgage-Backed
Securities.
Mortgage-backed securities entail prepayment risk, which generally
increases during a period of falling
interest rates. Rising interest rates tend to discourage refinancings,
with the result that the average life and volatility of mortgage-backed
securities will increase and market price will decrease. Rates of
prepayment, faster or slower than expected by the Adviser,
could reduce the Fund’s yield, increase the volatility of the Fund and/or
cause a decline in NAV. Mortgage-backed securities
are also subject to extension risk, which is the risk that rising interest
rates could cause mortgages or other obligations underlying
the securities to be prepaid more slowly than expected, thereby
lengthening the duration of such securities, increasing their
sensitivity to interest rate changes and causing their prices to decline.
Certain mortgage-backed securities may be more volatile
and less liquid than other traditional types of debt securities. In
addition, mortgage-backed securities are subject to credit risk.
The Fund may invest in non-agency mortgage-backed securities offered by
non-governmental issuers, such as commercial banks,
savings and loan institutions, private mortgage insurance companies,
mortgage bankers and other secondary market issuers. Non-agency
mortgage-backed securities are not subject to the same underwriting
requirements for the underlying mortgages that are
applicable to those mortgage-backed securities that have a government or
government-sponsored entity guarantee. As a result, the
mortgage loans underlying non-agency mortgage-backed securities may, and
frequently do, have less favorable collateral, credit risk
or other underwriting characteristics than government or
government-sponsored mortgage-backed securities and have wider
variances
in a number of terms including interest rate, term, size, purpose and
borrower characteristics. An unexpectedly high rate of
defaults on the mortgages held by a mortgage pool may adversely affect the
value of a mortgage-backed security and could result
|
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Fund
Summary
Long
Duration Government Opportunities Fund (Con’t)
|
in
losses to the Fund. The risk of such defaults is generally higher in the
case of mortgage pools that include subprime mortgages. Furthermore,
mortgage-backed securities may be subject to risks associated with the
assets underlying those securities, such as a decline
in value. Investments in mortgage-backed securities may give rise to a
form of leverage (indebtedness) and may cause the Fund’s
portfolio turnover rate to appear higher. Leverage may cause the Fund to
be more volatile than if the Fund had not been leveraged.
The risks associated with mortgage-backed securities typically become
elevated during periods of distressed economic, market,
health and labor conditions. In particular, increased levels of
unemployment, delays and delinquencies in payments of mortgage
and rent obligations, and uncertainty regarding the effects and extent of
government intervention with respect to mortgage
payments and other economic matters may adversely affect the Fund’s
investments in mortgage-backed securities. In addition,
commercial mortgage-backed securities are also subject to risks associated
with reduced demand for commercial and office
space, tightening lending standards and increased interest and lending
rates, and other developments adverse to the commercial
real estate
market. |
• |
Commercial
Mortgage-Backed Securities.
CMBS are subject to credit risk and prepayment risk. Although prepayment
risk is present,
it is of a lesser degree in the CMBS market than in the residential
mortgage market; commercial real estate property loans often
contain provisions which substantially reduce the likelihood that such
securities will be prepaid (e.g., significant prepayment penalties
on loans and, in some cases, prohibition on principal payments for several
years following
origination). |
• |
Collateralized
Mortgage Obligations.
CMOs are comprised of various tranches, the expected cash flows of which
have varying degrees
of predictability as compared with the underlying mortgage loans or
mortgage pass-through entities. The less predictable the
cash flow, the higher the yield and the greater the risk. In addition, if
the collateral securing CMOs or any third-party guarantees
is insufficient to make payments, the Fund could sustain a loss. Like
other mortgage backed-securities, CMOs
are subject
to credit risk. The Fund invests in both agency and non-agency
CMOs.
Some agency CMOs have reduced
credit risk as they
are government
guaranteed. |
• |
Stripped
Mortgage-Backed Securities.
Investments in each class of SMBS are extremely sensitive to changes in
interest rates. The interest-only
or “IO” class tends to decrease in value substantially if interest rates
decline and prepayment rates become more rapid.
The principal-only or “PO” class tends to decrease in value substantially
if interest rates increase and the rate of prepayment decreases.
If the Fund invests in SMBS and interest rates move in a manner not
anticipated by Fund management, it is possible that
the Fund could lose all or substantially all of its investment.
Additionally, like
other mortgage-backed securities, SMBS are subject
to
credit risk.
The Fund invests in both agency and non-agency SMBS. Some agency
SMBS have reduced credit risk as they
are government
guaranteed. |
• |
Inverse
Floaters.
Inverse floating rate obligations are obligations that pay interest at
rates that vary inversely with changes in market
rates of interest. Because the interest rate paid to holders of such
obligations is generally determined by subtracting a variable
or floating rate from a predetermined amount, the interest rate paid to
holders of such obligations will decrease as such variable
or floating rate increases and increase as such variable or floating rate
decreases. |
• |
Liquidity.
The Fund may make investments that are illiquid or restricted or that may
become illiquid or less liquid in response to overall
economic conditions or adverse investor perceptions, and which may entail
greater risk than investments in other types of securities.
These investments may be more difficult to value or sell, particularly in
times of market turmoil, and there may be little trading
in the secondary market available for particular securities. Liquidity
risk may be magnified in a market where credit spread and
interest rate volatility is rising and where investor redemptions from
fixed-income mutual funds may be higher than normal.
If
the Fund is forced to sell an illiquid or restricted security to fund
redemptions or for other cash needs, it may be forced to sell the
security at a loss or for less than its fair value and may be unable to
sell the security at
all. |
• |
Derivatives.
Derivatives and other similar instruments that create synthetic exposure
often are subject to risks similar to those of the
underlying asset or instrument, including market risk, and may be subject
to additional risks, including imperfect correlation between
the value of the derivative and the underlying asset, risks of default by
the counterparty to certain transactions, magnification
of losses incurred due to changes in the market value of the securities,
instruments, indices or interest rates to which the
derivative instrument relates, risks that the transactions may not be
liquid, risks arising from margin and payment requirements,
risks arising from mispricing or valuation complexity and operational and
legal risks. Certain derivative transactions may
give rise to a form of leverage. Leverage magnifies the potential for gain
and the risk of
loss. |
• |
Market
and Geopolitical Risk.
The value of your investment in the Fund is based on the values of the
Fund’s investments, which change
due to economic and other events that affect markets generally, as well as
those that affect particular regions, countries, industries,
companies or governments. These events may be sudden and unexpected, and
could adversely affect the liquidity of the Fund’s
investments, which may in turn impact valuation, the Fund’s ability to
sell securities and/or its ability to meet redemptions.
The risks associated with these developments may be magnified if certain
social, political, economic and other conditions
and events (such as war, natural disasters, epidemics and pandemics,
terrorism, conflicts, social unrest, recessions, inflation,
interest rate changes and supply chain disruptions) adversely interrupt
the global economy and financial markets. It is difficult
to predict when events affecting the U.S. or global financial markets may
occur, the effects that such events may have and the
duration of those effects (which may last for extended periods). These
events may negatively impact broad segments of
|
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Fund
Summary
Long
Duration Government Opportunities Fund (Con’t)
|
businesses
and populations and have a significant and rapid negative impact on the
performance of the Fund’s investments, adversely
affect and increase the volatility of the Fund’s share price
and exacerbate pre-existing risks to the
Fund. |
• |
Portfolio
Turnover.
Consistent with its investment policies, the Fund will purchase and sell
securities without regard to the effect on
portfolio turnover. Higher portfolio turnover will cause the Fund to incur
additional transaction
costs. |
• |
Active
Management Risk.
In pursuing the Fund’s investment objective, the Adviser has considerable
leeway in deciding which investments
to buy, hold or sell on a day-to-day basis, and which trading strategies
to use. For example, the Adviser, in its discretion,
may determine to use some permitted trading strategies while not using
others. The success or failure of such decisions will
affect the Fund’s
performance. |
• |
Fixed-Income
Securities.
Fixed-income securities are subject to the risk of the issuer’s inability
to meet principal and interest payments
on its obligations (i.e., credit risk) and are subject to price volatility
resulting from, among other things, interest rate sensitivity
(i.e., interest rate risk), market perception of the creditworthiness of
the issuer and general market liquidity (i.e., market risk). The
Fund may face a heightened level of interest rate risk in times of
monetary policy change and/or uncertainty, such as when
the Federal Reserve Board adjusts a quantitative easing program and/or
changes rates. A
changing interest rate environment increases
certain risks, including the potential for periods of volatility,
increased redemptions, shortened durations (i.e., prepayment
risk) and extended durations (i.e., extension risk).The Fund is not
limited as to the maturities (when a debt security provides
its final payment) or durations (measure of interest rate sensitivity) of
the securities in which it may invest but, under normal
circumstances, the Adviser expects to construct an investment portfolio
for the Fund with a dollar-weighted average effective
duration of at least ten years. Securities with longer durations are
likely to be more sensitive to changes in interest rates, generally
making them more volatile than similar securities with shorter durations.
In turn, a fund with a longer average portfolio duration
will be more sensitive to changes in interest rates than a fund with a
shorter average portfolio duration. Lower rated fixed-income
securities have greater volatility because there is less certainty that
principal and interest payments will be made as scheduled.
The Fund may be subject to certain liquidity risks that may result from
the lack of an active market and the reduced number
and capacity of traditional market participants to make a market in
fixed-income securities. Further, fixed income securities
with longer durations until maturity face heightened levels of
liquidity risk as compared to fixed income securities with shorter
durations until
maturity. |
• |
When-Issued
Securities, Delayed Delivery Securities, TBAs and Forward
Commitments. The
Fund may purchase or sell securities that it
is entitled to receive on a when-issued, delayed delivery or through a
forward commitment basis. For example, the Fund may invest
in TBAs, which settle on a delayed delivery basis. These investments may
result in a form of leverage and may increase volatility
in the Fund’s share price. In a TBA transaction, the seller agrees to
deliver the MBS for an agreed upon price on an agreed
upon future date, but makes no guarantee as to which or how many
securities are to be delivered. Accordingly, the Fund’s investments
in TBAs are subject to risks such as failure of the counterparty to
perform its obligation to deliver the security, the characteristics
of a security delivered to the Fund may be less favorable than expected
and the security the Fund buys will lose value
prior to its delivery. The Fund’s purchase of other securities on a
when-issued, delayed delivery or through a forward commitment
basis are subject to similar risks. When the Fund has sold a security on a
when-issued, delayed delivery, or forward commitment
basis, the Fund does not benefit if the value of the security appreciates
above the sale price during the commitment period
and the Fund is subject to failure of the counterparty to pay for the
securities. |
Shares
of the Fund are not bank deposits and are not guaranteed or insured by the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other
government agency.
Past
Performance
The
bar chart and table below provide some indication of the
risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s
Class A
shares’ performance from year-to-year and by showing
how the Fund’s average annual returns for the past one, five and
10 year periods
and since inception compare with those of one
or more indexes intended to measure broad market
performance.
The Fund’s primary
benchmark index was changed from the Bloomberg U.S. Long Treasury Index to the
Bloomberg U.S. Universal Index effective
April 29, 2024 to comply with the regulation that
requires
the Fund’s primary benchmark to represent the overall applicable market.
The additional indexes in the table provide a means to compare the Fund’s
average annual returns to a benchmark that the Adviser
believes is representative of the Fund’s investment universe. The performance
of the other classes, which is shown in the table below,
will differ because the classes have different ongoing fees.
The
performance information in the bar chart does not reflect the
deduction of sales charges; if these amounts were reflected, returns would
be less than shown. The
Fund’s returns in the table include
the maximum applicable sales charge for Class A and Class C and assume you
sold your shares at the end of each period (unless
otherwise noted).
The Fund changed its name from Morgan Stanley U.S. Government Securities Trust
to Morgan Stanley Long
Duration Government Opportunities Fund effective May 31, 2023.
The
Fund’s past performance, before and after taxes, is not necessarily
an indication of how the Fund will perform in the
future.
Updated performance information is available online at
www.morganstanley.com/im or
by calling toll-free 1-800-869-6397.
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Fund
Summary
Long
Duration Government Opportunities Fund (Con’t)
Annual
Total Returns—Calendar Years
|
| |
High
Quarter |
12/31/23
|
16.81% |
Low
Quarter |
09/30/23
|
-10.06% |
|
|
|
| |
|
Past
1 Year |
Past
5 Years |
Past
10 Years |
Since
Inception |
Class
A2
|
Return
before taxes |
2.26% |
-0.44% |
0.84% |
2.91% |
Return
After Taxes on Distributions3
|
% |
-% |
-% |
% |
Return
After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund
Shares |
1.27% |
-0.81% |
0.14% |
1.63% |
Class
L2
|
Return
before taxes |
5.32% |
-0.08% |
0.88% |
2.62% |
Class
I2
|
Return
before taxes |
6.02% |
0.58% |
1.51% |
3.32% |
Class
C2
|
Return
before taxes |
3.79% |
-0.58% |
N/A |
-%4 |
Bloomberg
U.S. Universal Index (reflects no deduction
for fees, expenses or taxes)5
|
% |
% |
% |
%6 |
Bloomberg
U.S. Long Treasury Index (reflects no deduction
for fees, expenses or taxes)7
|
% |
-% |
% |
%6 |
Bloomberg
U.S. Government/Mortgage/Bloomberg U.S.
Long Treasury Blended Index (reflects no deduction
for fees, expenses or taxes)8
|
% |
-% |
% |
%6 |
1 |
During
2016, the Fund received proceeds related to certain non-recurring
litigation settlements. Had these settlements not occurred, the 10 year
and since
inception returns
before and after taxes for such periods would have been
lower. |
2 |
Class
A, L and I shares commenced operations on July 28, 1997. Class C shares
commenced operations on April 30,
2015. |
3 |
These
returns do not reflect any tax consequences from a sale of your shares at
the end of each period, but they do reflect any applicable sales
charges
on such a sale. |
4 |
Class
C shares will generally automatically convert to Class A shares eight
years after the end of the calendar month in which the shares were
purchased.
Performance for periods greater than eight years reflects this
conversion. |
5 |
The
Bloomberg U.S. Universal Index represents the union of the U.S. Aggregate
Index, U.S. Corporate High Yield Index, Investment Grade 144A Index,
Eurodollar
Index, U.S. Emerging Markets Index, and the non-Employee Retirement Income
Security Act of 1974 (non-ERISA) eligible portion of the CMBS
Index.
The index covers U.S. dollar-denominated, taxable bonds that are rated
either investment grade or high-yield. It is not possible to invest
directly in
an index. |
6 |
Since
inception reflects the inception date of Class A
shares. |
7 |
The
Bloomberg U.S. Long Treasury Index measures the performance of U.S.
dollar-denominated, fixed-rate, nominal debt issued by the U.S. Treasury
with
a maturity greater than 10 years. Separate trading of registered interest
and principal of securities (STRIPS) are excluded from the index because
their
inclusion would result in double-counting. It is not possible to invest
directly in an index. Effective May 31, 2023, the Fund changed its primary
benchmark
to the Bloomberg U.S. Long Treasury Index because the Adviser believed it
was a more appropriate benchmark for the Fund. As noted above,
the Fund subsequently changed its primary benchmark to the Bloomberg U.S.
Universal Index. |
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Fund
Summary
Long
Duration Government Opportunities Fund (Con’t)
8 |
The
Bloomberg U.S. Government/Mortgage/Bloomberg U.S. Long Treasury Blended
Index is a performance linked benchmark of the Fund’s old benchmark
prior to May 31, 2023 and the Fund’s benchmark for the period after May
31, 2023. The Fund’s old benchmark prior to May 31, 2023 represented
by Bloomberg U.S. Government/Mortgage Index (a index that includes
Treasuries, government related issues, and agency mortgage backed
pass
through securities issued by Ginnie Mae (GNMA), Fannie Mae (FNMA), and
Freddie Mac (FHLMC), for periods from inception of the Fund to May
31,
2023 and the Fund’s benchmark for the period after May 31, 2023
represented by Bloomberg U.S. Long Treasury Index for periods
thereafter. It is not
possible to invest directly in an
index. |
The
after-tax returns shown in the table above are calculated using the historical
highest individual federal marginal income tax rates during
the period shown and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes.
After-tax
returns for the Fund’s other classes will vary from
the Class A shares’ returns. Actual
after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from
those shown, and after-tax
returns are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through
tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual
retirement accounts (“IRAs”). After-tax
returns may be higher than before-tax returns due to foreign tax credits and/or
an assumed
benefit from capital losses that would have been realized had Fund shares been
sold at the end of the relevant periods, as applicable.
Fund
Management
Adviser.
Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc.
Portfolio
Managers.
Information about the members jointly and primarily responsible for the
day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio
is shown below:
|
| |
Name |
Title
with Adviser |
Date
Began Managing
Fund |
Alexander
Payne |
Managing
Director |
May
2023 |
Andrew
Szczurowski |
Managing
Director |
May
2023 |
Purchase
and Sale of Fund Shares
The
Fund has suspended offering Class L shares for sale to all investors. The Class
L shareholders of the Fund do not have the option of purchasing
additional Class L shares. However, the existing Class L shareholders may invest
in additional Class L shares through reinvestment
of dividends and distributions.
The
minimum initial investment generally is $1 million for Class I shares and $1,000
for each of Class A and Class C shares of the Fund.
The minimum initial investment requirements may be waived for certain
investments. For more information, please refer to the
section of the Prospectus entitled “Shareholder Information—How to Buy
Shares—Minimum Investment Amounts.”
You
can purchase or sell Fund shares on any day the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”)
is open for business directly from the Fund
by mail (c/o SS&C Global Investor and Distribution Solutions, Inc., P.O. Box
219804, Kansas City, MO 64121-9804), by telephone
(1-800-869-6397) or by contacting your Morgan Stanley Financial Advisor or an
authorized third-party, such as a broker-dealer
or other financial intermediary that has entered into a selling agreement with
the Fund’s “Distributor,” Morgan Stanley Distribution,
Inc. (each, a “Financial Intermediary”). In addition, you can sell Fund
shares at any time by enrolling in a systematic withdrawal
plan. Your shares will be sold at the next price calculated after we receive
your order to redeem. If you sell Class A or Class
C shares, your net sale proceeds are reduced by the amount of any applicable
CDSC. For more information, please refer to the sections
of the Prospectus entitled “Shareholder Information—How To Buy Shares” and “—How
To Sell Shares.”
Tax
Information
The
Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxed as ordinary income or
capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred
arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an IRA.
Payments
to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If
you purchase Fund shares through a Financial Intermediary (such as a bank), the
Adviser and/or the Distributor may pay the Financial
Intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments,
which may be significant in amount, may create
a conflict of interest by influencing the Financial Intermediary and your
salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment.
Ask your salesperson or visit your Financial Intermediary’s web site for more
information.
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Fund
Details
Long
Duration Government Opportunities Fund
|
| |
Income
An
investment objective having the goal of selecting securities to pay out
income rather than rise in price. |
Additional
Information about Fund Investment Objective, Strategies and Risks
Investment
Objective
Morgan
Stanley Long Duration Government Opportunities Fund seeks a high level of
current income consistent with safety of principal.
Principal
Investment Strategies
The
Fund normally invests at least 80% of its net assets in a portfolio
of U.S. government securities. This policy may be changed without
shareholder approval; however, you would be notified upon 60 days’ notice in
writing of any changes. In making investment decisions,
the Adviser considers economic developments, interest rate trends and other
factors. The Fund is not limited as to the maturities
of the U.S. government securities in which it may invest.
The
U.S. government securities that the Fund may purchase include:
• |
U.S.
Treasury bills, notes and bonds, all of which are direct obligations of
the U.S. Government. |
• |
Securities
(including mortgage-backed securities) issued by agencies or
instrumentalities of the U.S. Government which are backed by
the full faith and credit of the United States. Among the agencies or
instrumentalities issuing these obligations are the Government
National Mortgage Association (“Ginnie Mae”) and the Federal Housing
Administration (“FHA”). |
• |
Securities
(including mortgage-backed securities) issued by agencies or
instrumentalities which are not backed by the full faith and credit
of the United States, but whose issuing agency or instrumentality has the
right to borrow, to meet its obligations, from the U.S.
Treasury. Among these agencies or instrumentalities are the Federal
National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”) and the Federal
Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie
Mac”). |
• |
Securities
issued by agencies or instrumentalities which are backed solely by the
credit of the issuing agency or instrumentality. Among
these agencies or instrumentalities are the Federal Farm Credit System and
the Federal Home Loan Banks. |
• |
Securities
guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities or
securities supported by the U.S. Government in
some other way, such as the discretionary authority of the U.S. Government
to purchase certain obligations of the agency or instrumentality. |
Most
U.S. government securities pay either fixed or adjustable rates of interest at
regular intervals until they mature, at which point investors
get their principal back. The Fund’s investments may include zero coupon
securities, which are purchased at a discount and generally
accrue interest, but make no payment until maturity. The mortgage-backed
securities in which the Fund may invest include mortgage
pass-through securities, CMBS, CMOs, SMBS and inverse floaters. In addition, the
Fund may invest in TBAs, which settle on
a delayed delivery basis. Under normal circumstances, the Adviser expects to
construct an investment portfolio for the Fund with a
dollar-weighted average effective duration of at least ten years.
Duration measures the time-weighted expected cash flows of a fixed-income
security.
The
Fund may also invest in (i)
asset-backed
securities and (ii)
commercial paper rated in the highest investment grade (currently A1/P1/F1)
by Moody’s, S&P or Fitch. For
purposes of rating restrictions, if securities are rated differently by two or
more rating agencies,
the highest rating is used. The
Fund may also invest in restricted and illiquid securities.
The
Fund may, but it is not required to, use derivative instruments for risk
management or other portfolio management purposes, including
to adjust the Fund’s dollar-weighted average effective duration. The
Fund’s use of derivatives may involve the purchase and sale
of derivative instruments such as futures, options, swaps and other related
instruments and techniques.
These derivative instruments
will be counted toward the Fund’s 80% policy discussed above to the extent they
have economic characteristics similar to the
securities included within that policy.
The
Fund is not a money market fund, does not seek to maintain a stable NAV and does
not qualify for the tax relief afforded to money
market funds by the U.S. Treasury.
The
Fund may change its principal investment strategies without shareholder
approval; however, you would be notified of any changes.
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Fund
Details
Long
Duration Government Opportunities Fund (Con’t)
In
pursuing the Fund’s investment objective, the Adviser has considerable leeway in
deciding which investments it buys, holds or sells on
a day-to-day basis and which trading strategies it uses. For example, the
Adviser in its discretion may determine to use some permitted
trading strategies while not using others.
