2024-05-02MSLongDurationGovernmentOpportunitiesFund_497C_PSP_April2024
MORGAN
STANLEY LONG DURATION GOVERNMENT
OPPORTUNITIES
FUND
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Share
Class and Ticker Symbol |
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A |
L |
I |
C |
Long
Duration Government Opportunities Fund |
USGAX |
USGCX |
USGDX |
MSGVX |
Statement
of Additional Information
April
29, 2024
This
Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) is not a prospectus. The Prospectus
(dated April
29, 2024)
for Morgan Stanley Long
Duration Government Opportunities Fund may be obtained without charge from the
Fund at its address or telephone number listed
below.
Morgan
Stanley
Long
Duration Government Opportunities Fund
1585
Broadway
New
York, NY 10036
1-800-869-6397
Glossary
of Selected Defined Terms
The
terms defined in this glossary are frequently used in this SAI (other terms used
occasionally are defined in the text of the document).
“Administrator”
— Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc., a wholly-owned fund services
subsidiary of Morgan Stanley.
“Adviser”
— Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc., a wholly-owned investment adviser
subsidiary of Morgan Stanley.
“Co-Transfer
Agent”
— Eaton Vance Management, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Morgan
Stanley.
“Custodian”
— State Street Bank and Trust Company.
“Distributor”
— Morgan Stanley Distribution, Inc., a wholly-owned broker-dealer subsidiary of
Morgan Stanley.
“Financial
Intermediaries”
— Authorized third parties, such as broker-dealers or other financial
intermediaries that have entered into a selling
agreement with the Distributor.
“Fund”
— Morgan Stanley Long Duration Government Opportunities Fund, a registered
open-end investment company.
“Independent
Trustees”
—Trustees who are not “interested persons” (as defined by the Investment Company
Act of 1940, as amended (“1940
Act”)) of the Fund.
“Transfer
Agent”
— SS&C Global Investor and Distribution Solutions, Inc.
“Trustees”
— The Board of Trustees of the Fund.
FUND
HISTORY
The
Fund was organized as a Massachusetts business trust, under a Declaration of
Trust, on September 29, 1983, with the name Dean
Witter U.S. Government Securities Trust. Effective June 22, 1998, the Fund’s
name was changed to Morgan Stanley Dean Witter
U.S. Government Securities Trust. Effective June 18, 2001, the Fund’s name was
changed to Morgan Stanley U.S. Government
Securities Trust. Effective May 31, 2023, the Fund’s name was changed to Morgan
Stanley Long Duration Government
Opportunities Fund.
DESCRIPTION
OF THE FUND AND ITS INVESTMENTS AND RISKS
Classification
The
Fund is an open-end, diversified management investment company whose investment
objective is a high level of current income consistent
with safety of principal.
Investment
Strategies and Risks
The
following discussion of the Fund’s investment strategies and risks should be
read with the sections of the Fund’s Prospectus titled “Principal
Investment Strategies,” “Principal Risks” and “Additional Information About Fund
Investment Objectives, Strategies and Risks.”
Asset-Backed
Securities. The
Fund may invest in asset-backed securities. Asset-backed securities utilize the
securitization techniques used
to develop mortgage-backed securities (“MBS”). These techniques are also applied
to a broad range of other assets. Various types of
assets, primarily automobile and credit card receivables and home equity loans,
are being securitized in pass-through structures similar
to the mortgage pass-through structures. These types of securities are known as
asset-backed securities. The Fund may invest in
any type of asset-backed security. Asset-backed securities have risk
characteristics similar to MBS. Like MBS, 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. Also, as in the case of MBS, 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, regulatory and economic factors may
result in the collateral backing the securities being insufficient to support
payment on the securities.
The Fund may be exposed to
fixed, variable or floating rate loans through its investment in asset-backed
securities.
Collateralized
Mortgage Obligations. The
Fund may invest in collateralized mortgage obligations (“CMOs”), which
are MBS that are
collateralized by mortgage loans or mortgage pass-through securities, and
multi-class pass-through securities, which are equity interests
in a trust composed of mortgage loans or other MBS. Unless the context indicates
otherwise, the discussion of CMOs below also
applies to multi-class pass-through securities.
CMOs
may be issued by governmental or government-related entities or by private
entities, such as banks, savings and loan institutions,
private mortgage insurance companies, mortgage bankers and other secondary
market traders. CMOs are issued in multiple
classes, often referred to as “tranches,” with each tranche having a specific
fixed or floating coupon rate and stated maturity or
final distribution date. Under the traditional CMO structure, the cash flows
generated by the mortgages or mortgage pass-through securities
in the collateral pool are used to first pay interest and then pay principal to
the holders of the CMOs. Subject to the various provisions
of individual CMO issues, the cash flow generated by the underlying collateral
(to the extent it exceeds the amount required
to pay the stated interest) is used to retire the bonds.
The
principal and interest on the underlying collateral may be allocated among the
several tranches of a CMO in innumerable ways, including
“interest only” and “inverse interest only” tranches. In a common CMO structure,
the tranches are retired sequentially in the
order of their respective stated maturities or final distribution dates (as
opposed to the pro-rata return of principal found in traditional
pass-through obligations). The fastest-pay tranches would initially receive all
principal payments. When those tranches are retired,
the next tranches in the sequence receive all of the principal payments until
they are retired. The sequential retirement of bond
groups continues until the last tranche is retired. Accordingly, the CMO
structure allows the issuer to use cash flows of long maturity,
monthly-pay collateral to formulate securities with short, intermediate, and
long final maturities and expected average lives and
risk characteristics.
The
primary risk of CMOs is the uncertainty of the timing of cash flows that results
from the rate of prepayments on the underlying mortgages
serving as collateral and from the structure of the particular CMO transaction
(that is, the priority of the individual tranches).
An increase or decrease in prepayment rates (resulting from a decrease or
increase in mortgage interest rates) may cause the CMOs
to be retired substantially earlier than their stated maturities or final
distribution dates and will affect the yield and price of CMOs.
In addition, if the collateral securing CMOs or any third-party guarantees are
insufficient to make payments, the Fund could sustain
a loss. The prices of certain CMOs, depending on their structure and the rate of
prepayments, can be volatile. Some CMOs
may
also not be as liquid as other types of mortgage-backed securities. As a result,
it may be difficult or impossible to sell the securities
at an advantageous time or price.
Privately
issued CMOs are arrangements in which the underlying mortgages are held by the
issuer, which then issues debt collateralized
by the underlying mortgage assets. Such securities may be backed by mortgage
insurance, letters of credit, or other credit
enhancing features. Although payment of the principal of, and interest on, the
underlying collateral securing privately issued CMOs
may be guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies and instrumentalities,
these CMOs represent obligations solely of the
private issuer and are not insured or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, its
agencies and instrumentalities or any other person or
entity. Privately issued CMOs are subject to prepayment risk due to the
possibility that prepayments on the underlying assets will alter
the cash flow. Yields on privately issued CMOs have been historically higher
than the yields on CMOs backed by mortgages guaranteed
by U.S. government agencies and instrumentalities. The risk of loss due to
default on privately issued CMOs, however, is historically
higher since the U.S. Government has not guaranteed them.
New
types of CMO tranches have evolved. These include floating rate CMOs, planned
amortization classes, accrual bonds and CMO
residuals. These newer structures affect the amount and timing of principal and
interest received by each tranche from the underlying
collateral. For example, an inverse interest-only class CMO entitles holders to
receive no payments of principal and to receive
interest at a rate that will vary inversely with a specified index or a multiple
thereof. Under certain of these newer structures, given
classes of CMOs have priority over others with respect to the receipt of
prepayments on the mortgages. Therefore, depending on
the type of CMOs in which the Fund invests, the investment may be subject
to a greater or lesser risk of prepayment than other types
of MBS.
CMOs
may include real estate mortgage investment conduits (“REMICs”). REMICs, which
were authorized under the Tax Reform Act
of 1986, are private entities formed for the purpose of holding a fixed pool of
mortgages secured by an interest in real property. A REMIC
is a CMO that qualifies for special tax treatment under the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), and invests
in certain mortgages principally secured by interests in real
property.
The Fund
may invest in, among others, parallel pay CMOs and planned amortization class
CMOs (“PAC Bonds”). Parallel pay CMOs
are structured to provide payments of principal on each payment date to more
than one tranche. These simultaneous payments
are taken into account in calculating the stated maturity date or final
distribution date of each tranche which, as with other CMO
structures, must be retired by its stated maturity date or final distribution
date but may be retired earlier. PAC Bonds are a form
of parallel pay CMO, with the required principal payment on such securities
having the highest priority after interest has been paid
to all classes. PAC Bonds generally require payments of a specified amount of
principal on each payment date. In some cases, CMOs
may have the characteristics of a stripped mortgage-backed security (i.e.,
a CMO is structured with classes that receive different
proportions of the interest and principal distributions from an underlying asset
or pool of underlying assets) and such CMOs’
prices can be highly volatile. CMOs may exhibit more price volatility and
interest rate risk than other types of mortgage-backed
securities.
Commercial
Mortgage-Backed Securities. Commercial
mortgage-backed securities (“CMBS”) are generally multi-class or
pass-through
securities issued by special purpose entities that represent an undivided
interest in a portfolio of mortgage loans backed by commercial
properties, including, but not limited to, industrial and warehouse properties,
office buildings, retail space and shopping malls,
hotels, healthcare facilities, multifamily properties and cooperative
apartments. Private lenders, such as banks or insurance companies,
originate these loans and then sell the loans directly into a CMBS trust or
other entity. The commercial mortgage loans that
underlie CMBS are generally not amortizing or not fully amortizing. That is, at
their maturity date, repayment of the remaining principal
balance or “balloon” is due and is repaid through the attainment of an
additional loan or sale of this property. An extension of
the 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. Although prepayment risk is
present, it is of a lesser degree in the CMBS 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).
CMBS
may be less liquid and exhibit greater price volatility than other types of
mortgage- or asset-backed securities. CMBS issued by private
issuers may offer higher yields than CMBS issued by government issuers, but also
may be subject to greater volatility and credit
or default risk than CMBS issued by government issuers. In addition, at times
the commercial real estate market has experienced
substantially lower valuations combined with higher interest rates, leading to
difficulty in refinancing debt and, as a result,
the CMBS market has experienced (and could in the future experience) greatly
reduced liquidity and valuations. CMBS held by
the Fund may be subordinated to one or more other classes of securities of the
same series for purposes of, among other things, establishing
payment priorities and offsetting losses and other shortfalls with respect to
the related underlying mortgage loans. There can
be no assurance that the subordination will be sufficient on any date to offset
all losses or expenses incurred by the underlying trust.
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 convert 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
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.
Stripped
Mortgage-Backed Securities. The
Fund may invest in stripped mortgage-backed securities (“SMBS”). An SMBS is a
derivative
multi-class mortgage-backed security. SMBS usually are structured with two
classes that receive different proportions of the interest
and principal distribution on a pool of mortgage assets. 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). The yield to maturity
on an IO class is extremely sensitive to the rate of principal payments
(including prepayments) on the related underlying mortgage
assets, and a rapid rate of principal payments may have a material adverse
effect on such security’s yield to maturity. If the underlying
mortgage assets experience greater than anticipated prepayments of principal,
the Fund may fail to fully recoup its initial investment
in these securities. Conversely, if the underlying mortgage assets experience
less than anticipated prepayments of principal, the
yield of POs could be materially adversely affected. The market values of IOs
and POs are subject to greater risk of fluctuation in response
to changes in market rates of interest than many other types of mortgage-backed
securities. To the extent the Fund invests in
IOs and POs, it may increase the risk of fluctuations in the NAV of the
Fund.
Credit
Enhancement.
Mortgage-related securities are often backed by a pool of assets representing
the obligations of a number of parties.
To lessen the effect of failure by obligors on underlying assets to make
payments, these securities may have various types of credit
support. Credit support falls into two primary categories: (i) liquidity
protection, and (ii) protection against losses resulting from
ultimate default by an obligor on the underlying assets. Liquidity protection
generally refers to the provision of advances, typically
by the entity administering the pool of assets, to ensure that the pass-through
of payments due on the underlying pool occurs
in a timely fashion. Protection against losses resulting from ultimate default
enhances the likelihood of ultimate payment of the
obligations on at least a portion of the assets in the pool.
Such
protection may be provided through guarantees, insurance policies or letters of
credit obtained by the issuer or sponsor from third-parties
(referred to herein as “third-party credit support”), through various means of
structuring the transaction or through a combination
of such approaches.
The
ratings of mortgage-related securities for which third-party credit enhancement
provides liquidity protection or protection against
losses from default are generally dependent upon the continued creditworthiness
of the provider of the credit enhancement.
The
ratings of such securities could decline in the event of deterioration in the
creditworthiness of the credit enhancement provider even
in cases where the delinquency and loss experience on the underlying pool of
assets is better than expected.
Examples
of credit support arising out of the structure of the transaction include
“senior-subordinated securities” (multiple class securities
with one or more classes subordinate to other classes as to the payment of
principal and interest thereon, with defaults on the
underlying assets being borne first by the holders of the most subordinated
class), creation of “reserve funds” (where cash or investments,
sometimes funded from a portion of the payments on the underlying assets, are
held in reserve against future losses) and “over-collateralization”
(where the scheduled payments on, or the principal amount of, the underlying
assets exceed those required to make
payment of the securities and pay any servicing or other fees). The degree of
credit support provided for each security is generally
based on historical information with respect to the level of credit risk
associated with the underlying assets. Delinquency or loss
in excess of that which is anticipated could adversely affect the return on an
investment in such a security.
Inverse
Floaters.
Inverse floating rate obligations 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.
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 in value substantially because of changes
in the rate of prepayments.
Inverse
floating rate investments tend to underperform the market for fixed-rate bonds
in a rising interest rate environment, but tend to
outperform the market for fixed-rate bonds when interest rates decline or remain
relatively stable. Inverse floating rate investments have
varying degrees of liquidity.
Money
Market Instruments.
Money market instruments are high quality short-term fixed-income securities.
Money market instruments
may include obligations of governments, government agencies, banks, corporations
and special purpose entities and repurchase
agreements relating to these obligations. Certain money market instruments may
be denominated in a foreign currency.
Cash
Equivalents.
Cash equivalents are short-term fixed-income securities comprising:
■ |
Time
deposits, certificates of deposit (including marketable variable rate
certificates of deposit) and bankers’ acceptances issued by
a commercial bank or savings and loan association. Time deposits are
non-negotiable deposits maintained in a banking institution
for a specified period of time at a stated interest rate. Certificates of
deposit are negotiable short-term obligations issued
by commercial banks or savings and loan associations against funds
deposited in the issuing institution. Variable rate certificates
of deposit are certificates of deposit on which the interest rate is
periodically adjusted prior to their stated maturity based
upon a specified market rate. A bankers’ acceptance is a time draft drawn
on a commercial bank by a borrower, usually in connection
with an international commercial transaction (to finance the import,
export, transfer or storage of goods); |
■ |
Obligations
of U.S. banks, foreign branches of U.S. banks (Eurodollars) and U.S.
branches of foreign banks (Yankee dollars). Eurodollar
and Yankee dollar investments will involve some of the same risks of
investing in international securities that are discussed
in various foreign investing sections of this
SAI; |
■ |
Any
security issued by a commercial bank if (i) the bank has total assets of
at least $1 billion, or the equivalent in other currencies
or, in the case of domestic banks which do not have total assets of at
least $1 billion, the aggregate investment made in
any one such bank is limited to $250,000 principal amount per certificate
and the principal amount of such investment is insured
in full by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), (ii) in the
case of U.S. banks, it is a member of the FDIC
and (iii) in the case of foreign branches of U.S. banks, the security is
deemed by the Adviser to be of an investment quality
comparable with other debt securities which the Fund may
purchase; |
■ |
Commercial
paper rated at time of purchase by one or more nationally recognized
statistical rating organizations (“NRSROs”) in
one of their two highest categories (e.g., A-l or A-2 by S&P Global
Inc. (“S&P”), Prime 1 or Prime 2 by Moody’s Investors
Service,
Inc. (“Moody’s”) or F1 or F2 by Fitch, Inc. (“Fitch”)) or, if unrated,
determined to be of comparable quality by the Adviser; |
■ |
Short-term
corporate obligations rated high-grade at the time of purchase by an NRSRO
(e.g., A or better by Moody’s, S&P or Fitch); |
■ |
U.S.
government obligations, including bills, notes, bonds and other debt
securities issued by the U.S. Treasury. These are direct
obligations of the U.S. Government and differ mainly in interest rates,
maturities and dates of issue; |
■ |
Government
agency securities issued or guaranteed by U.S. government sponsored
instrumentalities and Federal agencies. These include
securities issued by the Federal Home Loan Banks, Federal Land Bank,
Farmers Home Administration, Farm Credit Banks,
Federal Intermediate Credit Bank, Federal National Mortgage Association
(“Fannie Mae”), Federal Financing Bank, Tennessee
Valley Authority (“TVA”) and others; and |
■ |
Repurchase
agreements collateralized by the securities listed
above. |
When-Issued
and Delayed Delivery Securities, TBAs and Forward Commitments.
The
Fund may purchase or sell securities on a when-issued
or delayed delivery basis or may purchase or sell securities on a forward
commitment basis. When these transactions are negotiated,
the price is fixed at the time of the commitment, but delivery and payment can
take place a month or more after the date of
commitment. The Fund may sell the securities before the settlement date if it is
deemed advisable. The securities so purchased or sold
are subject to market fluctuation and no interest or dividends accrue to the
purchaser prior to the settlement date. In addition, the
Fund may invest in to-be-announced pass-through mortgage securities, which
settle on a delayed delivery basis (“TBAs”). In a TBA
transaction, the buyer and seller agree upon general trade parameters such as
agency, settlement date, par amount, and price at the
time the contract is entered into but the MBS are delivered in the future,
generally 30 days later. 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.
At
the time the Fund makes the commitment to purchase or sell securities on a
when-issued, delayed delivery or forward commitment
basis, it will record the transaction and thereafter reflect the value, each
day, of such security purchased, or if a sale, the proceeds
to be received, in determining its NAV. At the time of delivery of the
securities, their value may be more or less than the purchase
or sale price. An increase in the percentage of the Fund’s assets
committed to the purchase of securities on a when-issued, delayed
delivery or forward commitment basis may increase the volatility of its
NAV.
Non-Publicly
Traded Securities, Private Placements and Restricted Securities.
The Fund may invest in securities that are neither listed
on a stock exchange nor traded OTC, including privately placed and
restricted securities. Such unlisted securities may involve a higher
degree of business and financial risk that can result in substantial losses. As
a result of the absence of a public trading market for
these securities, they may be less liquid than publicly traded securities.
Although these securities may be resold in privately
negotiated
transactions, the prices realized from these sales could be less than those
originally paid by the Fund or less than what may be
considered the fair value of such securities. Furthermore, companies whose
securities are not publicly traded may not be subject to the
disclosure and other investor protection requirements which might be applicable
if their securities were publicly traded. The illiquidity
of the market, as well as the lack of publicly available information regarding
these securities, may also adversely affect the ability
of the Fund to arrive at a fair value for certain securities at certain times
and could make it difficult for the Fund to sell certain securities.
If such securities are required to be registered under the securities laws of
one or more jurisdictions before being sold, the Fund
may be required to bear the expenses of registration.
Loans
Loans
may be primary, direct investments or investments in loan assignments or
participation interests. A loan assignment represents a
portion or the entirety of a loan and a portion or the entirety of a position
previously attributable to a different lender. The purchaser
of an assignment typically succeeds to all the rights and obligations under the
loan agreement and has the same rights and obligations
as the assigning investor. However, assignments through private negotiations may
cause the purchaser of an assignment to have
different and more limited rights than those held by the assigning investor.
Loan participation interests are interests issued by a lender
or other entity and represent a fractional interest in a loan. The Fund
typically will have a contractual relationship only with the
financial institution that issued the participation interest. As a result, the
Fund may have the right to receive payments of principal,
interest and any fees to which it is entitled only from the financial
institution and only upon receipt by such entity of such payments
from the borrower. In connection with purchasing a participation interest, the
Fund generally will have no right to enforce compliance
by the borrower with the terms of the loan agreement, nor any rights with
respect to any funds acquired by other investors
through set-off against the borrower and the Fund may not directly benefit from
the collateral supporting the loan in which it
has purchased the participation interest. As a result, the Fund may assume the
credit risk of both the borrower and the financial institution
issuing the participation interest. In the event of the insolvency of the entity
issuing a participation interest, the Fund may be
treated as a general creditor of such entity. Most loans are rated below
investment grade or, if unrated, are of similar credit quality.