For
purposes of policies adopted in accordance with Rule 35d-1 under the
Investment
Company Act of 1940, as amended (“1940 Act”),
the term “assets,” as defined in Rule 35d-1 under the 1940 Act, means net assets
plus the amount of any borrowings for investment
purposes.
***
The
percentage limitations relating to the composition of the Fund’s portfolio apply
at the time the Fund acquires an investment. Subsequent
percentage changes that result from market fluctuations generally will not
require the Fund to sell any portfolio security. However,
the Fund may be required to reduce its borrowings, if any, in response to
fluctuations in the value of such holdings. The Fund
may change its principal investment strategies without shareholder approval;
however, you would be notified of any changes.
Additional
Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Principal
Risks
This
section discusses additional information relating to the Fund’s investment
strategies, other types of investments that the Fund may
make and related risk factors. The Fund’s investment practices and limitations
are also described in more detail in the Statement of
Additional Information (“SAI”), which is incorporated by reference and legally
is a part of this Prospectus. For details on how to obtain
a copy of the SAI and other reports and information, see the back cover of this
Prospectus.
There
is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. The Fund’s
share price and yield will fluctuate with changes in
the market value and/or yield of the Fund’s portfolio securities. Neither the
value nor the yield of the U.S. government securities in
which the Fund invests (or the value or yield of the Fund’s shares) is
guaranteed by the U.S. Government. When you sell Fund shares,
they may be worth less than what you paid for them and, accordingly, you
can lose money investing in this Fund.
Economies
and financial markets worldwide have recently experienced periods of increased
volatility, uncertainty, distress, government
spending, inflation and disruption to consumer demand, economic output and
supply chains. To the extent these conditions
continue, the risks associated with an investment in the Fund, including those
described below, could be heightened and the
Fund’s investments (and thus a shareholder’s investment in the Fund) may be
particularly susceptible to sudden and substantial losses,
reduced yield or income or other adverse developments. The occurrence, duration
and extent of these or other types of adverse economic
and market conditions and uncertainty over the long term cannot be reasonably
projected or estimated at this time.
U.S.
Government Securities
Different
types of U.S. government securities are subject to different levels of credit
risk, including the risk of default, depending on the
nature of the particular government support for that security. For example, a
U.S. government-sponsored entity, such as Federal National
Mortgage Association or Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, although
chartered or sponsored by an Act of Congress,
may issue securities that are neither insured nor guaranteed by the U.S.
Treasury and, therefore, are not backed by the full faith
and credit of the United States. With respect to U.S. government securities that
are not backed by the full faith and credit of the United
States, there is the risk that the U.S. Government will not provide financial
support to such U.S. government agencies, instrumentalities
or sponsored enterprises if it is not obligated to do so by law.
The
U.S. government securities that the Fund may purchase include U.S. Treasury
bills, notes and bonds, all of which are direct obligations
of the U.S. Government. In addition, the Fund may purchase securities issued or
guaranteed by agencies and instrumentalities
of the U.S. Government which are backed by the full faith and credit of the
United States. Among the agencies and instrumentalities
issuing these obligations are the Ginnie Mae and the Federal Housing
Administration. The Fund may also purchase securities
issued by agencies and instrumentalities which are not backed by the full faith
and credit of the United States, but whose issuing
agency or instrumentality has the right to borrow, to meet its obligations, from
the U.S. Treasury. Among these agencies and instrumentalities
are Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks. Further, the Fund
may purchase securities issued by
agencies and instrumentalities which are backed solely by the credit of the
issuing agency or instrumentality. Among these agencies
and instrumentalities is the Federal Farm Credit System. Because these
securities are not backed by the full faith and credit of
the United States, there is a risk that the U.S. Government will not provide
financial support to these agencies if it is not obligated to
do so by law, and therefore these U.S. government securities involve greater
credit risk than other types of U.S. government securities.
The maximum potential liability of the issuers of some U.S. government
securities held by the Fund may greatly exceed their
current resources, including their legal right to support from the U.S.
Treasury. It is possible that these issuers will not have the funds
to meet their payment obligations in the future. The interest from U.S.
government securities generally is not subject to state and
local taxation. In addition, uncertainty regarding the status of negotiations in
the U.S. government to increase the statutory debt ceiling
could increase the risk that the U.S. government may default on payments on
certain U.S. government securities and may cause
the credit rating of the U.S. government to be downgraded. Any uncertainty
regarding the ability of the United States to repay its
debt obligations, and any default by the U.S. government, would have a negative
impact on the Fund’s investments in U.S.
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Fund
Details
Long
Duration Government Opportunities Fund (Con’t)
government
securities. U.S. government securities generally have a lower return than other
obligations because of their higher credit quality
and market liquidity.
Zero
Coupon Securities
The
Fund may invest in zero coupon securities. Such securities are purchased at a
discount from their face amount, giving the purchaser
the right to receive their full value at maturity. The interest earned on such
securities is, implicitly, automatically compounded
and paid out at maturity. While such compounding at a constant rate eliminates
the risk of receiving lower yields upon reinvestment
of interest if prevailing interest rates decline, the owner of a zero coupon
security will be unable to participate in higher yields
upon reinvestment of interest received on interest-paying securities if
prevailing interest rates rise.
A
zero coupon security pays no interest to its holder during its life. Therefore,
to the extent the Fund invests in zero coupon securities,
it will not receive current cash available for distribution to shareholders. In
addition, zero coupon securities are subject to substantially
greater price fluctuations during periods of changing prevailing interest rates
than are comparable securities which pay interest
on a current basis. Current federal tax law requires that a holder (such as the
Fund) of a zero coupon security accrue a portion of
the discount at which the security was purchased as income each year even though
the Fund receives no interest payments in cash on
the security during the year.
Credit
and Interest Rate Risk
Fixed-income
securities, such as bonds, generally are subject to two types of risk: credit
risk and interest rate risk. Credit risk refers to the
possibility that the issuer or guarantor of a security will be unable or
unwilling or perceived to be unable or unwilling to make interest
payments and/or repay the principal on its debt,
including the risk of default.
The risk of defaults across issuers and/or counterparties
increases in adverse market and economic conditions. Interest rate risk refers
to fluctuations (such as a decline) in the value
of a fixed-income security resulting from changes in the general level of
interest rates. When the general level of interest rates goes
up, the prices of most fixed-income securities go down. When the general level
of interest rates goes down, the prices of most fixed-income
securities go up but the yield or income from new issuances of fixed-income
securities generally decreases. A low interest
rate environment may prevent the Fund from providing a positive yield or
paying Fund expenses out of current income. The Fund
may face a heightened level of interest rate risk in times of monetary policy
change and/or uncertainty, such as when the Federal
Reserve Board adjusts a quantitative easing program and/or changes rates, which
may occur at any time based on a range of factors
and may be sudden, frequent and significant. For example, during periods when
interest rates are low, the Fund’s yield (and total
return) also may be low or otherwise adversely affected or the Fund may be
unable to maintain positive returns
or minimize the volatility
of the Fund’s NAV.
Monetary policies, and market interest rates, are subject to change at any time
and potentially frequently
based on a variety of market and economic conditions. The impact on fixed income
and other debt instruments from interest
rate changes, regardless of the cause, could be significant and could adversely
affect the Fund and its investments. Credit ratings
may not be an accurate assessment of liquidity or credit risk. Although credit
quality may not accurately reflect the true credit risk
of an instrument, a change in the credit rating of an instrument or an issuer
can have a rapid, adverse effect on the instrument’s liquidity
and make it more difficult for the
Fund to sell at an advantageous price or time.
In
addition, under certain conditions, there may be an increasing amount of issuers
that are unprofitable, have little cash on hand and/or
are unable to pay the interest owed on their debt obligations and the number of
such issuers may increase if demand for their goods
and services falls, borrowing costs rise due to governmental action or inaction
or other reasons.
Governmental
authorities and regulators may enact significant fiscal and monetary policy
changes, including providing direct capital infusions
into companies, creating new monetary programs and lowering interest rates
considerably. These actions present heightened
risks to debt instruments, and such risks could be even further heightened if
these actions are unexpectedly or suddenly reversed
or are ineffective in achieving their desired outcomes.
Mortgage-Backed
Securities
Mortgage-backed
securities are fixed-income securities representing an interest in a pool of
underlying mortgage loans. They are sensitive
to changes in interest rates, but may respond to these changes differently from
other fixed-income securities due to the possibility
of prepayment of the underlying mortgage loans (i.e., when a borrower pays back
the principal of a debt obligation earlier than
expected). As a result, it may not be possible to determine in advance the
actual maturity date or average life of a mortgage-backed
security. Rising interest rates tend to discourage refinancings, with the
result that the average life and volatility of the security will
increase and its market price will decrease. When interest rates fall, however,
mortgage-backed securities may not gain as much in market
value because additional mortgage prepayments must be reinvested at lower
interest rates. Prepayment risk may make it difficult
to calculate the average maturity of a portfolio of mortgage-backed securities
and, therefore, to assess the volatility risk of that
portfolio.
The
Fund may invest in mortgage-backed securities that are issued or
guaranteed by the U.S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities.
These securities are either direct obligations of the U.S. Government or the
issuing agency or instrumentality has the
right to borrow from the U.S. Treasury to meet its obligations although it is
not legally required to extend credit to the agency or instrumentality.
Certain of these mortgage-backed securities purchased by the Fund, such as
those issued by the Government
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Fund
Details
Long
Duration Government Opportunities Fund (Con’t)
National
Mortgage Association and the Federal Housing Administration, are backed by the
full faith and credit of the United States. Other
of these mortgage securities purchased by the Fund, such as those issued by the
Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie
Mae”) and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac”), are not backed
by the full faith and credit of the United
States and there is a risk that the U.S. Government will not provide financial
support to these agencies if it is not obligated to do
so by law. The maximum potential liability of the issuers of some of the
mortgage securities held by the Funds may greatly exceed their
current resources, including their legal right to support from the U.S.
Treasury. It is possible that these issuers will not have the funds
to meet their payment obligations in the future.
To
the extent the Fund invests in mortgage-backed securities issued by
non-governmental issuers, such as commercial banks, savings and
loan institutions, private mortgage insurance companies, mortgage bankers and
other secondary market issuers, the Fund will be exposed
to additional risks because, among other things, there are no direct or indirect
government or agency guarantees of payments in
the pools underlying the securities. However, timely payment of interest and
principal of these pools may be supported by various forms
of private insurance or guarantees, including individual loan, title, pool and
hazard insurance and letters of intent. The insurance
and guarantees, if any, may be issued by governmental entities, private insurers
and the mortgage poolers. There can be no assurance
that the private insurers or guarantors can meet their obligations under the
insurance policies or guarantee arrangements. Mortgage
pools underlying mortgage-backed securities offered by non-governmental issuers
more frequently include second mortgages,
high loan-to-value ratio mortgages and manufactured housing loans, in addition
to commercial mortgages and other types of
mortgages where a government or government-sponsored entity guarantee is not
available. An unexpectedly high rate of defaults on
the mortgages held by a mortgage pool may adversely affect the value of a
mortgage-backed security and could result in losses to the
Fund. The risk of such defaults is generally higher in the case of mortgage
pools that include subprime mortgages. Subprime mortgages
refer to loans made to borrowers with weakened credit histories or with a lower
capacity to make timely payments on their mortgages.
For these reasons, the loans underlying these securities have had in many cases
higher default rates than those loans that meet
government underwriting requirements. The risk of non-payment is greater for
mortgage-related securities that are backed by loans
that were originated under weak underwriting standards, including loans made to
borrowers with limited means to make repayment.
A level of risk exists for all loans, although, historically, the poorest
performing loans have been those classified as subprime.
Other types of privately issued mortgage-related securities, such as those
classified as pay-option adjustable rate or Alt-A, have
also performed poorly.
Non-agency
mortgage-backed securities are not traded on an exchange and there may be a
limited market for the securities, especially when
there is a perceived weakness in the mortgage and real estate market sectors.
Without an active trading market, mortgage-related
securities held in the Fund’s portfolio may be particularly difficult to value
because of the complexities involved in assessing the
value of the underlying mortgage loans or to sell. Non-agency mortgage-backed
securities include securities that reflect an interest in,
and are secured by, mortgage loans on commercial real property. Many of the
risks of investing in CMBS reflect the risks of investing
in the real estate securing the underlying mortgage loans. These risks reflect
the effects of local and other economic conditions
on real estate markets, the ability of tenants to make loan payments, and the
ability of a property to attract and retain tenants.
The
risks associated with mortgage-backed securities are elevated in distressed
economic, market, health and labor conditions, notably,
increased levels of unemployment, delays and delinquencies in payments of
mortgage and rent obligations, and uncertainty regarding
the effects and extent of government intervention with respect to mortgage
payments and other economic matters.
Delinquencies,
defaults and losses on residential mortgage loans may increase substantially
over certain periods, which may affect the performance
of the mortgage-backed securities in which the Fund may invest. Mortgage loans
backing non-agency mortgage-backed securities
are more sensitive to economic factors that could affect the ability of
borrowers to pay their obligations under the mortgage loans
backing these securities. In addition, housing prices and appraisal values in
many states and localities over certain periods have declined
or stopped appreciating. A sustained decline or an extended flattening of those
values may result in additional increases in delinquencies
and losses on mortgage-backed securities generally (including the
mortgage-backed securities that the Fund may invest in
as described above). Adverse changes in market conditions and regulatory climate
may reduce the cash flow which the Fund, to the extent
it invests in mortgage-backed securities or other asset-backed securities,
receives from such securities and increase the incidence and
severity of credit events and losses in respect of such securities. In the event
that interest rate spreads for mortgage-backed securities
and other asset-backed securities widen following the purchase of such assets by
the Fund, the market value of such securities
is likely to decline and, in the case of a substantial spread widening, could
decline by a substantial amount. Furthermore, adverse
changes in market conditions may result in reduced liquidity in the market for
mortgage-backed securities and other asset-backed
securities (including the mortgage-backed securities and other asset-backed
securities in which the Fund may invest) and an unwillingness
by banks, financial institutions and investors to extend credit to servicers,
originators and other participants in the market
for mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities. As a result, the
liquidity and/or the market value of any mortgage-backed
or asset-backed securities that are owned by the Fund may experience declines
after they are purchased by the Fund.
Collateralized
Mortgage Obligations. CMOs are
debt obligations collateralized by mortgage loans or mortgage pass-through
securities (“Mortgage
Assets”). Payments of principal and interest on the Mortgage Assets and any
reinvestment income are used to make payments
on the CMOs. CMOs are issued in multiple classes. Each class has a fixed or
floating rate and a stated maturity or final
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Fund
Details
Long
Duration Government Opportunities Fund (Con’t)
distribution
date. The principal and interest on the Mortgage Assets may be allocated among
the classes in a number of different ways.
Certain classes will, as a result of the allocation, have more predictable cash
flows than others. As a general matter, the more predictable
the cash flow, the lower the yield relative to other Mortgage Assets. The less
predictable the cash flow, the higher the yield and
the greater the risk. The Fund may invest in any class of CMO, including
classes that vary inversely with interest rates and may be
more volatile and sensitive to prepayment rates.
The
principal and interest on the Mortgage Assets comprising a CMO may be allocated
among the several classes of a CMO in many ways.
The general goal in allocating cash flows on Mortgage Assets to the various
classes of a CMO is to create certain tranches on which
the expected cash flows have a higher degree of predictability than do the
underlying Mortgage Assets. As a general matter, the more
predictable the cash flow is on a particular CMO tranche, the lower the
anticipated yield on that tranche at the time of issue will
be relative to the prevailing market yields on the Mortgage Assets. As part of
the process of creating more predictable cash flows on
certain tranches of a CMO, one or more tranches generally must be created that
absorb most of the changes in the cash flows on the
underlying Mortgage Assets. The yields on these tranches are generally higher
than prevailing market yields on other mortgage related
securities with similar average lives. Principal prepayments on the underlying
Mortgage Assets may cause the CMOs to be retired
substantially earlier than their stated maturities or final distribution dates.
Because of the uncertainty of the cash flows on these
tranches, the market prices and yields of these tranches are more volatile and
may increase or decrease in value substantially with
changes in interest rates and/or the rates of prepayment relative to other
tranches. Due to the possibility that prepayments (on home
mortgages and other collateral) will alter the cash flow on CMOs, it is
not possible to determine in advance the final maturity date
or average life. Faster prepayment will shorten the average life and slower
prepayments will lengthen it. In addition, if the collateral
securing CMOs or any third party guarantees are insufficient to make
payments, the Fund could sustain a loss.
Stripped
Mortgage-Backed Securities. SMBS are
derivative multi-class mortgage-backed securities. SMBS may be issued by
agencies or instrumentalities
of the U.S. Government, or by private originators. A common type of SMBS will
have one class receiving some of the
interest and most of the principal from the mortgage assets, while the other
class receives most of the interest and the remainder of
the principal. In the most extreme case, one class will receive all of the
interest (the interest only or “IO” class), while the other class
will receive all of the principal (the principal-only or “PO” class).
Investments in each class of SMBS are extremely sensitive to changes
in interest rates. IOs tend to decrease in value substantially if interest rates
decline and prepayment rates become more rapid. POs
tend to decrease in value substantially if interest rates increase and the rate
of prepayment decreases. If the Fund invests in SMBS and
interest rates move in a manner not anticipated by management, it is possible
that the Fund could lose all or substantially all of its
investment.
Commercial
Mortgage-Backed Securities. CMBS
are generally multi-class or pass-through securities backed by a mortgage loan
or a pool
of mortgage-backed loans secured by commercial property, such as industrial and
warehouse properties, office buildings, retail space
and shopping malls, multifamily properties and cooperative apartments. The
commercial mortgage loans that underlie CMBS are
generally not amortizing or not fully amortizing. That is, at their maturity
date, repayment of their remaining principal balance or “balloon”
is due and is repaid through the attainment of an additional loan or sale of the
property. An extension of a final payment on
commercial mortgages will increase the average life of the CMBS, generally
resulting in a lower yield for discount bonds and a higher
yield for premium bonds.
CMBS
are subject to credit risk and prepayment risk, among other risks. Although
prepayment risk is present, it is of a lesser degree in
the CMBS market than in the residential mortgage market; commercial real estate
property loans often contain provisions that substantially
reduce the likelihood that such securities will be prepaid (e.g., significant
prepayment penalties on loans and, in some cases,
prohibition on principal payments for several years following
origination).
The
values of, and income generated by, CMBS may be adversely affected by changing
interest rates, tightening lending standards, and
other developments impacting the commercial real estate market, such as
population shifts and other demographic changes, increasing
vacancies (potentially for extended periods) and reduced demand for commercial
and office space as well as maintenance or
tenant improvement costs and costs to covert properties for other uses. These
developments could result from, among other things,
changing tastes and preferences (such as remote work arrangements) as well as
cultural, technological, global or local economic
and market developments. In addition, changing interest rate environments and
associated changes in lending standards and
higher refinancing rates may adversely affect the commercial real estate
and CMBS markets. The occurrence of any of the foregoing
or similar developments would likely increase default risk for the properties
and loans underlying these investments as well as
impact the value of, and income generated by, these investments. These
developments could also result in reduced liquidity for CMBS.
Inverse
Floaters
Inverse
floaters are obligations which pay interest at rates that vary inversely with
changes in market rates of interest. Because the interest
rate paid to holders of such obligations is generally determined by subtracting
a variable or floating rate from a predetermined amount,
the interest rate paid to holders of such obligations will decrease as such
variable or floating rate increases and increase as such
variable or floating rate decreases.
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Fund
Details
Long
Duration Government Opportunities Fund (Con’t)
Like
most other fixed-income securities, the value of inverse floaters will decrease
as interest rates increase. They are more volatile, however,
than most other fixed-income securities because the coupon rate on an inverse
floater typically changes at a multiple of the change
in the relevant index rate. Thus, any rise in the index rate (as a consequence
of an increase in interest rates) causes a correspondingly
greater drop in the coupon rate of an inverse floater while a drop in the index
rate causes a correspondingly greater increase
in the coupon of an inverse floater. Some inverse floaters may also increase or
decrease substantially because of changes in the rate
of prepayments.
Liquidity
The Fund
may make investments that are illiquid or restricted or that may become illiquid
or less liquid in response to,
among other developments,
overall economic conditions or adverse investor perceptions, and which may
entail greater risk than investments in other
types of securities. Illiquidity can also
be
caused by, among other things, a drop in overall market trading volume, an
inability to
find a willing buyer, or legal restrictions on the securities’ resale. These
investments may be more difficult to value or sell, particularly
in times of market turmoil, and there may be little trading in the secondary
market available for particular securities. Liquidity
risk may be magnified in a market where credit spread and interest rate
volatility is rising and where investor redemptions from
fixed-income mutual funds may be higher than normal. If
the Fund is forced to sell an illiquid or restricted security to fund
redemptions
or for other cash needs, it may be forced to sell the security at a loss or for
less than its fair value and may be unable to sell
the security at all.
Derivatives
The Fund may,
but is not required to, use derivatives and other similar instruments for a
variety of purposes, including hedging, risk management,
portfolio management or to seek to earn income. Derivative instruments used by
the Fund will be counted towards the Fund’s
exposure in the types of securities listed herein to the extent they have
economic characteristics similar to such securities. A derivative
is a financial instrument whose value is based, in part, on the value of an
underlying asset, interest rate, index or financial instrument.
Prevailing interest rates and volatility levels, among other things, also affect
the value of derivative instruments. Derivatives
and other similar instruments that create synthetic exposure often are subject
to risks similar to those of the underlying asset
or instrument and may be subject to additional risks, including imperfect
correlation between the value of the derivative and the underlying
asset, risks of default by the counterparty to certain transactions,
magnification of losses incurred due to changes in the market
value of the securities, instruments, indices or interest rates to which the
derivative instrument relates, risks that the transactions
may not be liquid, risks arising from margin and payment requirements, risks
arising from mispricing or valuation complexity
and operational and legal risks. The use of derivatives involves risks that are
different from, and possibly greater than, the risks
associated with other portfolio investments. Derivatives may involve the use of
highly specialized instruments that require investment
techniques and risk analyses different from those associated with other
portfolio investments.
Certain
derivative transactions may give rise to a form of leverage. Leverage magnifies
the potential for gain and the risk of loss. Leverage
associated with derivative transactions may cause the Fund to liquidate
portfolio positions when it may not be advantageous to
do so, or may cause the Fund to be more volatile than if the Fund had not been
leveraged. Although the Adviser seeks to use derivatives
to further the Fund’s investment objective, there is no assurance that the use
of derivatives will achieve this result.