Loan
investments may be made at par or at a discount or premium to par. The interest
payable on a loan may be fixed or floating rate,
and paid in cash or in-kind. In connection with transactions in loans, the Fund
may be subject to facility or other fees. Loans may
be secured by specific collateral or other assets of the borrower, guaranteed by
a third party, unsecured or subordinated. During the
term of a loan, the value of any collateral securing the loan may decline in
value, causing the loan to be under collateralized. Collateral
may consist of assets that may not be readily liquidated, and there is no
assurance that the liquidation of such assets would satisfy
fully a borrower’s obligations under the loan. In addition, if a loan is
foreclosed, the Fund could become part owner of the collateral
and would bear the costs and liabilities associated with owning and disposing of
such collateral.
Certain
loans (“senior loans”) hold a senior position in the capital structure of a
business entity, are typically secured with specific collateral
and have a claim on the assets and/or stock of the borrower that is senior to
that held by subordinated debtholders and stockholders
of the borrower. Junior loans may be secured or unsecured subordinated loans,
second lien loans and subordinated bridge
loans. Floating-rate loans typically have rates of interest which are
re-determined daily, monthly, quarterly or semi-annually by reference
to a base lending rate, plus a premium. Floating-rate loans held by the Fund
typically have a dollar-weighted average period until
the next interest rate adjustment of approximately 90 days or less.
A
lender’s repayment and other rights primarily are determined by governing loan,
assignment or participation documents, which (among
other things) typically establish the priority of payment on the loan relative
to other indebtedness and obligations of the borrower.
A borrower typically is required to comply with certain covenants contained in a
loan agreement between the borrower and the
holders of the loan. The types of covenants included in loan agreements
generally vary depending on market conditions, the creditworthiness
of the issuer, and the nature of the collateral securing the loan. Loans with
fewer covenants that restrict activities of the
borrower may provide the borrower with more flexibility to take actions that may
be detrimental to the loan holders and provide fewer
investor protections in the event covenants are breached. The Fund may
experience relatively greater realized or unrealized losses
or delays and expense in enforcing its rights with respect to loans with fewer
restrictive covenants. Loans to entities located outside
of the U.S. may have substantially different lender protections and covenants as
compared to loans to U.S. entities and may involve
greater risks. In the event of bankruptcy, applicable law may impact a lender’s
ability to enforce its rights. Bankruptcy laws in foreign
jurisdictions, including emerging markets, may differ significantly from U.S.
bankruptcy law and the Fund’s rights with respect
to a loan governed by the laws of a foreign jurisdiction may be more
limited.
Loans
may be originated by a lending agent, such as a financial institution or other
entity, on behalf of a group or “syndicate” of loan investors
(the “Loan Investors”). In such a case, the agent administers the terms of the
loan agreement and is responsible for the collection
of principal, and interest payments from the borrower and the apportionment of
these payments to the Loan Investors. Failure
by the agent to fulfill its obligations may delay or adversely affect receipt of
payment by the Fund. Furthermore, unless under the
terms of a loan agreement or participation (as applicable) the Fund has direct
recourse against the borrower, the Fund must rely on
the agent and the other Loan Investors to pursue appropriate remedies against
the borrower.
Although
the overall size and number of participants in the market for many loans has
grown over the past decade, such loans continue
to trade in a private, unregulated inter-dealer or inter-bank secondary market
and the amount of available public
information
about loans may be less extensive than that available for registered or exchange
listed securities. With limited exceptions, the
Adviser will take steps intended to insure that it does not receive material
nonpublic information about the issuers of loans that also
issue publicly traded securities. Therefore, the Adviser may have less
information than other investors about certain of the loans in
which it seeks to invest. Purchases and sales of loans are generally subject to
contractual restrictions that must be satisfied before a loan
can be bought or sold. These restrictions may (i) impede the Fund’s ability to
buy or sell loans, (ii) negatively impact the transaction
price, (iii) impact the counterparty and/or credit risks borne by the Fund, (iv)
impede the Fund’s ability to timely vote or otherwise
act with respect to loans, (v) expose the Fund to adverse tax or regulatory
consequences and/or (vi) result in delayed settlement
of loan transactions. It may take longer than seven days for a transaction in
loans to settle, which may impact the Fund’s process
for meeting redemptions. See “Liquidity”, below. This is partly due to the
nature or manner in which loans trade and the contractual
restrictions noted above, which require a written assignment agreement and
various ancillary documents for each transfer, and
frequently require discretionary consents from both the borrower and the
administrative agent. In light of the foregoing, the Fund
may hold cash, sell investments or temporarily borrow to meet its cash
needs.
Assignments
of loans through private negotiations may cause the purchaser of an assignment
to have different and more limited rights
than those held by the assigning investor. In connection with purchasing a
participation interest, the Fund generally will have no
right to enforce compliance by the borrower with the terms of the loan
agreement. In the event the borrower defaults, the Fund may
not directly benefit from the collateral supporting the loan (if any) in which
it has purchased the participation interest. As a result,
the Fund may assume the credit risk of both the borrower and the financial
institution issuing the participation interest. No active
trading market may exist for certain loans, which may impair the ability of the
Fund to realize full value in the event of the need
to sell a loan and which may make it difficult to value the loan. To the extent
that a secondary market does exist for certain loans,
the market may be subject to irregular trading activity, wide bid/ask spreads
and extended trade settlement periods.
In
addition to the risks generally associated with debt instruments, such as
credit, market, interest rate and liquidity risks, loans are also
subject to the risk that the value of any collateral securing a loan may
decline, be insufficient to meet the obligations of the borrower
or be difficult to liquidate. The specific collateral used to secure a loan may
decline in value or become illiquid, which would
adversely affect the loan’s value. The Fund’s access to collateral may be
limited by bankruptcy, other insolvency laws or by the type
of loan the Fund has purchased. For example, if the Fund purchases a
participation instead of an assignment, it would not have direct
access to collateral of the borrower. As a result, a floating-rate loan may not
be fully collateralized and can decline significantly in
value. Additionally, collateral on loan instruments may not be readily
liquidated, and there is no assurance that the liquidation of such
assets will satisfy a borrower’s obligations under the investment.
Loans
are subject to the risk that a court, pursuant to fraudulent conveyance or other
similar laws, could subordinate a loan to presently
existing or future indebtedness of the borrower, or take other action
detrimental to the holders of a loan including, in certain
circumstances, invalidating a loan or causing interest previously paid to be
refunded to the borrower. Any such actions by a court
could negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Loans that are secured and
senior to other debtholders of a borrower tend to have
more favorable loss recovery rates as compared to more junior types of below
investment grade debt obligations. Due to their lower
place in the borrower’s capital structure and, in some cases, their unsecured
status, junior loans involve a higher degree of overall
risk than senior loans of the same borrower.
Investing
in loans involves the risk of default by the borrower or other party obligated
to repay the loan. In the event of insolvency of the
borrower or other obligated party, the Fund may be treated as a general creditor
of such entity unless it has rights that are senior to
that of other creditors or secured by specific collateral or assets of the
borrower. Fixed rate loans are also subject to the risk that their
value will decline in a rising interest rate environment. This risk is mitigated
for floating-rate loans, where the interest rate payable
on the loan resets periodically by reference to a base lending
rate.
U.S.
federal securities laws afford certain protections against fraud and
misrepresentation in connection with the offering or sale of a security,
as well as against manipulation of trading markets for securities. The typical
practice of a lender in relying exclusively or primarily
on reports from the borrower may involve the risk of fraud, misrepresentation,
or market manipulation by the borrower. It is
unclear whether U.S. federal securities law protections are available to an
investment in a loan. In certain circumstances, loans may not
be deemed to be securities, and in the event of fraud or misrepresentation by a
borrower, lenders may not have the protection of the
anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws. However, contractual
provisions in the loan documents may offer some protections,
and lenders may also avail themselves of common-law fraud protections under
applicable state law.
Investment
Company Securities. Investment
company securities are equity securities and include securities of other
registered
open-end
and
closed-end investment
companies and
unregistered investment companies, including foreign investment companies, hedge
funds
and exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”). The Fund
may invest in investment company securities as may be permitted by (i) the
1940
Act;
(ii) the rules and regulations promulgated by the SEC under the 1940 Act; or
(iii) an exemption or other relief applicable to
the Fund from provisions of the 1940 Act. The 1940 Act generally prohibits an
investment company from acquiring more than 3%
of the outstanding voting shares of an investment company and limits such
investments to no more than 5% of the Fund’s total assets
in any one investment company and no more than 10% in any combination of
investment companies. The 1940 Act also prohibits the
Fund from acquiring in the aggregate more than 10% of the outstanding voting
shares of any registered closed-end
investment
company. The Fund may invest in investment company securities of
investment companies managed by the Adviser or its affiliates
to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act or as otherwise authorized by the
SEC. To the extent the Fund invests a portion of
its assets in investment company securities, those assets will be subject to the
risks of the purchased investment company’s portfolio securities,
and a shareholder in the Fund will bear not only their proportionate share of
the expenses of the Fund, but also, indirectly the
expenses of the purchased investment company.
Money
Market Funds. To
the extent permitted by applicable law, the Fund may invest all or some of its
short term cash investments in
any money market fund advised or managed by the Adviser or its affiliates. In
connection with any such investments, the Fund, to the
extent permitted by the 1940 Act, will pay its share of all expenses (other than
advisory and administrative fees) of a money market
fund in which it invests, which may result in the Fund bearing some additional
expenses. The rules governing money market funds:
(1) permit certain money market funds to impose a “liquidity fee” (up to 2%) if
the board of trustees determines it is in the best
interests of the fund, and (2) require “institutional money market funds” to
operate with a floating net asset value per share (“NAV”)
rounded to a minimum of the fourth decimal place in the case of a fund with a
$1.0000 share price or an equivalent or more
precise level of accuracy for money market funds with a different share price
(e.g., $10.000 per share, or $100.00 per share). The
Fund may invest in money market funds that seek to maintain a stable $1.00 NAV
per share or that have a share price that fluctuates.