The
derivative instruments and techniques that the Fund may use
include:
Futures.
A futures contract is a standardized, exchange-traded agreement to buy or sell a
specific quantity of an underlying asset, reference
rate or index at a specific price at a specific future time. While the value of
a futures contract tends to increase or decrease in tandem
with the value of the underlying instrument, differences between the futures
market and the market for the underlying asset may
result in an imperfect correlation. Depending on the terms of the particular
contract, futures contracts are settled through either physical
delivery of the underlying instrument on the settlement date or by payment of a
cash settlement amount on the settlement date.
A decision as to whether, when and how to use futures contracts involves the
exercise of skill and judgment and even a well-conceived
futures transaction may be unsuccessful because of market behavior or unexpected
events. In addition to the derivatives risks
discussed above, the prices of futures contracts can be highly volatile, using
futures contracts can lower total return, and the potential
loss from futures contracts can exceed the Fund’s initial investment in such
contracts. No assurance can be given that a liquid
market will exist for any particular futures contract at any particular time.
There is also the risk of loss by the Fund of margin deposits
in the event of bankruptcy of a broker with which the Fund has open
positions in the futures contract.
Options.
If the Fund buys an option, it buys a legal contract giving it the right to buy
or sell a specific amount of the underlying instrument,
foreign currency or contract, such as a swap agreement or futures contract, on
the underlying instrument or foreign currency
at an agreed-upon price during a period of time or on a specified date typically
in exchange for a premium paid by the Fund.
If the Fund sells an option, it sells to another person the right to buy from or
sell to the Fund a specific amount of the underlying
instrument, swap, foreign currency, or futures contract on the underlying
instrument or foreign currency at an agreed-upon
price during a period of time or on a specified date typically in exchange for a
premium received by the Fund. When options are
purchased OTC, the Fund bears the risk that the counterparty that wrote
the option will be unable or unwilling to perform its obligations
under the option contract. Options may also be illiquid and the Fund may
have difficulty closing out its position. A decision
as to whether, when and how to use options involves the exercise of skill and
judgment and even a well-conceived option
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Fund
Details
Long
Duration Government Opportunities Fund (Con’t)
transaction
may be unsuccessful because of market behavior or unexpected events. The prices
of options can be highly volatile and the
use of options can lower total returns.
Investments
in foreign currency options may substantially change the Fund’s exposure to
currency exchange rates and could result in losses
to the Fund if currencies do not perform as the Adviser expects. There is a risk
that such transactions may reduce or preclude the
opportunity for gain if the value of the currency should move in the direction
opposite to the position taken. The value of a foreign
currency option is dependent upon the value of the underlying foreign currency
relative to the U.S. dollar or other applicable foreign
currency. The price of the option may vary with changes in the value of either
or both currencies and has no relationship to the
investment merits of a foreign security. Options on foreign currencies are
affected by all of those factors that influence foreign exchange
rates and foreign investment generally. Unanticipated changes in currency prices
may result in losses to the Fund and poorer
overall performance for the Fund than if it had not entered into such contracts.
Options on foreign currencies are traded primarily
in the OTC market, but may also be traded on U.S. and foreign
exchanges.
Foreign
currency options contracts may be used for hedging purposes or non-hedging
purposes in pursuing the Fund’s investment objective,
such as when the Adviser anticipates that particular non-U.S. currencies will
appreciate or depreciate in value, even though securities
denominated in those currencies are not then held in the Fund’s investment
portfolio. Investing in foreign currencies for purposes
of gaining from projected changes in exchange rates, as opposed to only hedging
currency risks applicable to the Fund’s holdings,
further increases the Fund’s exposure to foreign securities losses. There is no
assurance that the Adviser’s use of currency derivatives
will benefit the Fund or that they will be, or can be, used at appropriate
times.
Swaps.
The Fund may enter into OTC swap contracts or cleared swap transactions. An OTC
swap contract is an agreement between two
parties pursuant to which the parties exchange payments at specified dates on
the basis of a specified notional amount, with the payments
calculated by reference to specified securities, indices, reference rates,
currencies or other instruments. Typically swap agreements
provide that when the period payment dates for both parties are the same, the
payments are made on a net basis (i.e., the two
payment streams are netted out, with only the net amount paid by one party to
the other). The Fund’s obligations or rights under
a swap contract entered into on a net basis will generally be equal only to the
net amount to be paid or received under the agreement,
based on the relative values of the positions held by each party. Cleared swap
transactions may help reduce counterparty credit
risk. In a cleared swap, the Fund’s ultimate counterparty is a clearinghouse
rather than a swap dealer, bank or other financial institution.
OTC swap agreements are not entered into or traded on exchanges and often there
is no central clearing or guaranty function
for swaps. These OTC swaps are often subject to credit risk or the risk of
default or non-performance by the counterparty. Certain
swaps have begun trading on exchanges called swap execution facilities. Exchange
trading is expected to increase liquidity of swaps
trading. Both OTC and cleared swaps could result in losses if interest rates,
foreign currency exchange rates or other factors are not
correctly anticipated by the Fund or if the reference index, security or
investments do not perform as expected. The Dodd-Frank Wall
Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and related regulatory developments
require the clearing and exchange trading of certain
standardized swap transactions. Mandatory exchange-trading and clearing is
occurring on a phased-in basis. The Fund may pay
fees or incur costs each time it enters into, amends or terminates a swap
agreement.
Market
and Geopolitical Risk
The
value of your investment in the Fund is based on the values of the Fund’s
investments, which may change due to economic and other
events that affect markets generally, as well as those that affect particular
regions, countries, industries, companies or governments.
Price movements, sometimes called volatility, may be greater or less depending
on the types of securities the Fund owns and
the markets in which the securities trade. Volatility and disruption in
financial markets and economies may be sudden and unexpected,
expose the Fund to greater risk, including risks associated with reduced market
liquidity and fair valuation, and adversely affect
the Fund’s operations. For example, the Adviser potentially will be prevented
from executing investment decisions at an advantageous
time or price as a result of any domestic or global market
disruptions,
and reduced market liquidity may impact the Fund’s
ability to sell securities to meet redemptions.
The
increasing interconnectivity between global economies and markets increases the
likelihood that events or conditions in one region,
sector, industry, market or with respect to one company may adversely impact
other companies and issuers in a different country,
region, sector, industry, or market. For example, adverse developments in the
banking or financial services sector could impact
companies operating in various sectors or industries and adversely impact the
Fund’s investments. Securities in the Fund’s portfolio
may underperform due to inflation (or expectations for inflation), interest
rates, global demand for particular products or resources,
natural disasters and extreme weather events, health emergencies (such as
epidemics and pandemics), terrorism, regulatory events
and governmental or quasi-governmental actions. The occurrence of global events,
such as terrorist attacks around the world, natural
disasters, health emergencies, social and political (including geopolitical)
discord and tensions or debt crises and downgrades, among
others, may result in market volatility and may have long term effects on both
the U.S. and global financial markets. Inflation rates
may change frequently and significantly because of various factors, including
unexpected shifts in the domestic or global economy
and changes in monetary or economic policies (or expectations that these
policies may change). Changes in expected inflation
rates may adversely affect market and economic conditions, a Fund’s investments
and an investment in a Fund. Other financial,
economic and other global market and social developments or disruptions may
result in similar adverse circumstances, and it
is difficult to predict when similar events affecting the U.S. or global
financial markets may occur, the effects that such events may
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Fund
Details
Long
Duration Government Opportunities Fund (Con’t)
have
and the duration of those effects (which may last for extended periods). In
general, the securities or other instruments that the Adviser
believes represent an attractive investment opportunity or in which the Fund
seeks to invest may be unavailable entirely or in the
specific quantities sought by the Fund. As a result, the Fund may need to obtain
the desired exposure through a less advantageous investment,
forgo the investment at the time or seek to replicate the desired exposure
through a derivative transaction or investment in
another investment vehicle. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse
impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund’s portfolio.
There is a risk that you may lose money by investing in the Fund.
Social,
political, economic and other conditions and events, such as war, natural
disasters, health emergencies (e.g., the novel coronavirus
outbreak, epidemics and other pandemics), terrorism, conflicts, social unrest,
recessions, inflation, rapid interest rate changes
and supply chain disruptions could reduce consumer demand or economic output,
result in market closures, travel restrictions
or quarantines, and generally have a significant impact on the economies and
financial markets and the Adviser’s investment
advisory activities and services of other service providers, which in turn could
adversely affect the Fund’s investments and other
operations.
Government
and other public debt, including municipal obligations in which the Fund may
invest, can be adversely affected by changes
in local and global economic conditions that result in increased debt levels.
Although high levels of government and other public
debt do not necessarily indicate or cause economic problems, high levels of debt
may create certain systemic risks if sound debt management
practices are not implemented. A high debt level may increase market pressures
to meet an issuer’s funding needs, which
may increase borrowing costs and cause a government or public or municipal
entity to issue additional debt, thereby increasing the
risk of refinancing. A high debt level also raises concerns that the issuer may
be unable or unwilling to repay the principal or interest
on its debt, which may adversely impact instruments held by the Fund that rely
on such payments. Governmental and quasi-governmental
responses to certain economic or other conditions may lead to increasing
government and other public debt, which heighten
these risks. Unsustainable debt levels can lead to declines in the value of
currency, and can prevent a government from implementing
effective counter-cyclical fiscal policy during economic downturns, can generate
or contribute to an economic downturn
or cause other adverse economic or market developments, such as increases in
inflation or volatility. Increasing government and
other public debt may adversely affect issuers, obligors, guarantors or
instruments across a variety of asset classes.
Global
events may negatively impact broad segments of businesses and populations, cause
a significant negative impact on the performance
of the Fund’s investments, adversely
affect and increase the volatility of the Fund’s share price, and/or
exacerbate pre-existing
political, social and economic risks to the Fund. The Fund’s operations may be
interrupted as a result, which may contribute to
the negative impact on investment performance. In addition, governments, their
regulatory agencies, or self-regulatory organizations
may take actions that affect the instruments in which the Fund invests, or the
issuers of such instruments, in ways that could
have a significant negative impact on the Fund’s investment performance. In
addition, government actions (such as changes to interest
rates) could have unintended economic and market consequences that adversely
affect the Fund’s investments.
Asset-Backed
Securities
Asset-backed
securities apply the securitization techniques used to develop mortgage-backed
securities to a broad range of other assets.
Various types of assets, primarily automobile and credit card receivables and
home equity loans, are pooled and securitized in pass-through
structures similar to pass-through structures developed with respect to mortgage
securitizations. Asset-backed securities have
risk characteristics similar to mortgage-backed securities. Like mortgage-backed
securities, they generally decrease in value as a result
of interest rate increases, but may benefit less than other fixed-income
securities from declining interest rates, principally because
of prepayments (i.e., when a borrower pays back the principal of a debt
obligation earlier than expected). Prepayment may thus
expose the Fund to a lower rate of return upon reinvestment of principal and
result in lower yields to shareholders of the Fund. Also,
as in the case of mortgage-backed securities, prepayments generally increase
during a period of declining interest rates, although other
factors, such as changes in credit use and payment patterns, may also influence
prepayment rates. Asset-backed securities also involve
the risk that various federal and state consumer laws and other legal and
economic factors may result in the collateral backing the
securities being insufficient to support payment on the securities.
To
the extent the Fund invests in asset-backed securities issued by
non-governmental issuers, such as commercial banks, savings and loan
institutions, and other secondary market issuers, the Fund will be exposed to
additional risks because, among other things, there are
no direct or indirect government or agency guarantees of payments in the pools
underlying the securities. Privately-issued asset-backed
securities may be less readily marketable, subject to heightened credit risk and
the market for such securities is typically smaller
and less liquid than other asset-backed securities.
Portfolio
Turnover
Consistent
with its investment policies, the Fund will purchase and sell securities without
regard to the effect on portfolio turnover. Higher
portfolio turnover (e.g., over 100% per year) will cause the Fund to incur
additional transaction costs and may result in taxable
gains being passed through to shareholders. The Fund may engage in frequent
trading of securities to achieve its investment objective.
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Fund
Details
Long
Duration Government Opportunities Fund (Con’t)
Active
Management Risk
In
pursuing the Fund’s investment objective, the Adviser has considerable leeway in
deciding which investments it buys, holds or sells on
a day-to-day basis, and which trading strategies it uses. For example, the
Adviser, in its discretion, may determine to use some permitted
trading strategies while not using others. The success or failure of such
decisions will affect the Fund’s performance. In addition,
it is expected that confidential or material non-public information regarding an
investment or potential investment opportunity
may become available to the Adviser. If such information becomes available, the
Adviser may be precluded (including by applicable
law or internal policies or procedures) from pursuing an investment or
disposition opportunity with respect to such investment
or investment opportunity and the Adviser may be restricted in its ability to
cause the Fund to buy or sell securities of an issuer
for substantial periods of time when the Fund otherwise could realize profit or
avoid loss. This may adversely affect the Fund’s flexibility
with respect to buying or selling securities and may impair the Fund’s
liquidity.
When-Issued
Securities, Delayed Delivery Securities, TBAs and Forward
Commitments
The
Fund may purchase or sell securities that it is entitled to receive on a
when-issued, delayed delivery or through a forward commitment
basis. These transactions involve the purchase or sale of securities by the Fund
at an established price with payment and delivery
taking place in the future. The Fund enters into these transactions to obtain
what is considered an advantageous price to the Fund
at the time of entering into the transaction. For example, the Fund may invest
in TBAs, which settle on a delayed delivery basis.
In a TBA transaction, the seller agrees to deliver the MBS for an agreed upon
price on an agreed upon future date, but makes no
guarantee as to which or how many securities are to be delivered. Accordingly,
the Fund’s investments in TBAs are subject to risks such
as failure of the counterparty to perform its obligation to deliver the
security, the characteristics of a security delivered to the Fund
may be less favorable than expected and the security the Fund buys will lose
value prior to its delivery. Investments in TBAs may
give rise to a form of leverage. Leverage may cause the Fund to be more volatile
than if the Fund had not been leveraged and may
increase the impact that gains (losses) have on the Fund. Further, TBAs may
increase the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate. FINRA rules
include mandatory margin requirements that will require the Fund to post
collateral in connection with its TBA transactions, which
could increase the cost of TBA transactions to the Fund and impose added
operational complexity.
The
Fund’s purchase of other securities on a when-issued, delayed delivery or
through a forward commitment basis are subject to similar
risks, including counterparty risk and that the value of securities in
these transactions on the delivery date may be less than the price
paid by the Fund to purchase the securities. In addition, there can be no
assurance that a security purchased on a when-issued basis
will be issued. When the Fund has sold a security on a when-issued, delayed
delivery, or forward commitment basis, the Fund does
not benefit if the value of the security appreciates above the sale price during
the commitment period and the Fund is subject to failure
of the counterparty to pay for the securities.
Fixed-Income
Securities
Fixed-income
securities are securities that pay a fixed or a variable rate of interest until
a stated maturity date. Fixed-income securities include
U.S. government securities, securities issued by federal or federally sponsored
agencies and instrumentalities, corporate bonds and
notes, asset-backed securities, mortgage securities, securities rated below
investment grade (commonly referred to as “junk bonds”
or “high yield/high risk securities”), municipal bonds, loan participations
and assignments, zero coupon bonds, convertible securities,
Eurobonds, Brady Bonds, Yankee Bonds, repurchase agreements, commercial paper
and cash equivalents.
Fixed-income
securities are subject to the risk of the issuer’s inability to meet principal
and interest payments on its obligations (i.e., credit
risk) and are subject to price volatility resulting from, among other things,
interest rate sensitivity (i.e., interest rate risk), market
perception of the creditworthiness of the issuer and general market liquidity
(i.e., market risk). The Fund may face a heightened
level of interest rate risk in times of monetary policy change and/or
uncertainty, such as when the Federal Reserve Board adjusts
a quantitative easing program and/or changes rates. A changing interest rate
environment increases certain risks, including the potential
for periods of volatility, increased redemptions, shortened durations (i.e.,
prepayment risk) and extended durations (i.e., extension
risk). In
turn, a fund with a longer average portfolio duration will be more sensitive to
changes in interest rates than a fund with
a shorter average portfolio duration. Further, fixed income securities with
longer durations until maturity face heightened levels of
liquidity risk as compared to fixed income securities with shorter durations
until maturity.
Fixed
income and other debt instruments, including mortgage- and other asset-backed
securities, are subject to prepayment risk, which
is the risk that the principal of such obligation is paid earlier than expected,
such as in the case of refinancing. This risk is increased
during periods of declining interest rates and prepayments may reduce the Fund’s
yield or income as a result of reinvesting the
income or other proceeds in lower yielding securities or instruments. These
investments are also subject to extension risk, which is the
risk that the principal of such obligation is paid slower
or later than expected. This may negatively affect Fund returns, as the
value
of the investment decreases when principal payments are made later than
expected. This risk is elevated during periods of increasing
interest rates. In addition, because principal payments are made later than
expected, the investment’s duration may extend (and
result in increased interest rate risk) and the Fund may be prevented from
investing proceeds it would otherwise have received at the
higher prevailing interest rates. Prepayments and extensions may result in a
security or debt instrument offering less potential for gains
during periods of declining interest rates or rising interest rates,
respectively.
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Fund
Details
Long
Duration Government Opportunities Fund (Con’t)
Securities
with longer durations are likely to be more sensitive to changes in
interest rates, generally making them more volatile than securities
with shorter durations. Lower rated fixed-income securities have greater
volatility because there is less certainty that principal
and interest payments will be made as scheduled. The Fund may be subject to
liquidity risk, which may result from the lack of
an active market and the reduced number and capacity of traditional market
participants to make a market in fixed-income securities.
Fixed-income securities may be called (i.e., redeemed by the issuer) prior to
final maturity. If a callable security is called, the
Fund may have to reinvest the proceeds at a lower rate of interest.
The Fund is not limited as to the maturities (when a debt security
provides its final payment) or durations (measure of interest rate sensitivity)
of the securities in which it may invest but, under
normal circumstances, the Adviser expects to construct an investment portfolio
for the Fund with a dollar-weighted average effective
duration of at least ten years.
Duration
Duration
is a measure of the expected life of a bond that is used to determine the
sensitivity of an instrument’s price to changes in interest
rates. Thus, the average duration of a portfolio of fixed-income securities
represents its exposure to changing interest rates. For
example, when the level of interest rates increases by 1%, a fixed-income
security having a positive duration of four years generally
will decrease in value by 4%; when the level of interest rates decreases by 1%,
the value of that same security generally will increase
by 4%. A portfolio with a shorter average duration generally will experience
less price volatility in response to changes in interest
rates than a portfolio with a longer average duration.
Measures
such as average duration may not accurately reflect the true interest rate
sensitivity of the Fund, particularly if the Fund consists
of securities with widely varying durations. As a result, if the Fund has an
average duration that suggests a certain level of interest
rate risk, the Fund may in fact be subject to greater interest rate risk than
the average would suggest. This risk is greater to the extent
the Adviser uses leverage or derivatives in connection with the management of
the Fund.
Other
Risks.
The performance of the Fund also will depend on whether or not the Adviser is
successful in applying the Fund’s investment
strategies. The Fund is also subject to other risks from its permissible
investments. For more information about this risk, see
the section of this Prospectus entitled “Additional Risk Information”
below.
Additional
Risk Information
This
section provides additional information relating to the risks of investing in
the Fund.
Temporary
Defensive Investments
Under
adverse or unstable market conditions or abnormal circumstances or when the
Adviser believes that changes in market, economic,
political or other conditions warrant, the Fund may, in the discretion of the
Adviser, take temporary positions that are inconsistent
with the Fund’s principal investment strategy in attempting to respond to such
conditions or circumstances. For example,
the Fund may invest without limit in cash, cash equivalents or other
fixed-income instruments, derivatives, repurchase agreements
or securities of other investment companies
(including those which may be managed by the Adviser or its
affiliates),
including
money market funds, for temporary purposes. If the Adviser incorrectly predicts
the effects of these changes or during periods
of temporary defensive or other temporary positions, such temporary investments
may adversely affect the Fund’s performance
and the Fund may not achieve its investment objective.
Large
Shareholder Transactions Risk
The Fund
may experience adverse effects when certain shareholders, or shareholders
collectively, purchase or redeem large amounts of
shares of the Fund. Such larger than normal redemptions may cause the Fund
to sell portfolio securities at times when it would not
otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund’s NAV and liquidity.
Similarly, large Fund share purchases may adversely
affect the Fund’s performance to the extent that the Fund is delayed in
investing new cash and is required to maintain a larger
cash position than it ordinarily would. These transactions may also accelerate
the realization of taxable income to shareholders if
such sales of investments resulted in gains, and may also increase transaction
costs. In addition, a large redemption could result in the Fund’s
current expenses being allocated over a smaller asset base, leading to an
increase in the Fund’s expense ratio. Although large
shareholder transactions may be more frequent under certain circumstances,
the Fund is generally subject to the risk that shareholders
can purchase or redeem a significant percentage of Fund shares at any
time.
Regulatory
and Legal Risk
U.S.
and non-U.S. governmental agencies and other regulators regularly implement
additional regulations and legislators pass new laws
that affect the investments held by the Fund, the strategies used by the Fund or
the level of regulation or taxation applying to the
Fund (such as regulations related to investments in derivatives and other
transactions). These regulations and laws impact the investment
strategies, performance, costs and operations of the Fund or taxation of
shareholders.
The
SEC has recently proposed amendments to Rule 22e-4 of the 1940 Act that, if
adopted, would result in changes to the Fund’s liquidity
classification framework and could potentially increase the percentage of the
Fund’s investments classified as illiquid. In addition,
the Fund’s operations and investment strategies may be adversely impacted if the
proposed amendments are adopted.
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Fund
Details
Long
Duration Government Opportunities Fund (Con’t)
Portfolio
Holdings
A
description of the Fund’s policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure
of the Fund’s portfolio securities is available in the Fund’s
SAI.
Fund
Management
The
Fund has retained the Adviser—Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc.—to
provide investment advisory services. The Adviser
is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Morgan Stanley (NYSE: “MS”), a preeminent global
financial services firm engaged in securities
trading and brokerage activities, as well as providing investment banking,
research and analysis, financing and financial advisory
services. The Adviser, together with its affiliated asset management companies,
had approximately $1.5 trillion in assets under
management or supervision as of March
31, 2024.