Although a stable share price money market fund seeks to maintain a stable $1.00
NAV per share, it is possible to lose money
by investing in such a money market fund. With respect to a floating share price
money market fund, because the share price will
fluctuate, when the Fund sells its shares in such a fund, the shares may be
worth more or less than what the Fund originally paid for
them. The rules governing money market funds, and amendments to such rules, may
affect the investment strategies, performance
and operating expenses of money market funds. “Government money market funds,”
as defined under Rule 2a-7 of the 1940
Act, are exempt from these requirements, though such funds may choose to opt-in
to the implementation of liquidity fees and redemption
gates.
Exchange-Traded
Funds.
The Fund may invest in ETFs. Investments in ETFs are subject to a variety
of risks, including risks of a direct
investment in the underlying securities that the ETF holds. For example, the
general level of stock prices may decline, thereby adversely
affecting the value of the underlying investments of the ETF and, consequently,
the value of the ETF. In addition, the market
value of the ETF shares may differ from their NAV because the supply and demand
in the market for ETF shares at any point is
not always identical to the supply and demand in the market for the underlying
securities. Also, ETFs that track particular indices typically
will be unable to match the performance of the index exactly due to, among other
things, the ETF’s operating expenses and transaction
costs. ETFs typically incur fees that are separate from those fees incurred
directly by the Fund. Therefore, as a shareholder in
an ETF (as with other investment companies), the Fund would bear its
ratable share of that entity’s expenses. At the same time, the
Fund would continue to pay its own investment management fees and other
expenses. As a result, the Fund and its shareholders, in
effect, will be absorbing fees at two levels with respect to investments in
ETFs. Further,
certain of the ETFs in which the Fund may
invest are leveraged. Leveraged ETFs seek to deliver multiples of the
performance of the index or other benchmark they track and
use derivatives in an effort to amplify the returns of the underlying index or
benchmark. While leveraged ETFs may offer the potential
for greater return, the potential for loss and the speed at which losses can be
realized also are greater. Most leveraged ETFs “reset”
daily, meaning they are designed to achieve their stated objectives on a daily
basis. Leveraged ETFs can deviate substantially from
the performance of their underlying benchmark over longer periods of time,
particularly in volatile periods. The more the Fund invests
in such leveraged ETFs, the more this leverage will magnify any losses on those
investments.
Furthermore, disruptions in the markets
for the securities underlying ETFs purchased or sold by the Fund could result in
losses on the Fund’s investment in ETFs.
Fixed-Income
Securities.
Fixed-income securities generally represent an issuer’s obligation to repay to
the investor (or lender) the amount
borrowed plus interest over a specified time period. A typical fixed-income
security specifies a fixed date when the amount borrowed
(principal) is due in full, known as the maturity date, and specifies dates when
periodic interest (coupon) payments will be made
over the life of the security.
Fixed-income
securities come in many varieties and may differ in the way that interest is
calculated, the amount and frequency of payments,
the type of collateral, if any, and the presence of special features (e.g.,
conversion rights). Prices of fixed-income securities fluctuate
and, in particular, are subject to several key risks including, but not limited
to, interest rate risk, credit risk, prepayment risk and
spread risk.
Interest
rate risk arises due to general changes in the level of market rates after the
purchase of a fixed-income security. Generally, the values
of fixed-income securities vary inversely with changes in interest rates. During
periods of falling interest rates, the values of most
outstanding fixed-income securities generally rise and during periods of rising
interest rates, the values of most fixed-income securities
generally decline. 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 duration (measure of interest rate sensitivity)
of the securities in which it may invest. While fixed-income
securities with longer final maturities often have higher yields than those with
shorter maturities, they usually possess
greater
price sensitivity to changes in interest rates and other factors. Traditionally,
the remaining term to maturity has been used as a barometer
of a fixed-income security’s sensitivity to interest rate changes. This measure,
however, considers only the time until the final
principal payment and takes no account of the pattern or amount of principal or
interest payments prior to maturity. Duration combines
consideration of yield, coupon, interest and principal payments, final maturity
and call (prepayment) features. Duration measures
the likely percentage change in a fixed-income security’s price for a small
parallel shift in the general level of interest rates; it is
also an estimate of the weighted average life of the remaining cash flows of a
fixed-income security. In almost all cases, the duration of
a fixed-income security is shorter than its term to maturity.
Credit
risk represents the possibility that an issuer may be unable to meet scheduled
interest and principal payment obligations. It is most
often associated with corporate bonds, although it can be present in other
fixed-income securities as well. Credit ratings and quantitative
models attempt to measure the degree of credit risk in fixed-income securities,
and provide insight as to whether prevailing
yield spreads afford sufficient compensation for such risk. Other things being
equal, fixed-income securities with high degrees
of credit risk should trade in the market at lower prices (and higher yields)
than fixed-income securities with low degrees of credit
risk.
Prepayment
risk, also known as call risk, arises due to the issuer’s ability to prepay all
or most of the fixed-income security prior to the stated
final maturity date. Prepayments generally rise in response to a decline in
interest rates as debtors take advantage of the opportunity
to refinance their obligations. This risk is often associated with mortgage
securities where the underlying mortgage loans can
be refinanced, although it can also be present in corporate or other types of
bonds with call provisions. When a prepayment occurs, the
Fund may be forced to reinvest in lower yielding fixed-income securities.
Quantitative models are designed to help assess the
degree of prepayment risk, and provide insight as to whether prevailing yield
spreads afford sufficient compensation for such risk.
Spread
risk is the potential for the value of the Fund’s assets to fall due to
the widening of spreads. Fixed-income securities generally compensate
for greater credit risk by paying interest at a higher rate. The difference (or
“spread”) between the yield of a security and the
yield of a benchmark, such as a U.S. Treasury security with a comparable
maturity, measures the additional interest paid for credit
risk. As the spread on a security widens (or increases), the price (or value) of
the security falls. Spread widening may occur, among
other reasons, as a result of market concerns over the stability of the market,
excess supply, general credit concerns in other markets,
security- or market-specific credit concerns or general reductions in risk
tolerance.
While
assets in fixed-income markets have grown rapidly in recent years, the capacity
for traditional dealer counterparties to engage in
fixed-income trading has not kept pace and in some cases has decreased. For
example, primary dealer inventories of corporate bonds,
which provide a core indication of the ability of financial intermediaries to
“make markets,” are at or near historic lows in relation
to market size. This reduction in market-making capacity may be a persistent
change, to the extent it is resulting from broader
structural changes, such as fewer proprietary trading desks at broker-dealers
and increased regulatory capital requirements. Because
market makers provide stability to a market through their intermediary services,
the significant reduction in dealer inventories
could potentially lead to decreased liquidity and increased volatility in the
fixed-income markets. Such issues may be exacerbated
during periods of economic uncertainty.
Economic,
political and other events also may affect the prices of broad fixed-income
markets, although the risks associated with such events
are transmitted to the market via changes in the prevailing levels of interest
rates, credit risk, prepayment risk or spread risk. From
time to time, uncertainty regarding the status of negotiations in the U.S.
government to increase the statutory debt ceiling could
impact the creditworthiness of the United States and could impact the liquidity
of the U.S. Government securities markets and ultimately
the Fund.
Certain
of the Fund’s investments are subject to inflation risk, which is the risk that
the value of assets or income from investments will
be less in the future as inflation decreases the value of money (i.e., as
inflation increases, the values of the Fund’s assets can decline).
Inflation rates may change frequently and significantly as a result of various
factors, including unexpected shifts in the domestic
or global economy and changes in economic policies, and the Fund’s investments
may not keep pace with inflation, which may
result in losses to Fund shareholders. This risk is greater for fixed-income
instruments with longer maturities.
Agencies.
Agencies refer to fixed-income securities issued or guaranteed by federal
agencies and U.S. government sponsored instrumentalities.
They may or may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.
If they are not backed by the full faith
and credit of the United States, the investor must look principally to the
agency or instrumentality issuing or guaranteeing the obligation
for ultimate repayment, and may not be able to assert a claim against the United
States itself in the event the agency or instrumentality
does not meet its commitment. Agencies that are backed by the full faith and
credit of the United States include the Export-Import
Bank, Farmers Home Administration, Federal Financing Bank and others. Certain
debt issued by Resolution Funding
Corporation has both its principal and interest backed by the full faith and
credit of the U.S. Treasury in that its principal is backed
by U.S. Treasury zero coupon issues, while the U.S. Treasury is explicitly
required to advance funds sufficient to pay interest on
it, if needed. Certain agencies and instrumentalities, such as Government
National Mortgage Association (“Ginnie Mae”), are, in effect,
backed by the full faith and credit of the United States through provisions in
their charters that they may make “indefinite and unlimited”
drawings on the Treasury if needed to service their debt. Debt from certain
other agencies and instrumentalities,
including
the Federal Home Loan Banks, Fannie Mae and the Federal Home Loan
Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac”), are not guaranteed
by the United States, but those institutions are protected by the discretionary
authority of the U.S. Treasury to purchase certain
amounts of their securities to assist them in meeting their debt obligations.
Finally, other agencies and instrumentalities, such as
the Farm Credit System, are federally chartered institutions under U.S.
Government supervision, but their debt securities are backed
only by the creditworthiness of those institutions, not the U.S. Government.
Some of the U.S. government agencies that issue or
guarantee securities include the Export-Import Bank of the United States,
Farmers Home Administration, Federal Housing Administration,
Maritime Administration, Small Business Administration and the
TVA.
An
instrumentality of the U.S. Government is a government agency organized under
federal charter with government supervision. Instrumentalities
issuing or guaranteeing securities include, among others, Federal Home Loan
Banks, the Federal Land Bank, Central
Bank for Cooperatives, Federal Intermediate Credit Banks and Fannie
Mae.
Borrowing.
The
Fund has
an operating policy, which may be changed by the Fund’s Board of Trustees, not
to borrow except from a bank
for temporary or emergency purposes in amounts not exceeding 5% (taken at the
lower of cost or current value) of its total assets
(not including the amount borrowed). Should the Board of Trustees remove this
operating policy, the Fund would be permitted
to borrow money from banks in accordance with the 1940 Act
or the rules and regulations promulgated by the
SEC thereunder.
Currently, the 1940 Act permits a fund to borrow money from banks in an amount
up to 33⅓% of its total assets (including
the amount borrowed) less its liabilities not
represented by senior securities.
The
Fund
may also borrow an additional 5% of
its total assets without regard to the foregoing limitation for temporary
purposes such as clearance of portfolio transactions. The
Fund
will only borrow when the Adviser believes that such borrowings will benefit the
Fund after taking into account considerations such
as interest income and possible gains or losses upon liquidation. The Fund will
maintain asset coverage in accordance with the 1940
Act.
Borrowing
by the Fund creates an opportunity for increased net income but, at the
same time, creates special risks. For example, leveraging
may exaggerate changes in and increase the volatility of the NAV
of the Fund. This is because leverage tends to exaggerate the
effect of any increase or decrease in the value of the Fund’s portfolio
securities. The use of leverage also may cause the Fund to liquidate
portfolio positions when it may not be advantageous to do so in order to satisfy
its obligations or to maintain asset coverage.
In
general, the Fund may not issue any class of senior security, except that
the Fund may (i) borrow from banks, provided that immediately
following any such borrowing there is an asset coverage of at least 300% for all
Fund borrowings and in the event such asset
coverage falls below 300% the Fund will within three days or such longer period
as the SEC may prescribe by rules and regulations,
reduce the amount of its borrowings to an extent that the asset coverage of such
borrowings shall be at least 300%, and (ii)
engage in trading practices that involve the issuance of a senior security,
including but not limited to options, futures, forward contracts,
swaps
and reverse repurchase agreements, in accordance
with applicable
SEC requirements. The borrowings subject to these
limits include borrowings through reverse repurchase agreements and similar
financing transactions unless the Fund has elected to
treat all such transactions as derivatives transactions under applicable SEC
requirements.
Illiquid
Investments.
In accordance with Rule 22e-4 (the “Liquidity Rule”) under the 1940 Act, the
Fund may invest up to 15% of its
net assets in “illiquid investments” that are assets. For these purposes,
“illiquid investments” are investments that the Fund reasonably
expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven
calendar days or less without the sale or disposition
significantly changing the market value of the investment. For the Fund, each
portfolio investment must be classified at least
monthly into one of four liquidity categories (illiquid, as discussed above, as
well as highly liquid, moderately liquid and less liquid),
which are defined pursuant to the Liquidity Rule and classified in accordance
with the Fund’s written liquidity risk management
program by the program administrator designated by the Fund’s Board of Trustees.
Such classification is to be made using
information obtained after reasonable inquiry and taking into account relevant
market, trading and investment-specific considerations.
In making such classifications, the Fund determines whether trading varying
portions of a position in a particular portfolio
investment or asset class, in sizes that the Fund would reasonably anticipate
trading, is reasonably expected to significantly affect
its liquidity. If so, this determination is taken into account when classifying
the liquidity of that investment. The Fund may be assisted
in classification determinations by one or more third-party service providers.
Assets classified according to this process as “illiquid
investments” are those subject to the 15% limit on illiquid
investments.
In
the event that changes in the portfolio or other external events cause the Fund
to exceed this limit, the Fund must take steps to bring
its illiquid investments that are assets to or below the applicable limit of its
net assets within a reasonable period of time. This requirement
would not force the Fund to liquidate any portfolio investment.
The
SEC has recently proposed amendments to the Liquidity Rule 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.
Municipals.
Municipal securities include debt obligations of states, territories or
possessions of the United States and the District of Columbia
and their political subdivisions, agencies and instrumentalities, the income on
which is generally exempt from regular federal
income tax at the time of issuance, in the opinion of bond counsel or other
counsel to the issuers of such securities.
Municipals
include both municipal bonds (those securities with maturities of five
years or more) and municipal notes (those with maturities
of less than five years). Municipal bonds are issued for a wide variety of
reasons: to construct public facilities, such as airports,
highways, bridges, schools, hospitals, mass transportation, streets, water and
sewer works; to obtain funds for operating expenses;
to refund outstanding municipal obligations; and to loan funds to various public
institutions and facilities. Certain industrial
development bonds are also considered municipal bonds if their interest is
exempt from regular federal income tax. Industrial
development bonds are issued by, or on behalf of, public authorities to obtain
funds for various privately-operated manufacturing
facilities, housing, sports arenas, convention centers, airports, mass
transportation systems and water, gas or sewage works.
Industrial development bonds are ordinarily dependent on the credit quality of a
private user, not the public issuer. Private activity
bonds are another type of municipal security.
The
two principal classifications of municipal bonds are “general obligation” and
“revenue” or “special tax” bonds. General obligation
bonds are secured by the issuer’s pledge of its full faith, credit and taxing
power for the payment of principal and interest. Thus,
these bonds may be vulnerable to limits on a government’s power or ability to
raise revenue or increase taxes and its ability to maintain
a fiscally sound budget. The timely payments may also be influenced by any
unfunded pension liabilities or other post-employee
benefit plan liabilities. These bonds may also depend on legislative
appropriation and/or funding or other support from other
governmental bodies in order to make payments. Revenue or special tax bonds are
payable only from the revenues derived from a
particular facility or class of facilities or, in some cases, from the proceeds
of a special excise or other tax, but not from general tax revenues.
As a result, these bonds historically have been subject to a greater risk of
default than general obligation bonds because investors
can look only to the revenue generated by the project or other revenue source
backing the project, rather than to the general taxing
authority of the state or local government issuer of the
obligations.
Industrial
revenue bonds in most cases are revenue bonds and generally do not have the
pledge of the credit of the issuer. The payment
of the principal and interest on such industrial revenue bonds is dependent
solely on the ability of the user of the facilities financed
by the bonds to meet its financial obligations and the pledge, if any, of real
and personal property so financed as security for such
payment. Short-term municipal obligations issued by states, cities,
municipalities or municipal agencies, include tax anticipation notes,
revenue anticipation notes, bond anticipation notes, construction loan notes and
short-term discount notes.
Private
activity bonds may be used by municipalities to finance the development of
industrial facilities for use by private enterprise. Principal
and interest payments are to be made by the private enterprise benefitting from
the development, which means that the holder
of the bond is exposed to the risk that the private issuer may default on the
bond. The credit and quality of private activity bonds
and industrial development bonds are usually related to the credit of the
corporate user of the facilities. Payment of interest on and
repayment of principal of such bonds is the responsibility of the corporate user
(and/or any guarantor).
Municipal
notes are issued to meet the short-term funding requirements of local, regional
and state governments. Municipal notes include
bond anticipation notes, revenue anticipation notes and tax and revenue
anticipation notes. These are short-term debt obligations
issued by state and local governments to aid cash flows while waiting for taxes
or revenue to be collected, at which time the
debt is retired. Other types of municipal notes in which the Fund may invest are
construction loan notes, short-term discount notes,
tax-exempt commercial paper, demand notes and similar instruments.
Municipal
bonds generally include debt obligations issued by or on behalf of states and
their political subdivisions, and duly constituted
authorities and corporations, to obtain funds to construct, repair or improve
various public facilities such as airports, bridges,
highways, hospitals, housing, schools, streets and water and sewer works.
Municipal bonds may also be issued to refinance outstanding
obligations as well as to obtain funds for general operating expenses and for
loans to other public institutions and facilities.
In addition, municipal bonds may include obligations of municipal housing
authorities and single-family mortgage revenue bonds.
Weaknesses in federal housing subsidy programs and their administration may
result in a decrease of subsidies available for payment
of principal and interest on housing authority bonds. Economic developments,
including fluctuations in interest rates and increasing
construction and operating costs, may also adversely impact revenues of housing
authorities. In the case of some housing authorities,
inability to obtain additional financing could also reduce revenues available to
pay existing obligations. Single-family mortgage
revenue bonds are subject to extraordinary mandatory redemption at par in whole
or in part from the proceeds derived from
prepayments of underlying mortgage loans and also from the unused proceeds of
the issue within a stated period which may be within
a year from the date of issue.
Note
obligations with demand or put options may have a stated maturity in excess of
one year, but permit any holder to demand payment
of principal plus accrued interest upon a specified number of days’ notice.
Frequently, such obligations are secured by letters of
credit or other credit support arrangements provided by banks. The issuer of
such notes normally has a corresponding right, after a given
period, to repay at its discretion the outstanding principal of the note plus
accrued interest upon a specific number of days’ notice
to the bondholders. The interest rate on a demand note may be based upon a known
lending rate, such as the prime lending rate,
and be adjusted when such rate changes, or the interest rate on a demand note
may be a market rate that is adjusted at specified intervals.
Each note purchased by the Fund will meet the quality criteria set out in the
Prospectus for the Fund.
The
yields of municipal bonds depend on, among other things, general money market
conditions, conditions in the municipal bond market,
the size of a particular offering, the maturity of the obligation, and the
rating of the issue. The ratings of Moody’s Investors Service,
Inc. and S&P Global Ratings Group, a division of S&P Global Inc.
represent their opinions of the quality of the municipal bonds
rated by them. It should be emphasized that such ratings are general and are not
absolute standards of quality. Consequently, municipal
bonds with the same maturity, coupon and rating may have different yields, while
municipal bonds of the same maturity and
coupon, but with different ratings, may have the same yield. It will be the
responsibility of the Adviser to appraise independently the
fundamental quality of the bonds held by the Fund.
Municipal
bonds are sometimes purchased on a “when-issued” or “delayed-delivery” basis,
which means the Fund has committed to purchase
certain specified securities at an agreed-upon price when they are issued. The
period between commitment date and issuance
date can be a month or more. It is possible that the securities will never be
issued and the commitment canceled.
From
time to time proposals have been introduced before Congress to restrict or
eliminate the regular federal income tax exemption for
interest on municipal bonds. Similar proposals may be introduced in the
future.
Similarly,
from time to time proposals have been introduced before state and local
legislatures to restrict or eliminate the state and local
income tax exemption for interest on municipal bonds. Similar proposals may be
introduced in the future.
The Fund
may also purchase bonds the income on which is subject to the alternative
minimum tax (“AMT bonds”). AMT bonds are tax-exempt
private activity bonds issued after August 7, 1986, the proceeds of which are
directed, at least in part, to private, for-profit organizations.