The Adviser’s address is 1585 Broadway, New York, NY 10036.
The
team consists of portfolio managers and analysts. Current members of the team
jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day
management of the Fund’s portfolio are Alexander Payne and Andrew Szczurowski.
Messrs. Payne and Szczurowski are Managing
Directors of the Adviser, manage other funds and have been employed by the
Morgan Stanley organization for more than five
years.
All
team members are responsible for the execution of the overall strategy of the
Fund.
The
Fund’s SAI provides additional information about the portfolio managers’
compensation structure, other accounts managed by the
portfolio managers and the portfolio managers’ ownership of securities in the
Fund.
The
composition of the team may change from time to time.
The
Fund pays the Adviser a monthly advisory fee as full compensation for the
services and facilities furnished to the Fund, and for Fund
expenses assumed by the Adviser. The fee is based on the Fund’s daily net
assets. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, the
Fund paid total investment advisory compensation (net of fee waivers, if
applicable) amounting to 0.18%
of the Fund’s average daily
net assets.
Morgan
Stanley Investment Management Inc., as the Adviser and the Administrator, has
agreed to reduce its advisory fee, its administration
fee, and/or reimburse the Fund if necessary, if such fees would cause the total
annual operating expenses of the Fund to
exceed 0.85% for Class A, 1.12% for Class L, 0.49% for Class I and 1.62% for
Class C. In determining the actual amount of fee waiver
and/or expense reimbursement for the Fund, if any, the Adviser and Administrator
exclude from total annual operating expenses,
acquired fund fees and expenses (as applicable), certain investment related
expenses, taxes, interest and other extraordinary expenses
(including litigation). The fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements will
continue for at least one year from the date of this
Prospectus or until such time as the Fund’s Board of Trustees acts to
discontinue all or a portion of such waivers and/or reimbursements
when it deems such action is appropriate. The Adviser and the
Administrator may make additional voluntary fee waivers
and/or expense reimbursements. The Adviser and the Administrator may discontinue
these voluntary fee waivers and/or expense
reimbursements at any time in the future.
The
Fund’s annual operating expenses may vary throughout the period and from year to
year. The Fund’s actual expenses may be different
than the expenses listed in the Fund’s fee and expense table based upon the
extent and amount of a fee waiver and/or expense
reimbursement.
A
discussion regarding the Board of Trustees’ approval of the Investment Advisory
Agreement is available in the Fund’s Semi-Annual Report to
Shareholders for the period ended June 30, 2023.
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Shareholder
Information
Pricing
Fund Shares
The
NAV of the Fund (excluding sales charges) is based on the value of the Fund’s
portfolio securities. While the assets of each class are
invested in a single portfolio of securities, the NAV of each class will differ
because the classes have different ongoing fees.
The
NAV of the Fund is determined once daily on each business day as of the close of
regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange
(“NYSE”) (normally 4:00 p.m. Eastern time) or such other times as the NYSE may
officially close. Shares generally will not be
priced on any day that the NYSE is closed, although Fund shares may be priced on
such days if the Securities Industry and Financial
Markets Association (“SIFMA”) recommends that the bond markets remain open for
all or part of the day. On any business
day when SIFMA recommends that the bond markets close early, the Fund reserves
the right to close at or prior to the SIFMA
recommended closing time. If the Fund does so, it will cease granting same day
credit for purchase and redemption orders received
after the Fund’s closing time and credit will be given on the next business day.
If the NYSE is closed due to inclement weather,
technology problems or any other reason on a day it would normally be open for
business, or the NYSE has an unscheduled early
closing on a day it has opened for business, the Fund reserves the right to
treat such day as a business day and accept purchase and
redemption orders until, and calculate its NAV as of, the normally scheduled
close of regular trading on the NYSE for that day, so
long as the Adviser believes there generally remains an adequate market to
obtain reliable and accurate market quotations.
The
Fund relies on various sources to calculate its NAV. The ability of the Fund’s
provider of administrative services to calculate the NAV
per share of the Fund is subject to operational risks associated with processing
or human errors, systems or technology failures, cyber
attacks and errors caused by third party service providers, data sources, or
trading counterparties. Such failures may result in delays
in the calculation of the Fund’s NAV and/or the inability to calculate NAV over
extended time periods. The Fund may be unable
to recover any losses associated with such failures. In addition, if the third
party service providers and/or data sources upon which
the Fund directly or indirectly relies to calculate its NAV or price individual
securities are unavailable or otherwise unable to calculate
the NAV correctly, it may be necessary for alternative procedures to be utilized
to price the securities at the time of determining
the Fund’s NAV.
The
value of the Fund’s portfolio securities is based on the securities’ market
price when available. When no market quotations are readily
available for a security or other asset, including circumstances under which the
Adviser determines that a security’s market quotation
is not accurate, fair value for the security or other asset will be determined
in good faith using methods approved by the Fund’s
Board of Trustees.
In
these cases, the Fund’s NAV will reflect certain portfolio securities’ fair
value rather than their market price. Fair value pricing involves
subjective judgment and it is possible that the fair value determined for a
security is materially different than the value that could
be realized upon the sale of that security.
To
the extent the Fund invests in open-end management companies (other than
exchange-traded funds) that are registered under the 1940
Act, the
Fund’s NAV is calculated based in relevant part upon the NAV of such funds. The
prospectuses for such funds explain the
circumstances under which they will use fair value pricing and its
effects.
An
exception to the Fund’s general policy of using market prices concerns its
short-term debt portfolio securities. Debt securities with remaining
maturities of 60 days or less at the time of purchase are valued at amortized
cost. However, if the cost does not reflect the securities’
market value, these securities will be valued at their fair market
value.
|
| |
Contacting
a Morgan Stanley Financial Advisor
If
you are new to the Morgan Stanley Funds and would like to contact a Morgan
Stanley Financial Advisor, access our office locator
on our Internet site at:
www.morganstanley.com |
How
to Buy Shares
The
Fund has suspended offering Class L shares of the Fund for sale to
all investors. The Class L shareholders of the Fund do not have the
option
of purchasing additional Class L shares. However, the existing Class L
shareholders may invest in additional Class L shares through
reinvestment
of dividends and distributions.
Because
every investor has different immediate financial needs and long-term investment
goals, the Fund currently offers investors three
classes of shares: Classes A, I and C. Class I shares are only offered to a
limited group of investors. Each class of shares offers a distinct
structure of sales charges, distribution and service fees, and other features
that are designed to address a variety of needs. Your Financial
Intermediary can help you decide which class may be most appropriate for you.
When purchasing Fund shares, you must specify
which class of shares you wish to purchase.
Minimum
Investment Amounts. The
minimum investment amounts for Class A shares and Class C shares are as
follows:
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Shareholder
Information
Shareholder
Information (Con’t)
|
|
| |
|
Minimum
Investment |
Investment
Options |
Initial |
Additional |
|
Regular
Account |
$1,000 |
$100 |
|
Individual
Retirement Account |
$1,000 |
$100 |
|
The
minimum investment amount is generally $1 million for Class I shares. To be
eligible to purchase Class I shares, you must qualify
under one of the investor categories specified in the “Shareholder
Information—Share Class Arrangements” section of this Prospectus.
The
Fund no longer accepts direct purchases of Class C shares by accounts for which
no broker-dealer or other Financial Intermediary
is specified. Any direct purchase received by the Fund’s Transfer Agent (as
defined below) for Class C shares for such accounts
will automatically be invested in Class A shares of the Fund.
The
minimum initial investment amounts for Class A, Class I and Class C may be
waived by the Adviser for the following categories: (1)
sales through banks, broker-dealers and other financial institutions (including
registered investment advisers and financial planners)
purchasing shares on behalf of their clients in (i) discretionary and
non-discretionary advisory programs, (ii) asset allocation programs,
(iii) other programs in which the client pays an asset-based fee for advice or
for executing transactions in Fund shares or for otherwise
participating in the program or (iv) certain other investment programs that do
not charge an asset-based fee, as outlined in an
agreement between the Distributor and such financial institution; (2) sales
through a Financial Intermediary that has entered into an
agreement with the Distributor to offer Fund shares to self-directed investment
brokerage accounts, which may or may not charge a
transaction fee; (3) qualified state tuition plans described in Section 529 of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”),
(subject to all applicable terms and conditions); (4) defined contribution,
defined benefit and other employer-sponsored employee
benefit plans, whether or not qualified under the Code, where such plans
purchase Class A, Class C and/or Class I shares through
a plan-level or omnibus account sponsored or serviced by a Financial
Intermediary that has entered into an agreement with the
Fund, the Distributor and/or the Adviser pursuant to which such Class A, Class C
and/or Class I shares are available to such plans;
(5) certain retirement and deferred compensation programs established by Morgan
Stanley Investment Management or its affiliates
for their employees or the Fund’s Trustees; (6) current or retired directors,
officers and employees of Morgan Stanley and any
of its subsidiaries, such persons’ spouses, and children under the age of 21,
and trust accounts for which any of such persons is a beneficiary;
(7) current or retired Directors or Trustees of the Morgan Stanley Funds, such
persons’ spouses, and children under the age
of 21, and trust accounts for which any of such persons is a beneficiary; (8)
certain other registered open-end investment companies
whose shares are distributed by the Distributor; (9) investments made in
connection with certain mergers and/or reorganizations
as approved by the Adviser; (10) the reinvestment of dividends from Class A,
Class C or Class I shares of the Fund in additional
shares of the same class of the Fund; or (11) certain other institutional
investors based on assets under management or other
considerations at the discretion of the Adviser.
Certain
waivers may not be available depending on the policies at certain Financial
Intermediaries. Each financial intermediary may also
have its own rules about minimum initial investment amounts, minimum account
balances, share transactions and limits on the number
of share transactions you are permitted to make in a given time period. When
purchasing shares through a financial intermediary,
you may not benefit from certain policies and procedures of the Funds as your
eligibility may be dependent upon the policies
and procedures of your financial intermediary, including those regarding
reductions of sales charges. Please consult your Financial
Intermediary for more information.
The
Adviser, in its sole discretion, may waive a minimum initial investment amount
in certain cases.
Purchasing
Shares Through a Financial Intermediary.
You may open a new account and purchase Fund shares through your Financial
Intermediary.
Your Financial Intermediary will assist you with the procedures to invest
in shares of the Fund. Your Financial Intermediary
may charge transaction-based or other fees in connection with the purchase
or sale of Fund shares. Please consult your Financial
Intermediary for more information regarding any such fees and for purchase
instructions.
With
respect to sales through Financial Intermediaries, no offers or sales of Fund
shares may be made in any foreign jurisdiction, except
with the consent of the Distributor.
Purchasing
Shares Directly from the Fund.
Initial Purchase by Mail
You
may open a new account, subject to acceptance by the Fund, and purchase Fund
shares by completing and signing a New Account
Application provided by SS&C Global Investor and Distribution Solutions,
Inc. (the “Transfer Agent”), or Eaton Vance Management,
the Fund’s co-transfer agent (the “Co-Transfer Agent”), which you can obtain by
calling Morgan Stanley Shareholder Services
and
Eaton Vance Management at
1-800-869-6397 (our automated telephone system (which is generally accessible 24
hours
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Shareholder
Information
Shareholder
Information (Con’t)
a
day, seven days a week)) and mailing it to Morgan Stanley Long Duration
Government Opportunities Fund, c/o SS&C Global Investor
and Distribution Solutions, Inc., P.O. Box 219804, Kansas City, MO
64121-9804.
Initial Purchase by Wire
You
may purchase Fund shares by wiring Federal Funds (monies credited by a Federal
Reserve Bank) to State Street Bank and Trust Company
(the “Custodian”). You must forward a completed New Account Application to the
Transfer Agent in advance of the wire by
following the instructions under “Initial Purchase by Mail.” You should instruct
your bank to send a Federal Funds wire in a specified
amount to the Custodian using the following wire instructions:
State
Street Bank and Trust Company
One
Congress Street,
Boston,
MA 02114-2016
ABA
#011000028
DDA
#99060238
Attn:
Morgan Stanley Funds Subscription Account
Ref:
(Fund Name, Account Number, Account Name)
The
Fund no longer accepts direct purchases of Class C shares by accounts for which
no broker-dealer or other Financial Intermediary
is specified (i.e., such purchasers are not eligible investors for Class C
shares). Any direct purchase received by the Transfer
Agent for Class C shares for such accounts will automatically be invested in
Class A shares of the Fund. In addition, Class C shares
held in an account for which no broker-dealer or other Financial Intermediary is
specified and which are not subject to a CDSC
will periodically be converted to Class A shares of the Fund.
Additional
Investments.
You may purchase additional Fund shares for your account at any time by
contacting your Financial Intermediary
or by contacting the Fund directly. For additional Fund share purchases directly
from the Fund, you should write a “letter
of instruction” that includes your account name, account number, the Fund name
and the class selected, signed by the account
owner(s), to assure proper crediting to your account and sending a wire by
following the instructions under “Initial Purchase by
Wire.”
General.
To help the U.S. Government fight the funding of terrorism and money laundering
activities, federal law requires all financial
institutions to obtain, verify and record information that identifies each
person who opens an account. What this means to you:
when you open an account, we will ask your name, address, date of birth and
other information that will allow us to identify you.
If we are unable to verify your identity, we reserve the right to restrict
additional transactions and/or liquidate your account at the
next calculated NAV after your account is closed (less any applicable
sales/account charges and/or tax penalties) or take any other action
required by law. In accordance with federal law requirements, the Fund has
implemented an anti-money laundering compliance
program, which includes the designation of an anti-money laundering compliance
officer.
When
you buy Fund shares, the shares are purchased at the next share price calculated
(plus any applicable sales charge for Class A shares)
after we receive your purchase order. Your payment is due on the third business
day after you place your purchase order. We reserve
the right to reject any order for the purchase of Fund shares for any
reason.
How
to Exchange Shares
Permissible
Fund Exchanges. You
may exchange shares of any class of the Fund for the same class of shares of any
mutual fund (excluding
money market funds) sponsored and advised by the Adviser (each, a “Morgan
Stanley Multi-Class Fund”), if available, without
the imposition of an exchange fee. Class L shares of the Fund may be
exchanged for Class L shares of any Morgan Stanley Multi-Class
Fund, even though Class L shares are closed to investors. In addition, you may
exchange shares of any class of the Fund for
shares of Morgan Stanley U.S. Government Money Market Trust (a “Morgan Stanley
Money Market Fund” and, together with the
Morgan Stanley Multi-Class Funds, the “Morgan Stanley Funds”), if available,
without the imposition of an exchange fee. Because
purchases of Class A shares of Morgan Stanley Institutional Fund Trust
Ultra-Short Income Portfolio
are not subject to a sales
charge, and purchases of Class A shares of Morgan Stanley Institutional Fund
Trust Short Duration Income Portfolio are subject
to a reduced sales charge, you may be subject to the payment of a sales charge
by your Financial Intermediary, at time of exchange
into Class A shares of a Morgan Stanley Fund, based on the amount that you would
have owed if you directly purchased Class
A shares of that Morgan Stanley Fund (less any sales charge previously paid in
connection with shares exchanged for such shares of
Morgan Stanley Institutional Fund Trust Short Duration Income or
Ultra-Short Income Portfolios
or Morgan Stanley Money Market
Fund, as applicable). Class L
shares of the Fund that are exchanged for shares of a Morgan Stanley Money
Market Fund may be
subsequently re-exchanged for Class L shares of the Fund or any other Morgan
Stanley Multi-Class Fund (even though Class L shares
are closed to investors).
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Shareholder
Information
Shareholder
Information (Con’t)
Exchanges
are effected based on the respective NAVs of the applicable Morgan Stanley Fund
(subject to any applicable redemption fee)
and in accordance with the eligibility requirements of such Fund. To obtain a
prospectus for another Morgan Stanley Fund, contact
your Financial Intermediary or call Morgan Stanley Shareholder Services at
1-800-869-6397. If you purchased Fund shares through
a Financial Intermediary, certain Morgan Stanley Funds may be unavailable for
exchange. Contact your Financial Intermediary
for more information regarding the exchange privilege and to determine which
Morgan Stanley Funds are available for exchange.
The current prospectus for each Morgan Stanley Fund describes its investment
objective(s), policies, investment minimums
and applicable sales charges, and should be read before investing. Since
exchanges are available only into continuously offered
Morgan Stanley Funds, exchanges generally are not available into Morgan Stanley
Funds or classes of Morgan Stanley Funds that
are not currently being offered for purchase (except with respect to exchanges
of Class L shares as noted above).
There
are special considerations when you exchange Class A and Class C shares of the
Fund that are subject to a CDSC. When determining
the length of time you held the Class A or Class C shares, any period (starting
at the end of the month) during which you
held such shares will be counted. In addition, any period (starting at the end
of the month) during which you held (i) Class A or Class
C shares of a Morgan Stanley Multi-Class Fund or (ii) shares of a Morgan Stanley
Money Market Fund, any of which you acquired
in an exchange from such Class A or Class C shares of the applicable Fund, will
also be counted; however, if you sell shares of
(a) the Morgan Stanley Multi-Class Fund or (b) the Morgan Stanley Money Market
Fund, before the expiration of the CDSC “holding
period,” you will be charged the CDSC applicable to such shares.
You
will be subject to the same minimum initial investment and account size as an
initial purchase. Your exchange price will be the price
calculated at the next Pricing Time after the Morgan Stanley Fund receives your
exchange order. The Morgan Stanley Fund, in its
sole discretion, may waive the minimum initial investment amount in certain
cases. The Fund may terminate or revise the exchange
privilege upon required notice or in certain cases without notice. The Fund
reserves the right to reject an exchange order for any
reason.
Exchange
Procedures.
You can process an exchange by contacting your Financial Intermediary. You may
also call
the
Co-Transfer Agent
toll-free
at
1-800-869-6397
to place an exchange order.
Exchange
requests received on a business day (prior to the time shares of the funds
involved in the request are priced) will be processed
on the date of receipt. “Processing” a request means that shares of the Fund
that you are exchanging will be redeemed and shares
of the Morgan Stanley Fund that you are purchasing will be purchased at the NAV
next determined on the date of receipt. Exchange
requests received on a business day after the time that shares of
the funds involved in the request are priced will be processed
on the next business day in the manner described herein.
The
Fund may terminate or revise the exchange privilege upon required notice or in
certain cases without notice. See “Limitations on Exchanges.”
The check writing privilege is not available for Morgan Stanley Money Market
Fund shares you acquire in an exchange.
Telephone
Exchanges.
Morgan Stanley (and its subsidiaries) and the Fund employ procedures considered
by them to be reasonable to confirm
that instructions communicated by telephone are genuine. Such procedures may
include requiring certain personal identification
information prior to acting upon telephone instructions, tape-recording
telephone communications and providing written
confirmation of instructions communicated by telephone. If reasonable procedures
are employed, neither Morgan Stanley (or its
affiliates) nor the Fund will be liable for following telephone instructions
which it reasonably believes to be genuine. Telephone exchanges
may not be available if you cannot reach Morgan Stanley Shareholder Services by
telephone, whether because all telephone lines
are busy or for any other reason; in such case, a shareholder would have to use
the Fund’s other exchange procedures described in
this section.
Telephone
instructions will be accepted if received by Morgan Stanley Shareholder Services
between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Eastern time
on any day the NYSE is open for business. On any business day that the NYSE
closes early, or when SIFMA recommends that the
securities markets close early, the Fund may close early and purchase orders
received after such earlier closing times will be processed
the following business day. During periods of drastic economic or market
changes, it is possible that the telephone exchange
procedures may be difficult to implement, although this has not been the case
with the Fund in the past.
You
automatically have the telephone exchange privilege unless you indicate
otherwise by checking the applicable box on the New Account
Application. You may also opt out of telephone privileges at any time by
contacting Morgan Stanley Shareholder Services at 1-800-869-6397.
If you hold share certificates, no exchanges may be processed until we have
received all applicable share certificates.
Margin
Accounts.
If you have pledged your Fund shares in a margin account, contact your Financial
Intermediary regarding restrictions
on the exchange of such shares.
Tax
Considerations of Exchanges.
If you exchange shares of the Fund for shares of another Morgan Stanley Fund,
there are important tax
considerations. For tax purposes, the exchange out of the Fund is considered a
sale of Fund shares and the exchange into the other fund
is considered a purchase. As a result, you may realize a capital gain or
loss.
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Shareholder
Information
Shareholder
Information (Con’t)
You
should review the “Shareholder Information—Taxes” section and consult your own
tax professional about the tax consequences of
an exchange.
Limitations
on Exchanges.
Certain patterns of past exchanges and/or purchase or sale transactions
involving the Fund or other Morgan Stanley
Funds may result in the Fund rejecting, limiting or prohibiting, at its sole
discretion, and without prior notice, additional purchases
and/or exchanges and may result in a shareholder’s account being
closed. Determinations in this regard may be based on the
frequency or dollar amount of previous exchanges or purchase or
sale transactions. The Fund reserves the right to reject an exchange
request for any reason.
How
to Sell Shares
You
can sell some or all of your Fund shares at any time. If you sell Class A or
Class C shares, your net sale proceeds are reduced by the
amount of any applicable CDSC. Your shares will be sold at the next price
calculated after we receive your order to sell as described
below.
With
respect to Class C shares, the CDSC is assessed on an amount equal to the lesser
of the then market value of the shares or the historical
cost of the shares (which is the amount actually paid for the shares at the time
of original purchase) being redeemed. Accordingly,
no sales charge is imposed on increases in NAV above the initial purchase price.
In determining whether a CDSC applies
to a redemption, it is assumed that the shares being redeemed first are any
shares in the shareholder’s account that are not subject
to a CDSC, followed by shares held the longest in the shareholder’s account. A
CDSC may be waived under certain circumstances.
See the Class C CDSC waiver categories listed below.
| |
Options |
Procedures |
Contact
Your Morgan Stanley Financial Advisor/
Financial Intermediary |
To
sell your shares, simply call your Financial Intermediary. Payment will be
sent to the address to which the account
is registered or deposited in your brokerage account. Your Financial
Intermediary may charge transaction-based
or other fees in connection with the purchase or sale of the Fund’s
shares. Please contact your
Financial Intermediary for more information regarding any such
fees. |
Contact
the Fund By Telephone |
You
can also sell your Fund shares by telephone and have the proceeds sent to
the address of record or wired
to your bank account on record. You automatically have the telephone
redemption privilege unless you
indicate otherwise by checking the applicable box on the New Account
Application. You may also opt out
of telephone privileges at any time by contacting Morgan Stanley
Shareholder Services at (800) 869-6397. Before
processing a telephone redemption, keep the following information in
mind: •
You can establish this option at the time you open the account by
completing the New Account Application
or subsequently by calling toll-free (800) 869-6397. •
Call toll-free (800) 869-6397 to process a telephone redemption using our
automated telephone system which
is generally accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week. •
Your request must be received prior to market close, generally 4:00 p.m.