While the income from AMT bonds is exempt from regular federal income tax, it is
a tax preference item in the calculation
of the alternative minimum tax. The alternative minimum tax is a special
separate tax that applies to some taxpayers who have
certain adjustments to income or tax preference items.
Municipal
obligations of any type, such as general obligation and revenue or special tax
bonds as well as other municipal obligations associated
with specific projects, can be negatively affected by changing demographic
trends, such as population shifts or changing tastes
and values, or increasing vacancies or declining rents resulting from legal,
cultural, technological, global or local economic developments,
as well as reduced demand for properties, revenues or goods. As a result of
various economic, market and other factors, there
could be reduced tax or other revenue available to issuers of municipal
obligations and, in turn, increased budgetary and financial
pressure on municipalities and other issuers of municipal obligations, which
could adversely impact the risks associated with municipal
obligations of such issuer. As a result, the Fund’s investments in municipal
obligations may be subject to heightened risks relating
to the occurrence of such developments.
An
issuer of municipal securities may file for bankruptcy or otherwise seek to
reorganize its debts by extending debt maturities, reducing
the amount of principal or interest, refinancing the debt or taking other
measures, in each case which may significantly affect
the rights of creditors and the value of the municipal securities and the value
of the Fund’s investments in such municipal securities.
In addition, changes to bankruptcy laws may adversely impact the Fund’s
investments in municipal securities, including creditor
rights, if the issuer seeks bankruptcy protection.
Build
America Bonds are taxable municipal securities on which the issuer receives
federal support of the interest paid. Assuming certain
specified conditions are satisfied, issuers of Build America Bonds may either
(i) receive reimbursement from the U.S. Treasury with
respect to a portion of its interest payments on the bonds (“direct pay” Build
America Bonds) or (ii) provide tax credits to investors
in the bonds (“tax credit” Build America Bonds). Unlike most other municipal
securities, interest received on Build America Bonds
is subject to federal and state income tax. Issuance of Build America Bonds
ceased on December 31, 2010. The number of Build
America Bonds available in the market is limited, which may negatively affect
the value of the Build America Bonds.
The
Funds may hold municipal private placements. These securities are sold through
private negotiations, usually to institutions or mutual
funds, and generally have resale restrictions. Their yields are usually higher
than comparable public securities to compensate the
investor for their limited marketability.
Derivatives.
The Fund may, but is not required to, use various derivatives and other similar
instruments as described below. Derivatives
may be used for a variety of purposes including hedging, risk management,
portfolio management or to seek
to earn
income.
Any or all of the investment techniques described herein may be used at any time
and there is no particular strategy that dictates
the use of one technique rather than another, as the use of any derivative by a
Fund is a function of numerous variables, including
market conditions. The Fund complies with applicable regulatory requirements
when using derivatives. Although the Adviser
seeks to use derivatives to further the Fund’s investment objective, no
assurance can be given that the use of derivatives will achieve
this result.
General
Risks of Derivatives.
Derivatives utilized by the Fund may involve the purchase and sale of derivative
instruments. A derivative is
a financial instrument the value of which depends upon (or derives from) the
value of another asset, security, interest rate, index or financial
instrument. Derivatives may relate to a wide variety of underlying instruments,
including equity and debt securities, indices, interest
rates, currencies and other assets. Certain derivative instruments that the Fund
may use and the risks of those instruments are described
in further detail below. The Fund may in the future also utilize derivatives
techniques, instruments and strategies that may
be
newly developed or permitted as a result of regulatory changes, consistent with
the Fund’s investment objective and policies. Such newly
developed techniques, instruments and strategies may involve risks different
than or in addition to those described herein. No assurance
can be given that any derivatives strategy employed by the Fund will be
successful.
The
risks associated with the use of derivatives are different from, and possibly
greater than, the risks associated with investing directly
in the instruments underlying such derivatives. Derivatives are highly
specialized instruments that require investment techniques
and risk analyses different from other portfolio investments. The use of
derivative instruments requires an understanding not
only of the underlying instrument but also of the derivative itself. Certain
risk factors generally applicable to derivative transactions
are described below.
■ |
Derivatives
are subject to the risk that the market value of the derivative itself or
the market value of underlying instruments will change
in a way adverse to the Fund’s interests. The Fund bears the risk that the
Adviser may incorrectly forecast future market trends
and other financial or economic factors or the value of the underlying
security, index, interest rate or currency when establishing
a derivatives position for the Fund. |
■ |
Derivatives
may be subject to pricing risk, which exists when a derivative becomes
extraordinarily expensive (or inexpensive) relative
to historical prices or corresponding instruments. Under such market
conditions, it may not be economically feasible to initiate
a transaction or liquidate a position at an advantageous time or
price. |
■ |
Many
derivatives are complex and often valued subjectively. Improper valuations
can result in increased payment requirements to
counterparties or a loss of value to the Fund. Many derivatives may also
involve operational and legal risks. |
■ |
Using
derivatives as a hedge against a portfolio investment subjects the Fund to
the risk that the derivative will have imperfect correlation
with the portfolio investment, which could result in the Fund incurring
substantial losses. This correlation risk may be
greater in the case of derivatives based on an index or other basket of
securities, as the portfolio securities being hedged may not
duplicate the components of the underlying index or the basket may not be
of exactly the same type of obligation as those underlying
the derivative. The use of derivatives for “cross hedging” purposes (using
a derivative based on one instrument as a hedge
on a different instrument) may also involve greater correlation
risks. |
■ |
While
using derivatives for hedging purposes can reduce the Fund’s risk of loss,
it may also limit the Fund’s opportunity for gains
or result in losses by offsetting or limiting the Fund’s ability to
participate in favorable price movements in portfolio investments. |
■ |
Derivatives
transactions for non-hedging purposes involve greater risks and may result
in losses which would not be offset by increases
in the value of portfolio securities or declines in the cost of securities
to be acquired. In the event that the Fund enters into
a derivatives transaction as an alternative to purchasing or selling the
underlying instrument or in order to obtain desired exposure
to an index or market, the Fund will be exposed to the same risks as
are incurred in purchasing or selling the underlying
instruments directly as well as the additional risks associated with
derivatives transactions. |
■ |
The
use of certain derivatives transactions, including OTC derivatives,
involves the risk of loss resulting from the insolvency or bankruptcy
of the counterparty to the contract or the failure by the counterparty to
make required payments or otherwise comply
with the terms of the contract. In the event of default by a counterparty,
the Fund may have contractual remedies pursuant
to the agreements related to the
transaction. |
■ |
Liquidity
risk exists when a particular derivative is difficult to purchase or sell.
If a derivative transaction is particularly large or if the
relevant market is illiquid, the Fund may be unable to initiate a
transaction or liquidate a position at an advantageous time or
price. |
■ |
While
some derivatives are cleared through a regulated, central clearinghouse,
many derivatives transactions are not entered into or
traded on exchanges or in markets regulated by the U.S. Commodity Futures
Trading Commission (“CFTC”) or the SEC. Instead,
in some cases, certain types of bilateral OTC derivatives are entered into
directly by the Fund and a counterparty and may
be traded only through financial institutions acting as market makers. OTC
derivatives transactions can only be entered into
with a willing counterparty that is approved by the Adviser in accordance
with guidelines established by the Board. Where no
such counterparty is available, the Fund will be unable to enter into a
desired OTC transaction. There also may be greater risk
that no liquid secondary market in the trading of OTC derivatives will
exist, in which case the Fund may be required to hold
such instruments until exercise, expiration or maturity. Many of the
protections afforded to participants in the cleared derivatives
markets are not available to participants in bilateral OTC derivatives
transactions. Bilateral OTC derivatives transactions
are not subject to the guarantee of a clearinghouse and, as a result, the
Fund would bear greater risk of default by the
counterparties to such transactions. |
■ |
The
Fund may be required to make physical delivery of portfolio securities
underlying a derivative in order to close out or to meet
margin and payment requirements and a derivatives position or to sell
portfolio securities at a time or price at which it may be
disadvantageous to do so in order to obtain cash to close out or to
maintain a derivatives position. |
■ |
As
a result of the structure of certain derivatives, adverse changes in,
among other things, interest rates, volatility or the value of
the
underlying instrument can result in losses substantially greater than the
amount invested in the derivative itself. Certain derivatives
have the potential for unlimited loss, regardless of the size of the
initial investment. |
■ |
Certain
derivatives may be classified as illiquid and therefore subject to the
Fund’s limitation on investments in illiquid investments. |
Options.
An option is a contract that gives the holder of the option the right, but not
the obligation, to buy from (in the case of a call
option) or sell to (in the case of a put option) the buyer or seller, as
applicable, of the option (the “option writer”) the underlying instrument
at a specified fixed price (the “exercise price”) on or prior to a specified
date for American options or only at expiration for European
options (the “expiration date”). The buyer of the option pays to the option
writer the option premium, which is the purchase
price of the option.
Exchange-traded
options are issued by a regulated intermediary such as the OCC, which guarantees
the performance of the obligations
of the parties to such options. OTC options are purchased from or sold to
counterparties through direct bilateral agreements
between the Fund and its counterparties. Certain options, such as options on
individual securities, are settled through physical
delivery of the underlying security, whereas other options, such as index
options, may be settled in cash in an amount based on
the difference between the value of the underlying instrument and the strike
price, which is then multiplied by a specified multiplier.
Writing
Options.
The Fund may write call and put options. As the writer of a call option, the
Fund receives the premium from the purchaser
of the option and has the obligation, upon exercise of the option, to deliver
the underlying security upon payment of the exercise
price. If the option expires without being exercised the Fund is not required to
deliver the underlying security and retains the premium
received.
The
Fund may write call options that are “covered.” A call option on a security is
covered if (a) the Fund owns the security underlying
the call or has an absolute and immediate right to acquire that security without
additional cash consideration (or, if additional
cash consideration is required, such amount is maintained by the Fund in
earmarked or segregated cash or liquid assets) upon
conversion or exchange of other securities held by the Fund; or (b) the Fund has
purchased a call on the underlying security, the
exercise price of which is (i) equal to or less than the exercise price of the
call written, or (ii) greater than the exercise price of the call
written, provided the difference is maintained by the Fund in earmarked or
segregated cash or liquid assets.
Selling
call options involves the risk that the Fund may be required to sell the
underlying security at a disadvantageous price, below the
market price of such security, at the time the option is exercised. As the
writer of a covered call option, the Fund forgoes, during the
option’s life, the opportunity to profit from increases in the market value of
the underlying security covering the option above the sum
of the premium and the exercise price but retains the risk of loss should the
price of the underlying security decline.
The
Fund may write put options. As the writer of a put option, the Fund receives the
premium from the purchaser of the option and has
the obligation, upon exercise of the option, to pay the exercise price and
receive delivery of the underlying security. If the option expires
without being exercised, the Fund is not required to receive the underlying
security in exchange for the exercise price and retains
the option premium.
The
Fund may write put options that are “covered.” A put option on a security is
covered if (a) the Fund earmarks or segregates cash or
liquid assets equal to the exercise price; or (b) the Fund has purchased a put
on the same security as the put written, the exercise price
of which is (i) equal to or greater than the exercise price of the put written,
or (ii) less than the exercise price of the put written, provided
the difference is maintained by the Fund in earmarked or segregated cash or
liquid assets.
Selling
put options involves the risk that the Fund may be required to buy the
underlying security at a disadvantageous price, above the
market price of such security, at the time the option is exercised. While the
Fund’s potential gain in writing a covered put option is
limited to the premium received plus the interest earned on the liquid assets
covering the put option, the Fund’s risk of loss is equal to
the entire value of the underlying security, offset only by the amount of the
premium received.
The
Fund may close out an options position that it has written through a closing
purchase transaction. The Fund could execute a closing
purchase transaction with respect to a written call option by purchasing a call
option on the same underlying security that has the
same exercise price and expiration date as the call option written by the Fund.
The Fund could execute a closing purchase transaction
with respect to a put option written by purchasing a put option on the same
underlying security and having the same exercise
price and expiration date as the put option written by the Fund. A closing
purchase transaction may or may not result in a profit
to the Fund. The Fund can close out its position as an option writer only if a
liquid market exists for options on the same underlying
security that have the same exercise price and expiration date as the option
written by the Fund. There is no assurance that
such a market will exist with respect to any particular option.
The
writer of an American option generally has no control over the time when the
option is exercised and the option writer is required
to deliver or acquire the underlying security. Once an option writer has
received an exercise notice, it cannot effect a closing purchase
transaction in order to terminate its obligation under the option. Thus, the use
of options may require the Fund to buy or sell
portfolio securities at inopportune times or for prices other than the current
market values of such securities, which may limit the amount
of appreciation the Fund can realize on an investment, or may cause the Fund to
hold a security that it might otherwise sell.
Purchasing
Options. The
Fund may purchase call and put options. As the buyer of a call option, the Fund
pays the premium to the option
writer and has the right to purchase the underlying security from the option
writer at the exercise price. If the market price of the
underlying security rises above the exercise price, the Fund could exercise the
option and acquire the underlying security at a
below-market
price, which could result in a gain to the Fund, minus the premium paid. As the
buyer of a put option, the Fund pays the
premium to the option writer and has the right to sell the underlying security
to the option writer at the exercise price. If the market
price of the underlying security declines below the exercise price, the Fund
could exercise the option and sell the underlying security
at an above-market price, which could result in a gain to the Fund, minus the
premium paid. The Fund may buy call and put
options whether or not it holds the underlying securities.
As
a buyer of a call or put option, the Fund may sell put or call options that it
has purchased at any time prior to such option’s expiration
date through a closing sale transaction. The principal factors affecting the
market value of a put or a call option include supply
and demand, interest rates, the current market price of the underlying security
in relation to the exercise price of the option, the
volatility of the underlying security, the underlying security’s dividend
policy, and the time remaining until the expiration date. A closing
sale transaction may or may not result in a profit to the Fund. The Fund’s
ability to initiate a closing sale transaction is dependent
upon the liquidity of the options market and there is no assurance that such a
market will exist with respect to any particular
option. If the Fund does not exercise or sell an option prior to its expiration
date, the option expires and becomes worthless.
OTC
Options.
Unlike exchange-traded options, which are standardized with respect to the
underlying instrument, expiration date, contract
size and strike price, the terms of OTC options generally are established
through negotiation between the parties to the options
contract. This type of arrangement allows the purchaser and writer greater
flexibility to tailor the option to their needs. OTC options
are available for a greater variety of securities or baskets of securities, and
in a wider range of expiration dates and exercise prices,
than exchange-traded options. However, unlike exchange-traded options, which are
issued and guaranteed by a regulated intermediary,
such as the OCC, OTC options are entered into directly with the counterparty.
Unless the counterparties provide for it,
there is no central clearing or guaranty function for an OTC option. Therefore,
OTC options are subject to the risk of default or non-performance
by the counterparty. Accordingly, the Adviser must assess the creditworthiness
of the counterparty to determine the likelihood
that the terms of the option will be satisfied. There can be no assurance that a
continuous liquid secondary market will exist
for any particular OTC option at any specific time. As a result, the Fund may be
unable to enter into closing sale transactions with
respect to OTC options.
Index
Options.
Call and put options on indices operate similarly to options on securities.
Rather than the right to buy or sell a single security
at a specified price, options on an index give the holder the right to receive,
upon exercise of the option, an amount of cash determined
by reference to the difference between the value of the underlying index and the
strike price. The underlying index may be
a broad-based index or a narrower market index. Unlike many options on
securities, all settlements are in cash. The settlement amount,
which the writer of an index option must pay to the holder of the option upon
exercise, is generally equal to the difference between
the strike price of the option and the value of the underlying index, multiplied
by a specified multiplier. The multiplier determines
the size of the investment position the option represents. Gain or loss to the
Fund on index options transactions will depend,
in part, on price movements of the underlying index generally or in a particular
segment of the index rather than price movements
of individual components of the index. As with other options, the Fund may close
out its position in index options through
closing purchase transactions and closing sale transactions provided that a
liquid secondary market exists for such options.
Index
options written by the Fund may be covered in a manner similar to the covering
of other types of options, by holding an offsetting
financial position and/or earmarking or segregating cash or liquid assets. The
Fund may cover call options written on an index
by owning securities or other assets whose price changes, in the opinion of the
Adviser, are expected to correlate to those of the underlying
index.
Options
on Futures Contracts.
Options on futures contracts are similar to options on securities except that
options on futures contracts give
the purchasers the right, in return for the premium paid, to assume a position
in a futures contract (a long position in the case of a
call option and a short position in the case of a put option) at a specified
exercise price at any time prior to the expiration of the option.
Upon exercise of the option, the parties will be subject to all of the risks
associated with futures transactions and subject to margin
requirements. As the writer of options on futures contracts, the Fund would also
be subject to initial and variation margin requirements
on the option position.
Options
on futures contracts written by the Fund may be covered in a manner similar to
the covering of other types of options, by holding
an offsetting financial position and/or earmarking or segregating cash or liquid
assets. The Fund may cover an option on a futures
contract by purchasing or selling the underlying futures contract. In such
instances the exercise of the option will serve to close
out the Fund’s futures position.
Additional
Risks of Options Transactions.
The risks associated with options transactions are different from, and possibly
greater than, the
risks associated with investing directly in the underlying instruments. Options
are highly specialized instruments that require investment
techniques and risk analyses different from those associated with other
portfolio investments. The use of options requires an
understanding not only of the underlying instrument but also of the option
itself. Options may be subject to the risk factors generally
applicable to derivatives transactions described herein, and may also be subject
to certain additional risk factors, including:
■ |
The
exercise of options written or purchased by the Fund could cause the
Fund to sell portfolio securities, thus increasing the Fund’s
portfolio turnover. |
■ |
The
Fund pays brokerage commissions each time it writes or purchases an option
or buys or sells an underlying security in connection
with the exercise of an option. Such brokerage commissions could be higher
relative to the commissions for direct purchases
of sales of the underlying securities. |
■ |
The
Fund’s options transactions may be subject to limitations on options
positions established by the SEC, the CFTC or the exchanges
on which such options are traded. |
■ |
The
hours of trading for exchange-listed options may not coincide with the
hours during which the underlying securities are traded.
To the extent that the options markets close before the markets for the
underlying securities, significant price and rate movements
can take place in the underlying securities that cannot be reflected in
the options markets. |
■ |
Index
options based upon a narrow index of securities or other assets may
present greater risks than options based on broad market
indices, as narrower indices are more susceptible to rapid and extreme
fluctuations as a result of changes in the values of a
smaller number of securities or other
assets. |
■ |
The
Fund is subject to the risk of market movements between the time that an
option is exercised and the time of performance thereunder,
which could increase the extent of any losses suffered by the Fund in
connection with options transactions. |
Futures
Contracts.
A futures contract is a standardized 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 (the “settlement date”).
Futures contracts may be based on, among other things,
a specified equity security (securities futures), a specified debt security or
reference rate (interest rate futures), the value of a specified
securities index (index futures) or the value of a foreign currency (currency
futures). While the value of a futures contract tends
to increase and 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. The buyer of a
futures contract agrees to purchase the underlying
instrument on the settlement date and is said to be “long” the contract. The
seller of a futures contract agrees to sell the underlying
instrument on the settlement date and is said to be “short” the contract.
Futures contracts call for settlement only on the expiration
date and cannot be “exercised” at any other time during their term.
Depending
on the terms of the particular contract, futures contracts are settled through
either physical delivery of the underlying instrument
on the settlement date (such as in the case of futures based on a specified debt
security) or by payment of a cash settlement
amount on the settlement date (such as in the case of futures contracts relating
to broad-based securities indices). In the case
of cash-settled futures contracts, the settlement amount is equal to the
difference between the reference instrument’s price on the last
trading day of the contract and the reference instrument’s price at the time the
contract was entered into. Most futures contracts, particularly
futures contracts requiring physical delivery, are not held until the settlement
date, but instead are offset before the settlement
date through the establishment of an opposite and equal futures position (buying
a contract that had been sold, or selling a contract
that had been purchased). All futures transactions are effected through a
clearinghouse associated with the exchange on which
the futures are traded.