Eastern time. •
If your account has multiple owners, Morgan Stanley Shareholder Services
may rely on the instructions of any
one owner. •
Proceeds must be made payable to the name(s) and address in which the
account is registered. •
You may redeem amounts of $50,000 or less daily if the proceeds are to be
paid by check or by Automated
Clearing House. •
This privilege is not available if the address on your account has changed
within 15 calendar days prior to your
telephone redemption request. •
Telephone redemption is available for most accounts other than accounts
with shares represented by certificates. If
you request to sell shares that were recently purchased by check, the
proceeds of that sale may not be sent
to you until it has been verified that the check has cleared, which may
take up to 15 calendar days from the
date of purchase. Morgan
Stanley (and its subsidiaries), and the Fund employ procedures considered
by them to be reasonable to
confirm that instructions communicated by telephone are genuine. Such
procedures may include requiring certain
personal identification information prior to acting upon telephone
instructions, tape-recording telephone
communications and providing written confirmation of instructions
communicated by telephone. If
reasonable procedures are employed, neither Morgan Stanley (or its
affiliates) nor the Fund will be liable for
following telephone instructions which it reasonably believes to be
genuine. Telephone redemptions may not
be available if a shareholder cannot reach Morgan Stanley Shareholder
Services by telephone, whether because
all telephone lines are busy or for any other reason; in such case, a
shareholder would have to use the
Fund’s other redemption procedures described in this
section. |
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Shareholder
Information
Shareholder
Information (Con’t)
| |
Contact
the Fund By Letter |
You
can also sell your Fund shares by writing a “letter of instruction” that
includes: •
the name on your account and account number; •
the name of the Fund; •
the dollar amount or the number of shares you wish to
sell; •
the class of shares you wish to sell; •
the signature of each owner as it appears on the account;
and •
whether you wish to receive the redemption proceeds by check or by wire to
the bank account we have on file
for you. If
you are requesting payment to anyone other than the registered owner(s) or
that payment be sent to any address
other than the address of the registered owner(s) or pre-designated bank
account, you will need a signature
guarantee. You can obtain a signature guarantee from an eligible guarantor
acceptable to the Transfer
Agent. (You should contact Morgan Stanley Shareholder Services toll-free
at (800) 869-6397 for a determination
as to whether a particular institution is an eligible guarantor.) A notary
public cannot provide a
signature guarantee. Additional documentation may be required for shares
held by a corporation, partnership,
trustee or executor.
Mail
the letter to SS&C Global Investor and Distribution Solutions, Inc. at
P.O. Box 219804, Kansas City, MO 64121-9804.
If you hold share certificates, you must return the certificates, along
with the letter and any required additional documentation.
A check or wire will be sent according to your
instructions. |
Systematic
Withdrawal Plan |
If
your investment in all of the Morgan Stanley Funds has a total market
value of at least $10,000, you may elect
to withdraw amounts of $25 or more, or in any whole percentage of a fund’s
balance (provided the amount
is at least $25), on a monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual basis,
from any fund with a balance of
at least $1,000. Each time you add a fund to the plan, you must meet the
plan requirements. Amounts
withdrawn are subject to any applicable CDSC. A CDSC may be waived under
certain circumstances.
See the Class A and Class C waiver categories listed in the “Shareholder
Information—Share Class
Arrangements” section of this Prospectus. To
sign up for the systematic withdrawal plan, contact your Morgan Stanley
Financial Advisor or call toll-free
(800) 869-6397. You may terminate or suspend your plan at any time. Please
remember that withdrawals
from the plan are sales of shares, not Fund “distributions,” and
ultimately may exhaust your account
balance. The Fund may terminate or revise the plan at any
time. |
Payment
for Sold Shares. The
Fund typically expects to pay redemption proceeds to you within two business
days following receipt of your
redemption request for those payments made to your brokerage account held with a
Financial Intermediary. For redemption proceeds
that are paid directly to you by the Fund, the Fund typically expects to pay
redemption proceeds by check or by wire to you within
one business day, following receipt of your redemption request; however, in all
cases, it may take up to seven calendar days to pay
redemption proceeds.
The
Fund typically expects to meet redemption requests by using a combination of
sales of securities held by the Fund and/or holdings
of cash and cash equivalents. On a less regular basis, the Fund also reserves
the right to use borrowings to meet redemption requests,
and the Fund may use these methods during both normal and stressed market
conditions.
Payment
may be postponed or the right to sell your shares suspended under unusual
circumstances. If you request to sell shares that were
recently purchased by check, the proceeds of the sale may not be sent to you
until it has been verified that the check has cleared, which
may take up to 15 calendar days from the date of purchase.
Payments-in-Kind.
If we determine that it is in the best interest of the Fund not to pay
redemption proceeds in cash, we may pay you partly
or entirely by distributing to you securities held by the Fund. If the Fund
redeems your shares in-kind, you will bear any market
risks associated with the securities paid as redemption proceeds. Such
in-kind securities may be illiquid and difficult or impossible
for a shareholder to sell at a time and at a price that a
shareholder would like. Redemptions paid in such securities generally
will give rise to income, gain or loss for income tax purposes in the same
manner as redemptions paid in cash. In addition, you
may incur brokerage costs and a further gain or loss for income tax
purposes when you ultimately sell the securities.
Tax
Considerations.
Normally, your sale of Fund shares is subject to federal and state income tax.
You should review the “Shareholder Information—Taxes”
section of this Prospectus and consult your own tax professional about the tax
consequences of a sale.
Conversion
to a New Share Class. If
the value of an account containing Class I shares falls below the Class I
investment minimum because
of shareholder redemption(s) or the failure to meet one of the waiver criteria
set forth under “How to Buy Shares—Minimum
Investment Amounts” above and, if the account value remains below such
investment minimum, the shares in such
account may, at the Adviser’s discretion, convert to another class of shares
offered by the Fund, if an account meets the minimum
investment amount for such class, and will be subject to the shareholder
services fee and other features applicable to such shares.
Conversion to another class of shares will result in holding a share class with
higher fees. The Fund will not convert to another class
of shares based solely upon changes in the market that reduce the NAV. Under
current tax law, conversion between share classes is
not a taxable event to the shareholder. Shareholders will be notified prior to
any such conversion.
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Shareholder
Information
Shareholder
Information (Con’t)
Reinstatement
Privilege.
If you redeem shares, you may reinvest at net asset value all or any portion of
the redemption proceeds in the same
account and in the same class of shares of the Fund you redeemed from or another
Morgan Stanley Multi-Class Fund, provided that
the reinvestment occurs within 90 days of the redemption, the privilege has not
been used more than once in the prior 12 months,
the redeemed shares were subject to a front-end sales charge or CDSC and that
you are otherwise eligible to invest in that class.
Under these circumstances your account will be credited with any CDSC paid in
connection with the redemption. Any CDSC period
applicable to the shares you acquire upon reinvestment will run from the date of
your original share purchase. For requests for reinvestment
sent to the Fund’s transfer agent, the request must be in writing. At the time
of a reinvestment, you or your financial intermediary
must notify the Fund or the transfer agent that you are reinvesting redemption
proceeds in accordance with this privilege.
If you reinvest, your purchase will be at the next determined net asset value
following receipt of your request.
Involuntary
Sales.
If the value of an account falls below the investment minimum for a particular
share class of the Fund because of shareholder
redemption(s) or you no longer meet one of the waiver criteria set forth under
“How to Buy Shares—Minimum Investment
Amounts” above and, if the account value remains below such investment minimums,
the shares in such account may be subject
to redemption by the Fund. The Fund will not redeem shares based solely upon
changes in the market that reduce the NAV. However,
before the Fund sells your shares in this manner, we will notify you and allow
you 60 days to make an additional investment
in an amount that will increase the value of your account to at least the
required amount before the sale is processed. If redeemed,
redemption proceeds will be promptly paid to the shareholder. No CDSC will be
imposed on any involuntary sale.
Margin
Accounts.
If you have pledged your Fund shares in a margin account, contact
your Financial Intermediary regarding restrictions
on the sale of such shares.
|
| |
Targeted
DividendsSM
You
may select to have your Fund distributions automatically invested in other
classes of Fund shares or classes of another Morgan
Stanley Fund that you own. Contact your financial advisor for further
information about this service.
|
Distributions
The
Fund passes substantially all of its earnings from income and capital gains
along to its investors as “distributions.” The Fund earns
interest from fixed-income investments. These amounts are passed along to Fund
shareholders as “income dividend distributions.”
The Fund realizes capital gains whenever it sells securities for a higher price
than it paid for them. These amounts may be
passed along as “capital gain distributions.”
The
Fund declares income dividends separately for each class. Distributions paid on
Class A and Class I shares usually will be higher than
for Class C and Class L shares because distribution fees that Class C and Class
L shares pay are higher. Normally, income dividends
are declared on each day the NYSE is open for business, and are distributed to
shareholders monthly. Capital gains, if any, are
usually distributed in June and December. The Fund, however, may retain and
reinvest any long-term capital gains. The Fund may
at times make payments from sources other than income or capital gains that
represent a return of a portion of your investment. These
payments would not be taxable to you as a shareholder, but would have the effect
of reducing your basis in the Fund.
Distributions
are reinvested automatically in additional shares of the same class and
automatically credited to your account, unless you
request in writing that all distributions be paid in cash. If you elect the cash
option, processing of your dividend checks begins immediately
following the monthly payment date, and the Fund will mail a monthly dividend
check to you normally during the first seven
days of the month. No interest will accrue on uncashed checks. If you wish to
change how your distributions are paid, your request
should be received by the Transfer Agent at least five business days prior to
the record date of the distributions.
If
any distribution check remains uncashed for six months, Morgan Stanley reserves
the right to invest the amount represented by the check
in Fund shares at the then-current net asset value of the Fund and all future
distributions will be reinvested.
For
accounts held directly with the Transfer Agent for which the shareholder has
elected to receive distributions via check, any distribution
(dividend or capital gain) under $10.00 is automatically reinvested in
additional shares regardless of your elected distribution
option.
Frequent
Purchases and Redemptions of Fund Shares
Frequent
purchases and redemptions of Fund shares by Fund shareholders are referred to as
“market-timing” or “short-term trading” and
may present risks for other shareholders of the Fund, which may include, among
other things, dilution in the value of Fund shares
held by long-term shareholders, interference with the efficient management of
the Fund’s portfolio, increased brokerage and administrative
costs, incurring unwanted taxable gains and forcing the Fund to hold excess
levels of cash.
The
Fund’s policies with respect to valuing portfolio securities are described in
“Shareholder Information—Pricing Fund Shares.”
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Shareholder
Information
Shareholder
Information (Con’t)
The
Fund discourages and does not accommodate frequent purchases and redemptions of
Fund shares by Fund shareholders and the Fund’s
Board of Trustees has adopted policies and procedures with respect to such
frequent purchases and redemptions. The Fund’s policies
with respect to purchases, redemptions and exchanges of Fund shares are
described in the “Shareholder Information—How to
Buy Shares,” “—How to Exchange Shares” and “—How to Sell Shares” sections of
this Prospectus. Except as described in each of these
sections, and with respect to trades that occur through omnibus accounts at
Financial Intermediaries, as described below, the Fund’s
policies regarding frequent trading of Fund shares are applied uniformly to all
shareholders. With respect to trades that occur through
omnibus accounts at Financial Intermediaries, such as investment managers,
broker-dealers, transfer agents and third-party administrators,
the Fund (i) requests assurance that such Financial Intermediaries currently
selling Fund shares have in place internal policies
and procedures reasonably designed to address market-timing concerns and has
instructed such Financial Intermediaries to notify
the Fund immediately if they are unable to comply with such policies and
procedures and (ii) requires all prospective Financial Intermediaries
to agree to cooperate in enforcing the Fund’s policies (or, upon prior written
approval only, a Financial Intermediary’s own
policies) with respect to frequent purchases, redemptions and exchanges of Fund
shares.
Omnibus
accounts generally do not identify customers’ trading activity to the Fund on an
individual ongoing basis. Therefore, with respect
to trades that occur through omnibus accounts at Financial Intermediaries, to
some extent, the Fund relies on the Financial Intermediary
to monitor frequent short-term trading within the Fund by the Financial
Intermediary’s customers. However, the Fund or
the Distributor has entered into agreements with Financial Intermediaries
whereby Financial Intermediaries are required to provide
certain customer identification and transaction information upon the Fund’s
request. The Fund may use this information to help
identify and prevent market-timing activity in the Fund. There can be no
assurance that the Fund will be able to identify or prevent
all market-timing activities.
Inactive
Accounts and Risk of Escheatment
In
accordance with state “unclaimed property” laws, your Fund shares may legally be
considered abandoned and required to be transferred
to the relevant state (also known as “escheatment”) under various circumstances.
These circumstances, which vary by state,
can include inactivity (e.g., no owner-initiated contact for a certain period),
returned mail (e.g., when mail sent to a shareholder is
returned by the post office as undeliverable), uncashed checks or a combination
of these. An incorrect address may cause a shareholder’s
account statements and other mailings to be returned to the Fund or your
Financial Intermediary. Since states’ statutory
requirements regarding inactivity differ, it is important to regularly contact
your Financial Intermediary or the Fund’s transfer
agent. The process described above, and the application of state escheatment
laws, may vary by state and/or depending on how
shareholders hold their shares in the Fund.
It
is your responsibility to ensure that you maintain a valid mailing address for
your account, keep your account active by contacting your
Financial Intermediary or the Fund’s transfer agent (e.g., by mail or
telephone), and promptly cash all checks for dividends, capital
gains and redemptions. Neither the Fund nor the Adviser will be liable to
shareholders or their representatives for good faith compliance
with escheatment laws.
For
more information, please contact us at 1-888-378-1630.
Taxes
As
with any investment, you should consider how your Fund investment will be taxed.
The tax information in this Prospectus is provided
as general information. You should consult your own tax professional about the
tax consequences of an investment in the Fund.
Unless
your investment in the Fund is through a tax-deferred retirement account, such
as a 401(k) plan or IRA, you need to be aware of
the possible tax consequences when:
• |
The
Fund makes distributions; and |
• |
You
sell Fund shares, including an exchange to another Morgan Stanley
Fund. |
Your
distributions are normally subject to federal income tax when they are paid,
whether you take them in cash or reinvest them in Fund
shares. A distribution also may be subject to state and local income tax.
Depending on your state’s rules, however, dividends attributable
to interest earned on direct obligations of the U.S. Government may be exempt
from state and local taxes. Any income dividend
distributions and any short-term capital gain distributions are taxable to you
as ordinary income. Any long-term capital gain distributions
are taxable as long-term capital gains, no matter how long you have owned shares
in the Fund. The Fund does not anticipate
that it will make distributions eligible for the reduced rate of taxation
applicable to qualified dividend income
or for the corporate
dividends-received deduction.
You
will be sent a statement (IRS Form 1099-DIV) by February of each year showing
the taxable distributions paid to you in the previous
year. The statement provides information on your dividends and any capital gains
for tax purposes.
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Shareholder
Information
Shareholder
Information (Con’t)
Your
sale of Fund shares normally is subject to federal and state income tax and may
result in a taxable gain or loss to you. A sale also may
be subject to local income tax. Your exchange of Fund shares for shares of
another Morgan Stanley Fund is treated for tax purposes
like a sale of your original shares and a purchase of your new shares. Thus, the
exchange may, like a sale, result in a taxable gain
or loss to you and will give you a new tax basis for your new
shares.
An
additional 3.8% Medicare tax is imposed on certain net investment income
(including ordinary dividends and capital gain distributions
received from the Fund and net gains from redemptions or other taxable
dispositions of Fund shares) of U.S. individuals,
estates and trusts to the extent that such person’s “modified adjusted gross
income” (in the case of an individual) or “adjusted
gross income” (in the case of an estate or trust) exceeds certain threshold
amounts.
Shareholders
who are not citizens or residents of the United States and certain foreign
entities will generally be subject to withholding of
U.S. tax of 30% on distributions made by the Fund of taxable investment income
and short-term capital gains.
The
Fund is required to withhold U.S. tax (at a 30% rate) on payments of taxable
dividends and made to certain non-U.S. entities that
fail to comply (or be deemed compliant) with extensive reporting and withholding
requirements designed to inform the U.S. Department
of the Treasury of U.S.-owned foreign investment accounts. Shareholders may be
requested to provide additional information
to the Fund to enable the Fund to determine whether withholding is
required.
The
Fund (or its administrative agent) is required to report to the IRS and furnish
to Fund shareholders the cost basis information for
sale transactions of shares purchased on or after January 1, 2012. Shareholders
may elect to have one of several cost basis methods applied
to their account when calculating the cost basis of shares sold, including
average cost, FIFO (“first-in, first-out”) or some other
specific identification method. Unless you instruct otherwise, the Fund will use
average cost as its default cost basis method, and
will treat sales as first coming from shares purchased prior to January 1, 2012.
If average cost is used for the first sale of Fund shares
covered by these rules,
the shareholder may only use an alternative cost basis method for shares
purchased prospectively. Fund shareholders
should consult with their tax advisors to determine the best cost basis method
for their tax situation.
When
you open your Fund account, you should provide your social security or tax
identification number on your investment application.
By providing this information, you will avoid being subject to a federal backup
withholding tax on taxable distributions and
redemption proceeds at a rate of 24%. Any withheld amount would be sent to the
IRS as an advance payment of your taxes due on
your income.
Share
Class Arrangements
The
Fund offers several classes of shares having different distribution arrangements
designed to provide you with different purchase options
according to your investment needs. Your Financial Intermediary can help you
decide which class may be appropriate for you.
The
general public is offered two classes: Class A shares and Class C shares, which
differ principally in terms of sales charges and ongoing
expenses. A third class, Class L shares, is closed to new investments. Class L
shareholders of the Fund do not have the option of
purchasing additional Class L shares. However, the existing Class L shareholders
may invest in additional Class L shares through reinvestment
of dividends and distributions. A fourth class, Class I shares, is offered only
to a limited category of investors. Shares that
you acquire through reinvested distributions will not be subject to any
front-end sales charge or CDSC.
In
addition, the Adviser may in its sole discretion permit a conversion of one
share class to another share class of the same Fund in certain
circumstances, provided that the Fund’s eligibility requirements are met, and
subject to the shareholder’s consent. Such conversions
will be on the basis of the relative NAVs
and without the imposition of any redemption fee or other charge. A conversion
of
shares of one class directly for shares of another class of the same Fund
normally should not be taxable for federal income tax purposes.
Please ask your financial advisor if you are eligible for converting a class of
shares pursuant to the conversion features described
in this Prospectus. A conversion feature’s availability will be
subject to the applicable classes being offered on a Financial Intermediary’s
platform. You should talk to your tax advisor before making a
conversion.
Sales
personnel may receive different compensation for selling each class of shares.
The sales charges applicable to each class provide for
the distribution financing of shares of that class.
The
chart below compares the sales charge and annual 12b-1 fee applicable to each
class:
|
| |
Class |
Sales
Charge |
Maximum
Annual 12b-1 Fee |
A |
Maximum
3.25% initial sales charge reduced for purchases of $100,000 or more;
shares purchased without
an initial sales charge are generally subject to a 0.75% CDSC if sold
during the first 12 months |
0.25% |
L |
None |
0.50% |
I |
None |
None |
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Shareholder
Information
Shareholder
Information (Con’t)
|
| |
Class |
Sales
Charge |
Maximum
Annual 12b-1 Fee |
C |
Shares
are sold at NAV without an initial sales charge, but are subject to a CDSC
of 1.00% on sales made within
one year after the last day of the month of purchase |
1.00% |
While
Class L and Class C shares do not have any front-end sales charges, their higher
ongoing annual expenses (due to higher 12b-1 fees)
mean that over time you could end up paying more for these shares than if you
were to pay front-end sales charges for Class A shares.
Certain
shareholders may be eligible for reduced sales charges (i.e., breakpoint
discounts), CDSC waivers and eligibility minimums. Please
see the information for each class set forth below for specific eligibility
requirements. You must notify your Financial Intermediary
(or the Transfer Agent or Co-Transfer Agent if you purchase shares directly
through the Fund) at the time a purchase order
(or in the case of Class C, a redemption order) is placed, that the purchase (or
redemption) qualifies for a reduced sales charge (i.e.,
breakpoint discount), CDSC waiver or eligibility minimum. Similar notification
must be made in writing when an order is placed
by mail. The reduced sales charge, CDSC waiver or eligibility minimum will not
be granted if: (i) notification is not furnished at
the time of order; or (ii) a review of the records of your Financial
Intermediary or the Transfer Agent or Co-Transfer Agent does not
confirm your represented holdings.
The
availability of sales charge waivers and discounts may depend on whether you
purchase Fund shares directly from the Fund (or the
Distributor) or a Financial Intermediary. More information regarding sales
charge discounts and waivers is summarized below. The
Fund’s sales charge waivers (and discounts) disclosed in this Prospectus are
available for qualifying purchases made directly from the
Fund (or the Distributor) and are generally available through Financial
Intermediaries. The sales charge waivers (and discounts) available
through certain other Financial Intermediaries are set forth in Appendix A to
this Prospectus (Intermediary-Specific Sales Charge
Waivers and Discounts), which may differ from those available for purchases made
directly from the Fund (or the Distributor).
Please contact your Financial Intermediary regarding applicable sales charge
waivers (and discounts) and for information
regarding the Intermediary’s related policies and procedures.
In
order to obtain a reduced sales charge (i.e., breakpoint discount) or to meet an
eligibility minimum, it may be necessary at the time
of purchase for you to inform your Financial Intermediary (or the Transfer Agent
or Co-Transfer Agent if you purchase shares directly
through the Fund) of the existence of other accounts in which there are holdings
eligible to be aggregated to meet the sales load
breakpoints or eligibility minimums. In order to verify your eligibility, you
may be required to provide account statements and/or
confirmations regarding shares of the Fund or other Morgan Stanley Funds held in
all related accounts described below at your Financial
Intermediary, as well as shares held by related parties, such as members of the
same family or household, in order to determine
whether you have met a sales load breakpoint or eligibility minimum. The Fund
makes available, in a clear and prominent format,
free of charge, on its web site,www.morganstanley.com/im, information regarding
applicable sales loads, reduced sales charges (i.e.,
breakpoint discounts), sales load waivers and eligibility minimums. The web site
includes hyperlinks that facilitate access to the information.
|
| |
Front-End
Sales Charge or FSC
An
initial sales charge you pay when purchasing Class A shares that is based
on a percentage of the offering price. The percentage
declines based upon the dollar value of Class A shares you purchase. We
offer three ways to reduce your Class A sales
charges—the Combined Purchase Privilege, Right of Accumulation and Letter
of Intent. |
CLASS
A SHARES
Class A shares are sold at NAV plus an initial sales charge of up to 3.25% of
the public offering price. The initial sales
charge is reduced for purchases of $100,000 or more according to the schedule
below. Investments of $500,000 or more are not subject
to an initial sales charge, but are generally subject to a CDSC of 0.75% on
sales made within 12 months after purchase. The CDSC
will be assessed in the same manner and with the same CDSC waivers as with
Class C shares. See “Class C—CDSC Waivers” section
of this Prospectus for a discussion of the applicable CDSC waivers.
In
addition, the CDSC on Class A shares will be waived in connection with sales of
Class A shares for which no commission or transaction
fee was paid by the Distributor or Financial Intermediary at the time of
purchase of such shares. Class A shares are also subject
to an annual distribution and shareholder services (12b-1) fee of up to
0.25% of the average daily net assets of the class. The maximum
annual 12b-1 fee payable by Class A shares is lower than the maximum annual
12b-1 fee payable by Class L and Class C shares.
The
offering price of Class A shares includes a sales charge (expressed as a
percentage of the public offering price) on a single transaction
as shown in the following table:
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Shareholder
Information
Shareholder
Information (Con’t)
|
|
| |
|
Front-End
Sales Charge |
|
Amount
of Single Transaction |
Percentage
of Offering Price |
Approximate
Percentage of Net
Amount Invested |
Dealer
Commission as a Percentage of
Public Offering Price |
Less
than $100,000 |
3.25% |
3.36% |
2.75% |
$100,000
but less than $250,000 |
2.00% |
2.04% |
1.50% |
$250,000
but less than $500,000 |
1.00% |
1.01% |
0.50% |
$500,000
and over1
|
0.00% |
0.00% |
0.00% |
1 |
The
Distributor may pay a commission of up to 0.75% to a Financial
Intermediary for purchase amounts of $500,000 or
more. |
You
may benefit from a reduced sales charge schedule (i.e., breakpoint discount) for
purchases of Class A shares of the Fund, by combining,
in a single transaction, your purchase with purchases of Class A shares of the
Fund by the following related accounts (“Related
Accounts”):
• |
A
single account (including an individual, a joint account, a trust or
fiduciary account). |
• |
A
family member account (limited to spouse, and children under the age of
21, but including trust accounts established solely for the
benefit of a spouse, or children under the age of
21). |
• |
An
UGMA/UTMA (Uniform Gifts to Minors Act/Uniform Transfers to Minors Act)
account. |
Investments
made through employer-sponsored retirement plan accounts will not be aggregated
with individual accounts.
Combined
Purchase Privilege.
You will have the benefit of a reduced sales charge by combining your purchase
of Class A shares of the Fund
in a single transaction with your purchase of Class A shares of any other Morgan
Stanley Multi-Class Fund for any Related Account
except for purchases of shares of Morgan Stanley Institutional Fund Trust Short
Duration Income
or
Ultra-Short Income Portfolios.
Right
of Accumulation. Your
sales charge may be reduced if you invest $100,000 or more in a single
transaction, calculated as follows:
the
NAV of Class A shares of the Fund being purchased plus the total of the NAV of
any shares of the Fund and any other Morgan Stanley
Multi-Class Fund held in Related Accounts as of the transaction date. For
purposes of this calculation, holdings of the following
Morgan Stanley Funds are excluded: Morgan Stanley Institutional Fund Trust Short
Duration Income
and Ultra-Short
Income
Portfolios
and Morgan Stanley Money Market Funds (as defined herein). Shares of Morgan
Stanley Money Market Funds that
you acquired in a prior exchange of shares of the Fund or shares of another
Morgan Stanley Multi-Class Fund, (other than Morgan
Stanley Institutional Fund Trust Short Duration Income
and
Ultra-Short Income Portfolios)
are included in the Class A share
right of accumulation.
Notification.
You must notify your Financial Intermediary (or the Transfer Agent or
Co-Transfer Agent, if you purchase shares directly
through the Fund) at the time a purchase order is placed, that the purchase
qualifies for a reduced sales charge under any of the
privileges discussed above. Similar notification must be made in writing when an
order is placed by mail. The reduced sales charge
will not be granted if: (i) notification is not furnished at the time of the
order; or (ii) a review of the records of your Financial Intermediary
or the Transfer Agent or Co-Transfer Agent does not confirm your represented
holdings. Certain waivers may not be available
depending on the policies at certain Financial Intermediaries. Please consult
your Financial Intermediary for more information.
In
order to obtain a reduced sales charge for Class A shares of the Fund under any
of the privileges discussed above, it may be necessary
at the time of purchase for you to inform your Financial Intermediary (or the
Transfer Agent, if you purchase shares directly
through the Fund) of the existence of any Related Accounts in which there are
holdings eligible to be aggregated to meet the sales
load breakpoint and/or right of accumulation threshold. In order to verify your
eligibility, you may be required to provide account
statements and/or confirmations regarding your purchases and/or holdings of any
Class A shares of the Fund or any other Morgan
Stanley Multi-Class Fund (including shares of Morgan Stanley Money Market Funds
that you acquired in an exchange from Class
A shares of the Fund or any other Morgan Stanley Multi-Class Fund except Morgan
Stanley Institutional Fund Trust Short Duration
Income
and
Ultra-Short Income Portfolios)
held in all Related Accounts at your Financial Intermediary, in order to
determine
whether you have met the sales load breakpoint and/or right of accumulation
threshold.
Letter
of Intent.
The above schedule of reduced sales charges for larger purchases also will be
available to you if you enter into a written
“Letter of Intent.” A Letter of Intent provides for the purchase of Class A
shares of the Fund and Class A shares of other Morgan
Stanley Multi-Class Funds, except Morgan Stanley Institutional Fund Trust Short
Duration Income
and
Ultra-Short Income
Portfolios
and Morgan Stanley Money Market Funds,
within a 13-month period. The initial purchase of Class A shares of the
Fund under a Letter of Intent must be at least 5% of the stated investment goal.
The Letter of Intent does not preclude the Fund
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Shareholder
Information
Shareholder
Information (Con’t)
(or
any other Morgan Stanley Multi-Class Fund) from discontinuing sales of its
shares. To determine the applicable sales charge reduction,
you may also include (1) the cost of Class A shares of the Fund or any other
Morgan Stanley Multi-Class Fund that were previously
purchased at a price including a front-end sales charge during the 90-day period
prior to the Distributor receiving the Letter
of Intent and (2) the historical cost of shares of any Morgan Stanley Money
Market Fund that you acquired in an exchange from
Class A shares of the Fund or any other Morgan Stanley Multi-Class Fund
purchased during that period at a price including a front-end
sales charge. You may also combine purchases and exchanges by any Related
Accounts during such 90-day period.
You
should retain any records necessary to substantiate historical costs because the
Fund, the Transfer Agent and your Financial Intermediary
may not maintain this information. You can obtain a Letter of Intent by
contacting your Financial Intermediary or by calling
toll-free (800) 869-6397. If you do not achieve the stated investment goal
within the 13-month period, you are required to pay
the difference between the sales charges otherwise applicable and sales charges
actually paid, which may be deducted from your investment.
Shares acquired through reinvestment of distributions are not aggregated to
achieve the stated investment goal.
Other
Sales Charge Waivers.
In addition to investments of $500,000 or more, your purchase of Class A shares
is not subject to a front-end
sales charge if your account qualifies under one of the following
categories:
• |
Sales
through banks, broker-dealers and other financial institutions (including
registered investment advisers and financial planners)
purchasing shares on behalf of their clients in (i) discretionary and
non-discretionary advisory programs, (ii) asset allocation
programs, (iii) other programs in which the client pays an asset-based fee
for advice or for executing transactions in Fund
shares or for otherwise participating in the program or (iv) certain other
investment programs that do not charge an asset-based
fee, as outlined in an agreement between the Distributor and such
financial institution. |
• |
Sales
through Financial Intermediaries who have entered into an agreement with
the Distributor to offer Fund shares to self-directed
investment brokerage accounts, which may or may not charge a transaction
fee. |
• |
Qualified
state tuition plans described in Section 529 of the Code (subject to all
applicable terms and conditions). |
• |
Defined
contribution, defined benefit and other employer-sponsored employee
benefit plans, whether or not qualified under the Code,
where such plans purchase Class A shares through a plan-level or omnibus
account sponsored or serviced by a Financial Intermediary
that has an agreement with the Fund, the Distributor and/or the Adviser
pursuant to which Class A shares are available
to such plans without an initial sales
charge. |
• |
Certain
retirement and deferred compensation programs established by Morgan
Stanley Investment Management or its affiliates for
their employees or the Fund’s Trustees. |
• |
Current
or retired Directors or Trustees of the Morgan Stanley Funds, such
persons’ spouses, and children under the age of 21, and
trust accounts for which any of such persons is a
beneficiary. |
• |
Current
or retired directors, officers and employees of Morgan Stanley and any of
its subsidiaries, such persons’ spouses, and children
under the age of 21, and trust accounts for which any of such persons is a
beneficiary. |
• |
Certain
other registered open-end investment companies, whose shares are
distributed by the Distributor. |
• |
Investments
made in connection with certain mergers and/or reorganizations as approved
by the Adviser. |
• |
The
reinvestment of dividends from Class A shares in additional Class A shares
of the Fund. |
• |
Current
employees of financial intermediaries or their affiliates that have
executed a selling agreement with the Distributor, such persons’
spouses, children under the age of 21, and trust accounts for which any
such person is a beneficiary, as permitted by internal
policies of their employer. |
• |
Investment
and institutional clients of the Adviser and its
affiliates. |
• |
Direct
purchases of shares by accounts where no financial intermediary is
specified. |
Certain
waivers may not be available depending on the policies at certain Financial
Intermediaries. Please consult your Financial Intermediary
for more information. For specific information with respect to sales charge
waivers and discounts available through a specific
Financial Intermediary, please refer to Appendix A attached to this
Prospectus.
Conversion
Feature. A
shareholder currently holding Class A shares of the Fund in a fee-based advisory
program (“Advisory Program”)
account or currently holding Class A shares in a brokerage account, but wishing
to transfer into an Advisory Program account
may convert such shares to Class I shares of the Fund within the Advisory
Program at any time. Such conversions will be on the
basis of the relative NAVs, without requiring any investment minimum to be met
and without the imposition of any redemption fee
or other charge. If a CDSC is applicable to such Class A shares, then the
conversion may not occur until after the shareholder has held
the shares for an 12-month period.
Please ask your financial advisor if you are eligible for converting your Class
A shares to Class I
shares pursuant to these conversion features. In addition, Class C shares held
in an account for which no broker-dealer or other
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Shareholder
Information
Shareholder
Information (Con’t)
Financial
Intermediary is specified and which are not subjected to a CDSC will
periodically be converted to Class A shares of the Fund.
|
| |
Contingent
Deferred Sales Charge or CDSC
A
fee you pay when you sell shares of certain Morgan Stanley Funds purchased
without an initial sales charge. This fee declines
the longer you hold your shares as set forth in the
table. |
CLASS
L SHARES The
Fund has suspended offering Class L shares for sale to all investors. The Class
L shareholders of the Fund do not have the
option of purchasing additional Class L shares. However, the existing Class L
shareholders may invest in additional Class L shares through
reinvestment of dividends and distributions.
Distribution
Fee.
Class L shares are subject to an annual distribution and shareholder services
(12b-1) fee of up to 0.50% of the average
daily net assets of that class. The maximum annual 12b-1 fee payable by Class L
shares is higher than the maximum annual 12b-1
fee payable by Class A shares.
Conversion
Feature.
A shareholder holding Class L shares of the Fund through a brokerage account or
an Advisory Program account may
convert such shares to either Class A or Class I shares of the Fund within an
Advisory Program at any time. Such conversions will
be on the basis of the relative NAVs, without requiring any investment minimum
to be met and without the imposition of any redemption
fee or other charge. Please ask your financial advisor if you are eligible for
converting your Class L shares to Class I shares pursuant
to these conversion features.
CLASS
I SHARES
Class I shares are sold at NAV without any sales charge on purchases or sales
and without any distribution and shareholder
services (12b-1) fee. Class I shares are offered only to investors meeting an
initial investment minimum of $1 million and the
following categories:
• |
Sales
through banks, broker-dealers and other financial institutions (including
registered investment advisers and financial planners)
purchasing shares on behalf of their clients in (i) discretionary and
non-discretionary advisory programs, (ii) fund supermarkets,
(iii) asset allocation programs, (iv) other programs in which the client
pays an asset-based fee for advice or for executing
transactions in Fund shares or for otherwise participating in the program
or (v) certain other investment programs that do
not charge an asset-based fee. |
• |
Qualified
state tuition plans described in Section 529 of the Code and donor-advised
charitable gift funds (subject to all applicable terms
and conditions). |
• |
Defined
contribution, defined benefit and other employer-sponsored employee
benefit plans, whether or not qualified under the Code. |
• |
Certain
other registered open-end investment companies whose shares are
distributed by the Distributor. |
• |
Investors
who were shareholders of the Dean Witter Retirement Series on September
11, 1998 for additional purchases for their former
Dean Witter Retirement Series accounts. |
• |
Certain
retirement and deferred compensation programs established by Morgan
Stanley Investment Management or its affiliates for
their employees or the Fund’s Trustees. |
• |
Current
or retired directors, officers and employees of Morgan Stanley and any of
its subsidiaries, such persons’ spouses, and children
under the age of 21, and trust accounts for which any of such persons is a
beneficiary. |
• |
Current
or retired Directors or Trustees of the Morgan Stanley Funds, such
persons’ spouses, and children under the age of 21, and
trust accounts for which any of such persons is a
beneficiary. |
• |
Investments
made in connection with certain mergers and/or reorganizations as approved
by the Adviser. |
• |
The
reinvestment of dividends from Class I shares in additional Class I shares
of the Fund. |
Meeting
Class I Eligibility Minimums.
To meet the $1 million initial investment to qualify to purchase Class I shares
you may combine: (1)
purchases in a single transaction of Class I shares of the Fund and other Morgan
Stanley Multi-Class Funds; and/or (2) previous purchases
of Class A and Class I shares of Morgan Stanley Multi-Class Funds you currently
own, along with shares of Morgan Stanley
Funds you currently own that you acquired in exchange for those shares.
Shareholders cannot combine purchases made by family
members or a shareholder’s other Related Accounts in a single transaction for
purposes of meeting the $1 million initial investment
minimum requirement to qualify to purchase Class I shares.
CLASS
C SHARES
Class C shares are sold at NAV with no initial sales charge, but are subject to
a CDSC of 1.00% on sales made within
one year after the last day of the month of purchase.
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Shareholder
Information
Shareholder
Information (Con’t)
Financial
Intermediaries may impose a limit on the dollar value of a Class C share
purchase order that they will accept. You should discuss
with your Financial Intermediary which share class is most appropriate for you
based on the size of your investment, your expected
time horizon for holding the shares and other factors, bearing in mind the
availability of reduced sales loads on Class A share
purchases that qualify for such reduction under the combined purchase privilege
or right of accumulation privilege available on Class
A share purchases.
With
respect to Class C shares, the CDSC is assessed on an amount equal to the lesser
of the then market value of the shares or the historical
cost of the shares (which is the amount actually paid for the shares at the time
of original purchase) being redeemed. Accordingly,
no sales charge is imposed on increases in NAV above the initial purchase price.
In determining whether a CDSC applies
to a redemption, shares in the shareholder’s account that are not subject to a
CDSC are redeemed first, followed by shares held
the longest in the shareholder’s account. A CDSC may be waived under certain
circumstances. See the Class C CDSC waiver categories
listed below.
CDSC
Waivers.
The CDSC on Class C shares will be waived in connection with the sale of Class C
shares for which no commission or transaction
fee was paid by the Distributor or Financial Intermediary at the time of
purchase of such shares. In addition, a CDSC, if otherwise
applicable, will be waived in the case of:
• |
Sales
of shares held at the time you die or become disabled (within the
definition in Section 72(m)(7) of the Code which relates to the
ability to engage in gainful employment), if the shares are: (i)
registered either in your individual name or in the names of you
and
your spouse as joint tenants with right of survivorship; (ii) registered
in the name of a trust of which (a) you are the settlor and that
is revocable by you (i.e., a “living trust”) or (b) you and your spouse
are the settlors and that is revocable by you or your spouse
(i.e., a “joint living trust”); or (iii) held in a qualified corporate or
self-employed retirement plan, IRA or 403(b) Custodial Account;
provided in either case that the sale is requested within one year after
your death or initial determination of
disability. |
• |
Sales
in connection with the following retirement plan “distributions”: (i)
lump-sum or other distributions from a qualified corporate
or self-employed retirement plan following retirement (or, in the case of
a “key employee” of a “top heavy” plan, following
attainment of age 59 1/2); (ii) required minimum distributions and certain
other distributions (such as those following attainment
of age 59 1/2) from an IRA or 403(b) Custodial Account; or (iii) a
tax-free return of an excess IRA contribution (a distribution
does not include a direct transfer of IRA, 403(b) Custodial Account or
retirement plan assets to a successor custodian or
trustee). |
• |
Sales
of shares in connection with the systematic withdrawal plan of up to 12%
annually of the value of each fund from which plan
sales are made. The percentage is determined on the date you establish the
systematic withdrawal plan and based on the next calculated
share price. You may have this CDSC waiver applied in amounts up to 1% per
month, 3% per quarter, 6% semi-annually
or 12% annually. Shares with no CDSC will be sold first, followed by those
with the lowest CDSC. As such, the waiver benefit
will be reduced by the amount of your shares that are not subject to a
CDSC. If you suspend your participation in the plan,
you may later resume plan payments without requiring a new determination
of the account value for the 12% CDSC waiver. |
The
Distributor may require confirmation of your entitlement before granting a CDSC
waiver. If you believe you are eligible for a CDSC
waiver, please contact your Financial Intermediary or call toll-free
1-800-869-6397.
Distribution
Fee.
Class C shares are also subject to an annual distribution and shareholder
services (12b-1) fee of up to 1.00% of the average
daily net assets of that class. The Fund pays the Distributor (i) a shareholder
services fee of up to 0.25% of the average daily net
assets of the Class C shares on an annualized basis and (ii) a distribution fee
of up to 0.75% of the average daily net assets of the Class
C shares on an annualized basis. The maximum annual 12b-1 fee payable by Class C
shares is higher than the maximum annual
12b-1 fee payable by Class A and Class L shares. An investor that purchases
Class C shares may be subject to distribution and shareholder
services (12b-1) fees applicable to Class C shares for as long as the investor
owns such shares.
Conversion
Feature.
A shareholder holding Class C shares of the Fund through a brokerage account or
an Advisory Program account may
convert such shares to either Class A or Class I shares of the Fund within an
Advisory Program at any time. Such conversions will
be on the basis of the relative NAVs, without requiring any investment minimum
to be met and without the imposition of any redemption
fee or other charge. If a CDSC is applicable to such Class C shares, then the
conversion may not occur until after the shareholder
has held the shares for a 12-month period.
Please ask your financial advisor if you are eligible for converting your Class
C shares
to Class I shares pursuant to these conversion features.
After
eight years, Class C shares of the Fund generally will convert automatically to
Class A shares of the Fund with no initial sales charge,
provided that the Fund or the Financial Intermediary through which a shareholder
purchased or holds Class C shares has records
verifying that the Class C shares have been held for at least eight years. The
automatic conversion of Class C shares to Class A shares
will not apply to shares held through group retirement plan recordkeeping
platforms of certain Financial Intermediaries who hold
such shares in an omnibus account and do not track participant level share lot
aging to facilitate such a conversion. The eight-
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Shareholder
Information
Shareholder
Information (Con’t)
year
period runs from the last day of the month in which the shares were purchased
or, in the case of Class C shares acquired through an
exchange, from the last day of the month in which the original Class C shares
were purchased; the shares will convert to Class A shares
based on their relative NAVs in the month following the eight-year period. At
the same time, an equal proportion of Class C shares
acquired through automatically reinvested distributions will convert to Class A
shares on the same basis. A conversion of shares of
one class directly for shares of another class of the same Fund normally should
not be taxable for federal income tax purposes.
In
addition, Class C shares held in an account for which no broker-dealer or other
Financial Intermediary is specified and which are not
subject to a CDSC will periodically be converted to Class A shares of the
Fund.
NO
SALES CHARGES FOR REINVESTED CASH DISTRIBUTIONS
If you receive a cash payment representing an ordinary dividend or capital
gain and you reinvest that amount in the applicable class of shares by returning
the check within 30 days of the payment date, the
purchased shares would not be subject to an initial sales charge or
CDSC.
PLAN
OF DISTRIBUTION (RULE 12b-1 FEES)
The Fund has adopted a Plan of Distribution (the “Plan”) in accordance
with Rule 12b-1 under
the 1940 Act with respect to the Class A, Class L and Class C shares (Class I
shares are offered without any 12b-1 fee). The Plan
allows the Fund to pay distribution fees for the sale and distribution of these
shares. It also allows the Fund to pay for services to shareholders
of Class A, Class L and Class C shares. Because these fees are paid out of
the Fund’s assets on an ongoing basis, over time
these fees will increase the cost of your investment and reduce your return in
these classes and may cost you more than paying other
types of sales charges.
Potential
Conflicts of Interest
As
a diversified global financial services firm, Morgan Stanley, the parent company
of the Adviser, engages in a broad spectrum of activities,
including financial advisory services, investment management activities,
lending, commercial banking, sponsoring and managing
private investment funds, engaging in broker-dealer transactions and principal
securities, commodities and foreign exchange
transactions, research publication and other activities. In the ordinary course
of its business, Morgan Stanley is a full-service investment
banking and financial services firm and therefore engages in activities where
Morgan Stanley’s interests or the interests of its
clients may conflict with the interests of the Fund. Morgan Stanley advises
clients and sponsors, manages or advises other investment
funds and investment programs, accounts and businesses (collectively, together
with any new or successor funds, programs,
accounts or businesses, the ‘‘Affiliated Investment Accounts’’) with a wide
variety of investment objectives that in some instances
may overlap or conflict with the Fund’s investment objectives and present
conflicts of interest. In addition, Morgan Stanley may
also from time to time create new or successor Affiliated Investment Accounts
that may compete with the Fund and present similar
conflicts of interest. The discussion below enumerates certain actual, apparent
and potential conflicts of interest. There is no assurance
that conflicts of interest will be resolved in favor of Fund shareholders and,
in fact, they may not be. Conflicts of interest not
described below may also exist.
For
more information about conflicts of interest, see the section entitled
“Potential Conflicts of Interest” in the SAI.
Material
Nonpublic Information.
It is expected that confidential or material nonpublic information regarding an
investment or potential
investment opportunity may become available to the Adviser. If such information
becomes available, the Adviser may be precluded
(including by applicable law or internal policies or procedures) from pursuing
an investment or disposition opportunity with
respect to such investment or investment opportunity. Morgan Stanley has
established certain information barriers and other policies
to address the sharing of information between different businesses within Morgan
Stanley. In limited circumstances, however,
including for purposes of managing business and reputational risk, and subject
to policies and procedures and any applicable
regulations, personnel, including personnel of the investment adviser, on one
side of an information barrier may have access
to information and personnel on the other side of the information barrier
through “wall crossings.” The Adviser faces conflicts of
interest in determining whether to engage in such wall crossings. Information
obtained in connection with such wall crossings may limit
or restrict the ability of the Adviser to engage in or otherwise effect
transactions on behalf of the Fund (including purchasing or selling
securities that the Adviser may otherwise have purchased or sold for the Fund in
the absence of a wall crossing).
Investments
by Morgan Stanley and its Affiliated Investment Accounts.
In serving in multiple capacities to Affiliated Investment Accounts,
Morgan Stanley, including the Adviser and the Investment team, may have
obligations to other clients or investors in Affiliated
Investment Accounts, the fulfillment of which may not be in the best interests
of the Fund or its shareholders. The Fund’s investment
objectives may overlap with the investment objectives of certain Affiliated
Investment Accounts. As a result, the members of
an Investment team may face conflicts in the allocation of investment
opportunities among the Fund and other investment funds, programs,
accounts and businesses advised by or affiliated with the Adviser. Certain
Affiliated Investment Accounts may provide for higher
management or incentive fees or greater expense reimbursements or overhead
allocations, all of which may contribute to this conflict
of interest and create an incentive for the Adviser to favor such other
accounts. To seek to reduce potential conflicts of interest
and to attempt to allocate such investment opportunities in a fair and equitable
manner, the Adviser has implemented allocation
policies and procedures. These policies and procedures are intended to give all
clients of the Adviser, including the Fund,
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Shareholder
Information
Shareholder
Information (Con’t)
fair
access to investment opportunities consistent with the requirements of
organizational documents, investment strategies, applicable
laws and regulations, and the fiduciary duties of the
Adviser.
Payments
to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries.
The Adviser and/or the Distributor may pay compensation, out of their
own funds and not as an expense of the Fund, to certain Financial Intermediaries
(which may include affiliates of the Adviser and
Distributor), including recordkeepers and administrators of various deferred
compensation plans, in connection with the sale, distribution,
marketing and retention of shares of the Fund and/or shareholder servicing. The
prospect of receiving, or the receipt of, additional
compensation, as described above, by Financial Intermediaries may provide such
Financial Intermediaries and their financial
advisors and other salespersons with an incentive to favor sales of shares of
the Fund over other investment options with respect
to which these Financial Intermediaries do not receive additional compensation
(or receives lower levels of additional compensation).
These payment arrangements, however, will not change the price that an investor
pays for shares of the Fund or the amount
that the Fund receives to invest on behalf of an investor. Investors may wish to
take such payment arrangements into account when
considering and evaluating any recommendations relating to Fund shares and
should review carefully any disclosures provided by
Financial Intermediaries as to their compensation. In addition, in certain
circumstances, the Adviser restricts, limits or reduces the amount
of the Fund’s investment, or restricts the type of governance or voting rights
it acquires or exercises, where the Fund (potentially
together with Morgan Stanley) exceeds a certain ownership interest, or possesses
certain degrees of voting or control or has
other interests.
Morgan
Stanley Trading and Principal Investing Activities.
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, Morgan Stanley will
generally
conduct its sales and trading businesses, publish research and analysis, and
render investment advice without regard for the Fund’s
holdings, although these activities could have an adverse impact on the value of
one or more of the Fund’s investments, or could
cause Morgan Stanley to have an interest in one or more portfolio investments
that is different from, and potentially adverse to,
that of the Fund.
Morgan
Stanley’s Investment Banking and Other Commercial Activities.
Morgan Stanley advises clients on a variety of mergers, acquisitions,
restructuring, bankruptcy and financing transactions. Morgan Stanley may act as
an advisor to clients, including other investment
funds that may compete with the Fund and with respect to investments that the
Fund may hold. Morgan Stanley may give
advice and take action with respect to any of its clients or proprietary
accounts that may differ from the advice given, or may involve
an action of a different timing or nature than the action taken, by the Fund.
Morgan Stanley may give advice and provide recommendations
to persons competing with the Fund and/or any of the Fund’s investments that are
contrary to the Fund’s best interests
and/or the best interests of any of its investments. Morgan Stanley’s activities
on behalf of its clients (such as engagements as an
underwriter or placement agent) may restrict or otherwise limit investment
opportunities that may otherwise be available to the Fund.
Morgan
Stanley may be engaged to act as a financial advisor to a company in connection
with the sale of such company, or subsidiaries
or divisions thereof, may represent potential buyers of businesses through its
mergers and acquisition activities and may provide
lending and other related financing services in connection with such
transactions. Morgan Stanley’s compensation for such activities
is usually based upon realized consideration and is usually contingent, in
substantial part, upon the closing of the transaction.
Under these circumstances, the Fund may be precluded from participating in a
transaction with or relating to the company
being sold or participating in any financing activity related to a merger or an
acquisition.
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Financial
Highlights
The
financial highlights tables that follow are intended to help you understand the
financial performance of the Class A, Class L, Class
I and Class C shares of the Fund for the past five years. Certain information
reflects financial results for a single Fund share. The
total returns in the tables represent the rate that an investor would have
earned (or lost) on an investment in the Fund (assuming reinvestment
of all dividends and distributions).
The
ratio of expenses to average net assets listed in the tables below for each
class of shares of the Fund are based on the average net assets
of the Fund for each of the periods listed in the tables. To the extent that the
Fund’s average net assets decrease over the Fund’s next
fiscal year, such expense ratios can be expected to increase, potentially
significantly, because certain fixed costs will be spread over
a smaller amount of assets.
The
information below has been derived from the financial statements audited by
Ernst
& Young LLP,
the Fund’s independent registered
public accounting firm. Ernst
& Young LLP’s report,
along with the Fund’s financial statements, are incorporated by reference
into the Fund’s SAI. The Annual Report to Shareholders (which includes the
Fund’s financial statements) and SAI are available
at no cost from the Fund at the toll-free number noted on the back cover of this
Prospectus.
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Financial
Highlights
Long
Duration Government Opportunities Fund
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Class
A Shares |
|
For
the Year Ended December 31, |
Selected
Per Share Data: |
2023 |
2022 |
2021 |
2020 |
2019 |
Net
asset value, beginning of period |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
Income
(loss) from investment operations: |
Net
investment income |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
realized and unrealized gain (loss) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
income (loss) from investment operations |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Less
distributions from: |
Net
investment income |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
asset value, end of period |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
Total
Return(1)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ratios
to Average Net Assets: |
Net
expenses |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
investment income |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rebate
from Morgan Stanley affiliate |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Supplemental
Data: |
Net
assets, end of period, in thousands |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
Portfolio
turnover rate |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
(1) |
Does
not reflect the deduction of sales charge. Calculated based on the net
asset value as of the last business day of the period. |
(2) |
Performance
was positively impacted by approximately 0.43% for Class A shares due to
the reimbursement of transfer agency and sub transfer agency fees from
prior
years. Had this reimbursement not occurred, the total return for Class A
shares would have been 5.22%. Refer to Note 4 in the Notes to Financial
Statements. |
(3) |
If
the Fund had not received the reimbursement of transfer agency and sub
transfer agency fees from the Adviser, the net expenses and net investment
income ratios,
would have been as follows for Class A shares: |
|
PERIOD
ENDED |
EXPENSE RATIO |
NET
INVESTMENT INCOME
RATIO |
|
December
31, 2023 |
0.84% |
4.06% |
|
(4) |
If
the Fund had borne all of its expenses that were reimbursed and/or waived
by the Adviser/Administrator, the net expense and net investment income
ratios would
have been as follows for Class A shares: |
|
PERIOD
ENDED |
EXPENSE RATIO |
NET
INVESTMENT INCOME
RATIO |
|
December
31, 2023 |
1.17% |
3.73% |
|
|
December
31, 2022 |
1.05 |
2.41 |
|
|
December
31, 2021 |
0.98 |
1.85 |
|
|
December
31, 2020 |
0.97 |
2.20 |
|
|
December
31, 2019 |
0.99 |
2.83 |
|
(5) |
The
ratios reflect the rebate of certain Fund expenses in connection with
investments in a Morgan Stanley affiliate during the period. The effect of
the rebate on the
ratios is disclosed in the above table as “Rebate from Morgan Stanley
affiliate.” |
(6) |
Effective
February 28, 2019, the Adviser has agreed to limit the ratio of expenses
to average net assets to the maximum ratio of 0.85% for Class A shares.
Prior to February
28, 2019, the maximum ratio was 0.87% for Class A
shares. |
(7) |
Amount
is less than 0.005%. |
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Financial
Highlights
Long
Duration Government Opportunities Fund
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Class
L Shares |
|
For
the Year Ended December 31, |
Selected
Per Share Data: |
2023 |
2022 |
2021 |
2020 |
2019 |
Net
asset value, beginning of period |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
Income
(loss) from investment operations: |
Net
investment income |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
realized and unrealized gain (loss) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
income (loss) from investment operations |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Less
distributions from: |
Net
investment income |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
asset value, end of period |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
Total
Return(1)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ratios
to Average Net Assets: |
Net
expenses |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
investment income |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rebate
from Morgan Stanley affiliate |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Supplemental
Data: |
Net
assets, end of period, in thousands |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
Portfolio
turnover rate |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
(1) |
Calculated
based on the net asset value as of the last business day of the
period. |
(2) |
Performance
was positively impacted by approximately 0.42% for Class L shares due to
the reimbursement of transfer agency and sub transfer agency fees from
prior
years. Had this reimbursement not occurred, the total return for Class L
shares would have been 4.90%. Refer to Note 4 in the Notes to Financial
Statements. |
(3) |
If
the Fund had not received the reimbursement of transfer agency and sub
transfer agency fees from the Adviser, the net expenses and net investment
income ratios,
would have been as follows for Class L shares: |
|
PERIOD
ENDED |
EXPENSE RATIO |
NET
INVESTMENT INCOME
RATIO |
|
December
31, 2023 |
1.11% |
3.78% |
|
(4) |
If
the Fund had borne all of its expenses that were reimbursed and/or waived
by the Adviser/Administrator, the net expense and net investment income
ratios would
have been as follows for Class L shares: |
|
PERIOD
ENDED |
EXPENSE RATIO |
NET
INVESTMENT INCOME
RATIO |
|
December
31, 2023 |
1.46% |
3.43% |
|
|
December
31, 2022 |
1.33 |
2.10 |
|
|
December
31, 2021 |
1.25 |
1.56 |
|
|
December
31, 2020 |
1.24 |
1.90 |
|
|
December
31, 2019 |
1.25 |
2.60 |
|
(5) |
The
ratios reflect the rebate of certain Fund expenses in connection with
investments in a Morgan Stanley affiliate during the period. The effect of
the rebate on the
ratios is disclosed in the above table as “Rebate from Morgan Stanley
affiliate.” |
(6) |
Amount
is less than 0.005%. |
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Financial
Highlights
Long
Duration Government Opportunities Fund
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Class
I Shares |
|
For
the Year Ended December 31, |
Selected
Per Share Data: |
2023 |
2022 |
2021 |
2020 |
2019 |
Net
asset value, beginning of period |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
Income
(loss) from investment operations: |
Net
investment income |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
realized and unrealized gain (loss) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
income (loss) from investment operations |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Less
distributions from: |
Net
investment income |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
asset value, end of period |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
Total
Return(1)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ratios
to Average Net Assets: |
Net
expenses |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
investment income |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rebate
from Morgan Stanley affiliate |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Supplemental
Data: |
Net
assets, end of period, in thousands |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
Portfolio
turnover rate |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
(1) |
Calculated
based on the net asset value as of the last business day of the
period. |
(2) |
Performance
was positively impacted by approximately 0.29% for Class I shares due to
the reimbursement of transfer agency and sub transfer agency fees from
prior
years. Had this reimbursement not occurred, the total return for Class I
shares would have been 5.73%. Refer to Note 4 in the Notes to Financial
Statements. |
(3) |
If
the Fund had not received the reimbursement of transfer agency and sub
transfer agency fees from the Adviser, the net expenses and net investment
income ratios,
would have been as follows for Class I shares: |
|
PERIOD
ENDED |
EXPENSE RATIO |
NET
INVESTMENT INCOME
RATIO |
|
December
31, 2023 |
0.49% |
4.40% |
|
(4) |
If
the Fund had borne all of its expenses that were reimbursed and/or waived
by the Adviser/Administrator, the net expense and net investment income
ratios would
have been as follows for Class I shares: |
|
PERIOD
ENDED |
EXPENSE RATIO |
NET
INVESTMENT INCOME
RATIO |
|
December
31, 2023 |
0.91% |
3.98% |
|
|
December
31, 2022 |
0.80 |
2.67 |
|
|
December
31, 2021 |
0.72 |
2.13 |
|
|
December
31, 2020 |
0.73 |
2.40 |
|
|
December
31, 2019 |
0.74 |
3.13 |
|
(5) |
The
ratios reflect the rebate of certain Fund expenses in connection with
investments in a Morgan Stanley affiliate during the period. The effect of
the rebate on the
ratios is disclosed in the above table as “Rebate from Morgan Stanley
affiliate.” |
(6) |
Amount
is less than 0.005%. |
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Financial
Highlights
Long
Duration Government Opportunities Fund
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Class
C Shares |
|
For
the Year Ended December 31, |
Selected
Per Share Data: |
2023 |
2022 |
2021 |
2020 |
2019 |
Net
asset value, beginning of period |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
Income
(loss) from investment operations: |
Net
investment income |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
realized and unrealized gain (loss) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
income (loss) from investment operations |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Less
distributions from: |
Net
investment income |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
asset value, end of period |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
Total
Return(1)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ratios
to Average Net Assets: |
Net
expenses |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
investment income |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rebate
from Morgan Stanley affiliate |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Supplemental
Data: |
Net
assets, end of period, in thousands |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
Portfolio
turnover rate |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
(1) |
Does
not reflect the deduction of sales charge. Calculated based on the net
asset value as of the last business day of the period. |
(2) |
Performance
was positively impacted by approximately 0.42% for Class C shares due to
the reimbursement of transfer agency and sub transfer agency fees from
prior
years. Had this reimbursement not occurred, the total return for Class C
shares would have been 4.37%. Refer to Note 4 in the Notes to Financial
Statements. |
(3) |
If
the Fund had not received the reimbursement of transfer agency and sub
transfer agency fees from the Adviser, the net expenses and net investment
income ratios,
would have been as follows for Class C shares: |
|
PERIOD
ENDED |
EXPENSE RATIO |
NET
INVESTMENT INCOME
RATIO |
|
December
31, 2023 |
1.61% |
3.29% |
|
(4) |
If
the Fund had borne all of its expenses that were reimbursed and/or waived
by the Adviser/Administrator, the net expense and net investment income
ratios would
have been as follows for Class C shares: |
|
PERIOD
ENDED |
EXPENSE RATIO |
NET
INVESTMENT INCOME
RATIO |
|
December
31, 2023 |
1.90% |
3.00% |
|
|
December
31, 2022 |
1.79 |
1.62 |
|
|
December
31, 2021 |
1.73 |
1.10 |
|
|
December
31, 2020 |
1.72 |
1.30 |
|
|
December
31, 2019 |
1.85 |
2.00 |
|
(5) |
The
ratios reflect the rebate of certain Fund expenses in connection with
investments in a Morgan Stanley affiliate during the period. The effect of
the rebate on the
ratios is disclosed in the above table as “Rebate from Morgan Stanley
affiliate.” |
(6) |
Amount
is less than 0.005%. |
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Appendix
Intermediary-Specific
Sales Charge Waivers and Discounts
The
availability of certain sales charge waivers and discounts will depend on
whether you purchase your shares directly from the Fund or
through a Financial Intermediary. Financial Intermediaries may have different
policies and procedures regarding the availability of front-end
sales charge waivers or CDSC waivers, which are discussed below. In all
instances, it is the purchaser’s responsibility to notify
the Fund or the purchaser’s Financial Intermediary at the time of purchase of
any relationship or other facts qualifying the purchaser
for sales charge waivers or discounts. For waivers and discounts not available
through a particular Financial Intermediary, shareholders
will have to purchase Fund shares directly from the Fund (or the Distributor) or
through another Financial Intermediary
to receive these waivers or discounts. A Financial Intermediary’s administration
and implementation of its particular policies
with respect to any variations, waivers and/or discounts is neither supervised
nor verified by the Fund, the Adviser or the Distributor.
The Fund and the Distributor do not provide investment advice or recommendations
or any form of tax or legal advice to
existing or potential shareholders with respect to investment transactions
involving the Fund.
*****
Merrill
Lynch
(“Merrill”)
Purchases
or sales of front-end (i.e. Class A) or level-load (i.e., Class C) mutual
fund
shares through a Merrill platform
or account will
be eligible only for the following sales
load
waivers (front-end,
contingent deferred, or back-end
waivers) and discounts, which differ
from those disclosed elsewhere in this Fund’s prospectus.
Purchasers will have to buy mutual fund shares directly from the mutual
fund company or through another intermediary to be eligible for waivers or
discounts not listed below.
It
is the client’s responsibility to notify Merrill at the time of purchase or sale
of any relationship or other facts that qualify the transaction
for a waiver or discount. A Merrill representative may ask for reasonable
documentation of such facts and Merrill may condition
the granting of a waiver or discount on the timely receipt of such
documentation.
Additional
information on waivers and discounts is available in the Merrill Sales Load
Waiver and Discounts Supplement (the “Merrill SLWD
Supplement”) and in the Mutual Fund Investing at Merrill pamphlet
at ml.com/funds. Clients are encouraged to review
these documents and speak with their financial advisor to determine whether a
transaction is eligible for a waiver or discount.
Front-end
Sales Load Waivers on Class A Shares Available
at Merrill
• |
Shares
of mutual funds available for purchase by employer-sponsored
retirement, deferred compensation,
and employee benefit plans
(including health savings accounts) and trusts used to fund those
plans
provided the
shares are not held in a commission-based
brokerage account and shares are held for the benefit of the
plan.
For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement
plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans
|
• |
Shares
purchased through a Merrill investment
advisory program |
• |
Brokerage
class shares exchanged from advisory class shares
due to the holdings moving from a Merrill investment
advisory program
to a Merrill brokerage
account |
• |
Shares
purchased
through the Merrill Edge Self-Directed platform
|
• |
Shares
purchased through the
systematic reinvestment
of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing
shares
of the same mutual
fund in the same account |
• |
Shares
exchanged from level-load
shares to front-end load
shares of the same mutual
fund in accordance with the description in the
Merrill SLWD Supplement |
• |
Shares
purchased by eligible employees of Merrill
or its affiliates and their family members
who purchase shares in accounts within the
employee’s Merrill Household (as defined in the Merrill SLWD
Supplement) |
• |
Shares
purchased by eligible persons associated with the fund as defined in this
prospectus (e.g. the fund’s officers or
trustees) |
• |
Shares
purchased from the proceeds of a
mutual fund redemption in front-end load shares provided (1) the
repurchase is in a mutual
fund
within the same fund family;
(2)
the repurchase occurs within 90 calendar
days
from
the redemption
trade date,
and
(3)
the redemption and purchase occur in the same account
(known as Rights of Reinstatement). Automated transactions (i.e.
systematic
purchases and withdrawals) and purchases made after shares are
automatically sold to pay Merrill’s
account maintenance
fees are not eligible for Rights
of Reinstatement |
Contingent
Deferred Sales Charge (“CDSC”) Waivers on Front-end, Back-end, and Level Load
Shares Available at Merrill
• |
Shares
sold due to the client’s death or disability (as defined by Internal
Revenue Code Section 22e(3)) |
• |
Shares
sold pursuant
to
a systematic withdrawal program
subject to Merrill’s maximum systematic withdrawal limits
as described in
the Merrill SLWD
Supplement |
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Appendix
• |
Shares
sold due to return
of excess contributions from an IRA account |
• |
Shares
sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement
accounts due
to the investor reaching the qualified age
based on applicable IRS regulation |
• |
Front-end
or level-load shares held in commission-based, non-taxable
retirement brokerage accounts
(e.g.
traditional, Roth, rollover,
SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans) that are transferred to
fee-based
accounts or platforms and
exchanged
for a lower cost share class of the same mutual fund
|
Front-end
Load Discounts Available at Merrill:
Breakpoints, Rights of Accumulation &
Letters of Intent
• |
Breakpoint
discounts, as described in this prospectus, where the sales load is at or
below the maximum sales load that Merrill permits
to be assessed to a front-end load purchase, as described in the
Merrill SLWD Supplement |
• |
Rights
of Accumulation (ROA),
as described in the Merrill
SLWD Supplement, which entitle clients to breakpoint discounts
based
on the aggregated holdings
of mutual
fund
family assets held in
accounts in their Merrill Household |
• |
Letters
of Intent (LOI),
which allow for breakpoint discounts on
eligible new purchases based
on anticipated future
eligible purchases
within a fund family
at Merrill, in accounts within your Merrill Household, as further
described in the Merrill SLWD Supplement |
Morgan
Stanley Wealth Management
Shareholders
purchasing Fund shares through a Morgan Stanley Wealth Management transactional
brokerage account will be eligible only
for the following front-end sales charge waivers with respect to Class A shares,
which may differ from and may be more limited than
those disclosed elsewhere in this Prospectus or SAI, except that such
shareholders will continue to be eligible for front-end sales charge
breakpoint discounts as described in the Prospectus.
Front-end
Sales Charge Waivers on Class A Shares available at Morgan Stanley Wealth
Management
• |
Employer-sponsored
retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b)
plans, profit sharing and money purchase
pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision,
employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include
SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh
plans |
• |
Morgan
Stanley employee and employee-related accounts according to Morgan
Stanley’s account linking rules |
• |
Shares
purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gains
distributions when purchasing shares of the same
fund |
• |
Shares
purchased through a Morgan Stanley self-directed brokerage
account |
• |
Class
C (i.e., level-load) shares that are no longer subject to a contingent
deferred sales charge and are converted to Class A shares of
the same fund pursuant to Morgan Stanley Wealth Management’s share class
conversion program |
• |
Shares
purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the same fund family,
provided (i) the repurchase occurs within 90 days
following the redemption, (ii) the redemption and purchase occur in the
same account, and (iii) redeemed shares were subject
to a front-end or deferred sales charge |
Raymond
James & Associates, Inc., Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. and each
entity’s affiliates (“Raymond James”)
Shareholders
purchasing fund shares through a Raymond James platform or account, or through
an introducing broker-dealer or independent
registered investment adviser for which Raymond James provides trade execution,
clearance, and/or custody services, will
be eligible only for the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers
and contingent deferred, or back-end, sales charge waivers)
and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this Fund’s
prospectus or SAI.
Front-end
Sales Load Waivers on Class A Shares available at Raymond James
• |
Shares
purchased in an investment advisory
program |
• |
Shares
purchased within the same fund family through a systematic reinvestment of
capital gains and dividend distributions |
• |
Employees
and registered representatives of Raymond James or its affiliates and
their family members as designated by Raymond James |
• |
Shares
purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the same fund family,
provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days
following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the
same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to
a front-end or deferred sales load (known as Rights of
Reinstatement) |
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Appendix
• |
A
shareholder in the Fund’s Class C shares will have their shares converted
at net asset value to Class A shares (or the appropriate share
class) of the Fund if the shares are no longer subject to a CDSC and the
conversion is in line with the policies and procedures
of Raymond James |
CDSC
Waivers on Classes A and C shares available at Raymond James
• |
Death
or disability of the shareholder |
• |
Shares
sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in the Fund’s
Prospectus |
• |
Return
of excess contributions from an IRA
Account |
• |
Shares
sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement
accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified
age based on applicable IRS regulations as described in the Fund’s
Prospectus |
• |
Shares
sold to pay Raymond James fees but only if the transaction is initiated by
Raymond James |
• |
Shares
acquired through a right of reinstatement |
Front-end
load discounts available at Raymond James: breakpoints, rights of accumulation,
and/or letters of intent
• |
Breakpoints
as described in this Prospectus |
• |
Rights
of accumulation which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts will be
automatically calculated based on the aggregated
holding of fund family assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s
household at Raymond James. Eligible fund family
assets not held at Raymond James may be included in the calculation of
rights of accumulation only if the shareholder notifies
his or her financial advisor about such
assets |
• |
Letters
of intent which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated
purchases within a fund family, over a 13-month time period.
Eligible fund family assets not held at Raymond James may be included in
the calculation of letters of intent only if the shareholder
notifies his or her financial advisor about such
assets |
Janney
If you
purchase Fund shares through a Janney Montgomery Scott LLC (“Janney”) brokerage
account, you are eligible for the following
load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and CDSC, or back-end sales charge
waivers) and discounts, which may differ from
those disclosed elsewhere in this Prospectus or SAI.
Front-end
Sales Charge Waivers on Class A shares available at Janney
• |
Shares
purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend
reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same
fund (but not any other fund within the fund
family) |
• |
Shares
purchased by employees and registered representatives of Janney or its
affiliates and their family members as designated by Janney |
• |
Shares
purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the same fund family,
provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days
following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the
same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to
a front-end or deferred sales load (i.e., right of
reinstatement) |
• |
Employer-sponsored
retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b)
plans, profit sharing and money purchase
pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision,
employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include
SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh
plans |
• |
Shares
acquired through a right of reinstatement |
• |
Class
C shares that are no longer subject to a contingent deferred sales charge
and are converted to Class A shares of the same fund pursuant
to Janney’s policies and procedures |
CDSC
Waivers on Class A and C shares available at Janney
• |
Shares
sold upon the death or disability of the
shareholder |
• |
Shares
sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in the Fund’s
Prospectus |
• |
Shares
purchased in connection with a return of excess contributions from an IRA
account |
• |
Shares
sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and other
retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching age 70½
as described in the Fund’s Prospectus |
• |
Shares
sold to pay Janney fees but only if the transaction is initiated by
Janney |
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Appendix
• |
Shares
acquired through a right of reinstatement |
• |
Shares
exchanged into the same share class of a different
fund |
Front-end
Sales Charge* Discounts available at Janney: Breakpoints, Rights of Accumulation
and/or Letters of Intent
• |
Breakpoints
as described in this Prospectus |
• |
Rights
of Accumulation (ROA), which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts,
will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated
holding of fund family assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s
household at Janney. Eligible fund family assets not
held at Janney may be included in the ROA calculation only if the
shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets |
• |
Letters
of Intent which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated
purchases within a fund family, over a 13-month time period.
Eligible fund family assets not held at Janney Montgomery Scott may be
included in the calculation of letters of intent only
if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such
assets |
*Also
referred to as an “initial sales charge.”
Oppenheimer
& Co. Inc. (“OPCO”)
Shareholders
purchasing Fund shares through an OPCO platform or account are eligible only for
the following load waivers (front-end
sales charge waivers and contingent deferred, or back-end, sales charge waivers)
and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed
elsewhere in this Fund’s prospectus or SAI.
Front-end
Sales Load Waivers on Class A Shares available at OPCO
• |
Employer-sponsored
retirement, deferred compensation and employee benefit plans (including
health savings accounts) and trusts used
to fund those plans, provided that the shares are not held in a
commission-based brokerage account and shares are held for the
benefit of the plan |
• |
Shares
purchased by or through a 529 Plan |
• |
Shares
purchased through an OPCO affiliated investment advisory
program |
• |
Shares
purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend
reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same
fund (but not any other fund within the fund
family |
• |
Shares
purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the same fund family,
provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days
following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the
same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to
a front-end or deferred sales load (known as Rights of
Restatement). |
• |
A
shareholder in the Fund’s Class C shares will have their shares converted
at net asset value to Class A shares (or the appropriate share
class) of the Fund if the shares are no longer subject to a CDSC and the
conversion is in line with the policies and procedures
of OPCO |
• |
Employees
and registered representatives of OPCO or its affiliates and their family
members |
• |
Directors
or Trustees of the Fund, and employees of the Fund’s investment adviser or
any of its affiliates, as described in this prospectus |
CDSC
Waivers on A and C Shares available at OPCO
• |
Death
or disability of the shareholder |
• |
Shares
sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in the Fund’s
prospectus |
• |
Return
of excess contributions from an IRA
Account |
• |
Shares
sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement
accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified
age based on applicable IRS regulations as described in the
prospectus |
• |
Shares
sold to pay OPCO fees but only if the transaction is initiated by
OPCO |
• |
Shares
acquired through a right of reinstatement |
Front-end
load Discounts Available at OPCO: Breakpoints, Rights of Accumulation &
Letters of Intent
• |
Breakpoints
as described in this prospectus |
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Appendix
• |
Rights
of Accumulation (ROA) which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts
will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated
holding of fund family assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s
household at OPCO. Eligible fund family assets not
held at OPCO may be included in the ROA calculation only if the
shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets |
Stifel,
Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated (“Stifel”)
Shareholders
purchasing Fund shares through a Stifel platform or account or who own shares
for which Stifel or an affiliate is the broker-dealer
of record are eligible for the following additional sales charge
waiver.
Front-end
Sales Load Waiver on Class A Shares at Stifel
• |
Class
C (i.e., level-load) shares that are no longer subject to a contingent
deferred sales charge and are converted to Class A shares of
the same fund pursuant to Stifel’s policies and procedures. All other
sales charge waivers and reductions described elsewhere in the
Fund’s Prospectus or SAI still apply. |
Robert
W. Baird & Co. (“Baird”)
Shareholders
purchasing fund shares through a Baird platform or account will only be eligible
for the following sales charge waivers (front-end
sales charge waivers and CDSC waivers) and discounts, which may differ from
those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or
the SAI.
Front-End
Sales Charge Waivers on A-shares Available at Baird
• |
Shares
purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend
reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same
fund |
• |
Shares
purchased by employees and registered representatives of Baird or its
affiliate and their family members as designated by Baird |
• |
Shares
purchased using the proceeds of redemptions within the same fund family,
provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days
following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the
same accounts, and (3) redeemed shares were subject
to a front-end or deferred sales charge (known as rights of
reinstatement) |
• |
A
shareholder in the Funds C Shares will have their share converted at net
asset value to A shares of the same fund if the shares are no
longer subject to CDSC and the conversion is in line with the policies and
procedures of Baird |
• |
Employer-sponsored
retirement plans or charitable accounts in a transactional brokerage
account at Baird, including 401(k) plans, 457
plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase
pension plans and defined benefit plans. For purposes
of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP
IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs or SAR-SEPs |
CDSC
Waivers on A and C shares Available at Baird
• |
Shares
sold due to death or disability of the
shareholder |
• |
Shares
sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in the Fund’s
Prospectus |
• |
Shares
bought due to returns of excess contributions from an IRA
Account |
• |
Shares
sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement
accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified
age based on applicable Internal Revenue Service regulations as described
in the Fund’s prospectus |
• |
Shares
sold to pay Baird fees but only if the transaction is initiated by
Baird |
• |
Shares
acquired through a right of reinstatement |
Front-End
Sales Charge Discounts Available at Baird: Breakpoints and/or Rights of
Accumulations
• |
Breakpoints
as described in this prospectus |
• |
Rights
of accumulations which entitles shareholders to breakpoint discounts will
be automatically calculated based on the aggregated
holding of fund family assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s
household at Baird. Eligible fund family assets not
held at Baird may be included in the rights of accumulations calculation
only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor
about such assets |
• |
Letters
of Intent (LOI) allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated
purchases within a fund family, through Baird, over a 13-month
period of time |
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Appendix
Ameriprise
Financial
The
following information applies to Class A share purchases if you have an account
with or otherwise purchase Fund shares through Ameriprise
Financial: Shareholders purchasing Fund shares through an Ameriprise Financial
retail brokerage account are eligible for the
following front-end sales charge waivers, which may differ from those disclosed
elsewhere in this Prospectus or in the SAI.
• |
Employer-sponsored
retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b)
plans, profit sharing and money purchase
pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision,
employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include
SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs or SAR-SEPs. |
• |
Shares
purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend
reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same
Fund (but not any other fund within the same fund
family). |
• |
Shares
exchanged from Class C shares of the same fund in the month of or
following the 7-year anniversary of the purchase date. To
the extent that this Prospectus elsewhere provides for a waiver with
respect to exchanges of Class C shares or conversion of Class
C shares following a shorter holding period, that waiver will
apply. |
• |
Employees
and registered representatives of Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates
and their immediate family members. |
• |
Shares
purchased by or through qualified accounts (including IRAs, Coverdell
Education Savings Accounts, 401(k)s, 403(b) TSCAs
subject to ERISA and defined benefit plans) that are held by a covered
family member, defined as an Ameriprise financial advisor
and/or the advisor’s spouse, advisor’s lineal ascendant (mother, father,
grandmother, grandfather, great grandmother, great grandfather),
advisor’s lineal descendant (son, step-son, daughter, step-daughter,
grandson, granddaughter, great grandson, great granddaughter)
or any spouse of a covered family member who is a lineal
descendant. |
• |
Shares
purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the same fund family,
provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days
following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the
same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to
a front-end or deferred sales load (i.e. Rights of
Reinstatement). |
Edward
D. Jones & Co., L.P. (“Edward Jones”)
Policies
Regarding Transactions Through Edward Jones
The
following information supersedes prior information with respect to transactions
and positions held in fund shares through an Edward
Jones system. Clients of Edward Jones (also referred to as “shareholders”)
purchasing fund shares on the Edward Jones commission
and fee-based platforms are eligible only for the following sales charge
discounts (also referred to as “breakpoints”) and waivers,
which can differ from discounts and waivers described elsewhere in the mutual
fund prospectus or statement of additional information
(“SAI”) or through another broker-dealer. In all instances, it is the
shareholder’s responsibility to inform Edward Jones at
the time of purchase of any relationship, holdings of Morgan Stanley Funds, or
other facts qualifying the purchaser for discounts or
waivers. Edward Jones can ask for documentation of such circumstance.
Shareholders should contact Edward Jones if they have questions
regarding their eligibility for these discounts and waivers.
Breakpoints
• |
Breakpoint
pricing, otherwise known as volume pricing, at dollar thresholds as
described in the prospectus. |
Rights
of Accumulation (“ROA”)
• |
The
applicable sales charge on a purchase of Class A shares is determined by
taking into account all share classes (except certain money
market funds and any assets held in group retirement plans) of Morgan
Stanley Funds held by the shareholder or in an account
grouped by Edward Jones with other accounts for the purpose of providing
certain pricing considerations (“pricing groups”).
If grouping assets as a shareholder, this includes all share classes held
on the Edward Jones platform and/or held on another
platform. The inclusion of eligible fund family assets in the ROA
calculation is dependent on the shareholder notifying Edward
Jones of such assets at the time of calculation. Money market funds are
included only if such shares were sold with a sales charge
at the time of purchase or acquired in exchange for shares purchased with
a sales charge. |
• |
The
employer maintaining a SEP IRA plan and/or SIMPLE IRA plan may elect
to establish or change ROA for the IRA accounts associated
with the plan to a plan-level grouping as opposed to including all share
classes at a shareholder or pricing group
level. |
• |
ROA
is determined by calculating the higher of cost minus redemptions or
market value (current shares x NAV). |
Letter
of Intent (“LOI”)
• |
Through
a LOI, shareholders can receive the sales charge and breakpoint discounts
for purchases shareholders intend to make over a
13-month period from the date Edward Jones receives the LOI. The LOI is
determined by calculating the higher of cost or market
value of qualifying holdings at LOI initiation in combination with the
value that the shareholder intends to buy over a
|
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Appendix
|
13-month
period to calculate the front-end sales charge and any breakpoint
discounts. Each purchase the shareholder makes during
that 13-month period will receive the sales charge and breakpoint discount
that applies to the total amount. The inclusion of
eligible fund family assets in the LOI calculation is dependent on the
shareholder notifying Edward Jones of such assets at the time
of calculation. Purchases made before the LOI is received by Edward Jones
are not adjusted under the LOI and will not reduce
the sales charge previously paid. Sales charges will be adjusted if LOI is
not met. |
• |
If
the employer maintaining a SEP IRA plan and/or SIMPLE IRA plan has elected
to establish or change ROA for the IRA accounts
associated with the plan to a plan-level grouping, LOIs will also be at
the plan-level and may only be established by the employer. |
Sales
Charge Waivers
Sales
charges are waived for the following shareholders and in the following
situations:
• |
Associates
of Edward Jones and its affiliates and other accounts in the same pricing
group (as determined by Edward Jones under its
policies and procedures) as the associate. This waiver will continue for
the remainder of the associate’s life if the associate retires
from
Edward Jones in good-standing and remains in good standing pursuant to
Edward Jones’ policies and procedures. |
• |
Shares
purchased in an Edward Jones fee-based
program. |
• |
Shares
purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend
reinvestment. |
• |
Shares
purchased from the proceeds of redeemed shares of the same fund family so
long as the following conditions are met: the proceeds
are from the sale of shares within 60 days of the purchase, the sale and
purchase are made from a share class that charges a
front load and one of the following: |
○ |
The
redemption and repurchase occur in the same
account. |
○ |
The
redemption proceeds are used to process an: IRA contribution, excess
contributions, conversion, recharacterizing of contributions,
or distribution, and the repurchase is done in an account within the same
Edward Jones grouping for ROA. |
• |
Shares
exchanged into Class A shares from another share class so long as the
exchange is into the same fund and was initiated at the
discretion of Edward Jones. Edward Jones is responsible for any
remaining CDSC due to the fund company, if applicable. Any
future purchases are subject to the applicable sales charge as disclosed
in the prospectus. |
• |
Exchanges
from Class C shares to Class A shares of the same fund, generally,
in the 84th month following the anniversary of the purchase
date or earlier at the discretion of Edward
Jones. |
• |
Purchases
of Class 529-A shares through a rollover from either another education
savings plan or a security used for qualified distributions. |
• |
Purchases
of Class 529 shares made for recontribution of refunded
amounts. |
Contingent
Deferred Sales Charge (“CDSC”) Waivers
If
the shareholder purchases shares that are subject to a CDSC and those
shares are redeemed before the CDSC is expired, the shareholder
is responsible to pay the CDSC except in the following conditions:
• |
The
death or disability of the shareholder. |
• |
Systematic
withdrawals with up to 10% per year of the account
value. |
• |
Return
of excess contributions from an Individual Retirement Account
(IRA). |
• |
Shares
redeemed as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement
accounts if the redemption is taken in or after
the year the shareholder reaches qualified age based on applicable IRS
regulations. |
• |
Shares
redeemed to pay Edward Jones fees or costs in such cases where the
transaction is initiated by Edward Jones. |
• |
Shares
exchanged in an Edward Jones fee-based
program. |
• |
Shares
acquired through NAV reinstatement. |
• |
Shares
redeemed at the discretion of Edward Jones for Minimums Balances, as
described below. |
Other
Important Information Regarding Transactions Through Edward
Jones
Minimum
Purchase Amounts
• |
Initial
purchase minimum: $250 |
• |
Subsequent
purchase minimum: none |
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Appendix
Minimum
Balances
• |
Edward
Jones has the right to redeem at its discretion fund holdings with a
balance of $250 or less. The following are examples of accounts
that are not included in this policy: |
○ |
A
fee-based account held on an Edward Jones
platform |
○ |
A
529 account held on an Edward Jones
platform |
○ |
An
account with an active systematic investment plan or
LOI |
Exchanging
Share Classes
• |
At
any time it deems necessary, Edward Jones has the authority to exchange at
NAV a shareholder’s holdings in a fund to Class A shares
of the same fund. |
J.P.
MORGAN SECURITIES LLC
If
you purchase or hold fund shares through an applicable J.P. Morgan Securities
LLC brokerage account, you will be eligible for the following
sales charge waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and contingent deferred
sales charge (“CDSC”), or back-end sales charge,
waivers), share class conversion policy and discounts, which may differ from
those disclosed elsewhere in this fund’s prospectus
or Statement of Additional Information.
Front-end
sales charge waivers on Class A shares available at J.P. Morgan Securities
LLC
• |
Shares
exchanged from Class C (i.e. level-load) shares that are no longer subject
to a CDSC and are exchanged into Class A shares of
the same fund pursuant to J.P. Morgan Securities LLC’s share class
exchange policy. |
• |
Qualified
employer-sponsored defined contribution and defined benefit retirement
plans, nonqualified deferred compensation plans,
other employee benefit plans and trusts used to fund those plans. For
purposes of this provision, such plans do not include SEP
IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, SAR-SEPs or 501(c)(3)
accounts. |
• |
Shares
of funds purchased through J.P. Morgan Securities LLC Self-Directed
Investing accounts. |
• |
Shares
purchased through rights of
reinstatement. |
• |
Shares
purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend
reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same
fund (but not any other fund within the fund
family). |
• |
Shares
purchased by employees and registered representatives of J.P. Morgan
Securities LLC or its affiliates and their spouse or financial
dependent as defined by J.P. Morgan Securities
LLC. |
Class
C to Class A share conversion
• |
A
shareholder in the fund’s Class C shares will have their shares converted
at net asset value by J.P. Morgan Securities LLC to Class
A shares (or the appropriate share class) of the same fund if the shares
are no longer subject to a CDSC and the conversion is consistent
with J.P. Morgan Securities LLC’s policies and
procedures. |
CDSC
waivers on Class A and C shares available at J.P. Morgan Securities
LLC
• |
Shares
sold upon the death or disability of the
shareholder. |
• |
Shares
sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in the fund’s
prospectus. |
• |
Shares
purchased in connection with a return of excess contributions from an IRA
account. |
• |
Shares
sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement
accounts pursuant to the Internal Revenue
Code. |
• |
Shares
acquired through a right of
reinstatement. |
Front-end
load discounts available at J.P. Morgan Securities LLC: breakpoints, rights of
accumulation & letters of intent
• |
Breakpoints
as described in the prospectus. |
• |
Rights
of Accumulation (“ROA”) which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts
as described in the fund’s prospectus will be automatically
calculated based on the aggregated holding of fund family assets held by
accounts within the purchaser’s household at
J.P. Morgan Securities LLC. Eligible fund family assets not held at J.P.
Morgan Securities LLC (including 529 program holdings,
where applicable) may be included in the ROA calculation only if the
shareholder notifies their financial advisor about such
assets. |
Morgan
Stanley Prospectus | Appendix
• |
Letters
of Intent (“LOI”) which allow for breakpoint discounts based on
anticipated purchases within a fund family, through J.P. Morgan
Securities LLC, over a 13-month period of time (if
applicable). |
(This
page intentionally left blank)
Where
to Find Additional Information
Additional
information about the Fund’s investments is available in the Fund’s Shareholder
Reports. In the Fund’s Annual Report, you
will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that
significantly affected the Fund’s performance during
its last fiscal year.
The
Fund’s SAI, dated April
29, 2024
(as may be supplemented from time to time) also provides additional information
about the Fund.
The SAI is incorporated herein by reference (legally is part of the Prospectus).
For a free copy of the Fund’s Shareholder Reports
or SAI, to request other information about the Fund or to make shareholder
inquiries, please call toll-free 1-800-869-6397.
Free
copies of these documents are also available from our Internet site at:
www.morganstanley.com/im.
You
also may obtain information about the Fund by calling your Financial
Intermediary or by visiting our Internet site.
Shareholder
Reports and other information about the Fund are available on the EDGAR Database
on the SEC’s Internet site at: http://www.sec.gov,
and copies of this information may be obtained, after paying a duplicating fee,
by electronic request at the following
E-mail address: [email protected].
Morgan
Stanley Distribution, Inc., member FINRA.
(THE
FUND’S 1940 ACT FILE NO. IS 811-3870)