The
buyer and seller of a futures contract are not required to deliver or pay for
the underlying commodity unless the contract is held until
the settlement date. However, both the buyer and seller are required to deposit
“initial margin” with a futures commission merchant
(“FCM”) when the futures contract is entered into. Initial margin deposits are
typically calculated as a percentage of the contract’s
market value. If the value of either party’s position declines, the party will
be required to make additional “variation margin”
payments to settle the change in value on a daily basis. The process is known as
“marking-to-market.” Upon the closing of a futures
position through the establishment of an offsetting position, a final
determination of variation margin will be made and additional
cash will be paid by or released to the Fund.
Additional
Risks of Futures Transactions.
The risks associated with futures contract transactions are different from, and
possibly greater than,
the risks associated with investing directly in the underlying instruments.
Futures are highly specialized instruments that require investment
techniques and risk analyses different from those associated with other
portfolio investments. The use of futures requires an
understanding not only of the underlying instrument but also of the futures
contract itself. Futures may be subject to the risk factors
generally applicable to derivatives transactions described herein, and may also
be subject to certain additional risk factors, including:
■ |
The
risk of loss in buying and selling futures contracts can be substantial.
Small price movements in the commodity, security, index,
currency or instrument underlying a futures position may result in
immediate and substantial loss (or gain) to the
Fund. |
■ |
Buying
and selling futures contracts may result in losses in excess of the amount
invested in the position in the form of initial margin.
In the event of adverse price movements in the underlying commodity,
security, index, currency or instrument, the Fund
would be required to make daily cash payments to maintain its required
margin. The Fund may be required to sell portfolio
securities, or make or take delivery of the underlying securities in order
to meet daily margin requirements at a time when
it may be disadvantageous to do so. The Fund could lose margin
payments deposited with an FCM if the FCM breaches its
agreement with the Fund, becomes insolvent or declares
bankruptcy. |
■ |
Most
exchanges limit the amount of fluctuation permitted in futures contract
prices during any single trading day. Once the daily
limit has been reached in a particular futures contract, no trades may be
made on that day at prices beyond that limit. If
|
|
futures
contract prices were to move to the daily limit for several trading days
with little or no trading, the Fund could be prevented
from prompt liquidation of a futures position and subject to substantial
losses. The daily limit governs only price movements
during a single trading day and therefore does not limit the Fund’s
potential losses. |
■ |
Index
futures based upon a narrower index of securities may present greater
risks than futures based on broad market indices, as narrower
indices are more susceptible to rapid and extreme fluctuations as a result
of changes in value of a small number of securities. |
Swaps.
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. Most 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 counterparty. Many
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 the risk of default or non-performance by
the counterparty. Accordingly, the Adviser must
assess the creditworthiness of the counterparty to determine the likelihood that
the terms of the swap will be satisfied.
Swap
agreements allow for a wide variety of transactions. For example, fixed-rate
payments may be exchanged for floating rate payments,
U.S. dollar-denominated payments may be exchanged for payments denominated in
foreign currencies, and payments tied to
the price of one security, index, reference rate, currency or other instrument
may be exchanged for payments tied to the price of a different
security, index, reference rate, currency or other instrument. Swap contracts
are typically individually negotiated and structured
to provide exposure to a variety of particular types of investments or market
factors. Swap contracts can take many different
forms and are known by a variety of names. To the extent consistent with the
Fund’s investment objective and policies, the Fund
is not limited to any particular form or variety of swap contract. The Fund may
utilize swaps to increase or decrease its exposure
to the underlying instrument, reference rate, foreign currency, market index or
other asset. The Fund may also enter into related
derivative instruments including caps, floors and collars.
The
Dodd-Frank Wall
Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act”) and
related regulatory developments require
the eventual clearing and exchange-trading of many standardized OTC derivative
instruments that the CFTC and SEC defined
as “swaps” and “security based swaps,” respectively. Mandatory exchange-trading
and clearing is occurring on a phased-in basis
based on the type of market participant and CFTC approval of contracts for
central clearing and exchange-trading. In a cleared swap,
the Fund’s ultimate counterparty is a central clearinghouse rather than a
brokerage firm, bank or other financial institution. The
Fund initially will enter into cleared swaps through an executing broker. Such
transactions will then be submitted for clearing and,
if cleared, will be held at regulated FCMs that are members of the clearinghouse
that serves as the central counterparty. When the
Fund enters into a cleared swap, it must deliver to the central counterparty
(via an FCM) an amount referred to as “initial margin.”
Initial margin requirements are determined by the central counterparty, but an
FCM may require additional initial margin above
the amount required by the central counterparty. During the term of the swap
agreement, a “variation margin” amount may also
be required to be paid by the Fund or may be received by the Fund in accordance
with margin controls set for such accounts, depending
upon changes in the price of the underlying reference asset subject to the swap
agreement. At the conclusion of the term of
the swap agreement, if the Fund has a loss equal to or greater than the margin
amount, the margin amount is paid to the FCM along
with any loss that is greater than such margin amount. If the Fund has a loss of
less than the margin amount, the excess margin is
returned to the Fund. If the Fund has a gain, the full margin amount and the
amount of the gain is paid to the Fund.
Central
clearing is designed to reduce counterparty credit risk compared to uncleared
swaps because central clearing interposes the central
clearinghouse as the counterparty to each participant’s swap, but it does not
eliminate those risks completely. There is also a risk
of loss by the Fund of the initial and variation margin deposits in the event of
bankruptcy of the FCM with which the Fund has an
open position in a swap contract. The assets of the Fund may not be fully
protected in the event of the bankruptcy of the FCM or central
counterparty because the Fund might be limited to recovering only a pro rata
share of all available funds and margin segregated
on behalf of an FCM’s or central counterparty’s customers or clearing members.
If the FCM does not provide accurate reporting,
the Fund is also subject to the risk that the FCM could use the Fund’s assets,
which are held in an omnibus account with assets
belonging to the FCM’s other customers, to satisfy its own financial obligations
or the payment obligations of another customer
to the central counterparty.
As
a result of recent regulatory developments, certain standardized swaps are
currently subject to mandatory central clearing and some of
these cleared swaps must be traded on an exchange or swap execution facility
(“SEF”). An SEF is an electronic trading platform in which
multiple market participants can execute swap transactions by accepting bids and
offers made by multiple other participants on the
platform. Transactions executed on an SEF may increase market transparency and
liquidity but may cause the Fund to incur increased
expenses to execute swaps. Central clearing should decrease counterparty risk
and increase liquidity compared to bilateral swaps
because central clearing interposes the central clearinghouse as the
counterparty to each participant’s swap. However, central clearing
does not eliminate counterparty risk or liquidity risk entirely. In addition,
depending on the size of the Fund and other factors,
the margin required under the rules of a clearinghouse and by a clearing member
may be in excess of the collateral required to
be
posted by the Fund to support its obligations under a similar bilateral swap.
However, the CFTC and other applicable regulators have
adopted rules imposing certain margin requirements, including minimums, on
uncleared swaps which may result in the Fund and
its counterparties posting higher margin amounts for uncleared swaps. Requiring
margin on uncleared swaps may reduce, but not
eliminate, counterparty credit risk.
In
addition, with respect to cleared swaps, the Fund may not be able to obtain as
favorable terms as it would be able to negotiate for an
uncleared swap. In addition, an FCM may unilaterally impose position limits or
additional margin requirements for certain types of
swaps in which the Fund may invest. Central counterparties and FCMs generally
can require termination of existing cleared swap transactions
at any time, and can also require increases in margin above the margin that is
required at the initiation of the swap agreement.
Margin requirements for cleared swaps vary on a number of factors, and the
margin required under the rules of the clearinghouse
and FCM may be in excess of the collateral required to be posted by the Fund to
support its obligations under a similar uncleared
swap. However, as noted above, regulators have adopted rules imposing certain
margin requirements, including minimums,
on uncleared swaps, which may result in the Fund and its counterparties posting
higher margin amounts for uncleared swaps.
Requiring margin on uncleared swaps may reduce, but not eliminate, counterparty
credit risk.
The
Fund is also subject to the risk that, after entering into a cleared swap with
an executing broker, no FCM or central counterparty is
willing or able to clear the transaction. In such an event, the central
counterparty would void the trade. Before the Fund can enter into
a new trade, market conditions may become less favorable to the
Fund.
The
Adviser will continue to monitor developments regarding trading and execution of
cleared swaps on exchanges, particularly to the
extent regulatory changes affect the Fund’s ability to enter into swap
agreements and the costs and risks associated with such investments.
Interest
Rate Swaps, Caps, Floors and Collars.
Interest rate swaps consist of an agreement between two parties to exchange
their respective
commitments to pay or receive interest (e.g., an exchange of floating rate
payments for fixed-rate payments). Interest rate swaps
are generally entered into on a net basis. Interest rate swaps do not involve
the delivery of securities, other underlying assets, or principal.
Accordingly, the risk of market loss with respect to interest rate and total
rate of return swaps is typically limited to the net amount
of interest payments that the Fund is contractually obligated to
make.
The
Fund may also buy or sell interest rate caps, floors and collars. The purchase
of an interest rate cap entitles the purchaser, to the extent
that a specified interest rate index exceeds a predetermined level, to receive
payments of interest on a specified notional amount
from the party selling the interest rate cap. The purchase of an interest rate
floor entitles the purchaser, to the extent that a specified
interest rate falls below a predetermined level, to receive payments of interest
on a specified notional amount from the party selling
the interest rate floor. A collar is a combination of a cap and a floor that
preserves a certain return within a predetermined range
of interest rates. Caps, floors and collars may be less liquid than other types
of derivatives.
Index
Swaps.
An index swap consists of an agreement between two parties in which a party
typically exchanges a cash flow based on a notional
amount of a reference index for a cash flow based on a different index or on
another specified instrument or reference rate. Index
swaps are generally entered into on a net basis.
Inflation
Swaps.
Inflation swap agreements are contracts in which one party typically agrees to
pay the cumulative percentage increase in
a price index, such as the Consumer Price Index, over the term of the swap (with
some lag on the referenced inflation index), and the
other party pays a compounded fixed rate. Inflation swap agreements may be used
to protect the NAV of the Fund against an unexpected
change in the rate of inflation measured by an inflation index. The value of
inflation swap agreements is expected to change
in response to changes in real interest rates. Real interest rates are tied to
the relationship between nominal interest rates and the
rate of inflation.
Swaptions.
An option on a swap agreement, also called a “swaption,” is an option that gives
the buyer the right, but not the obligation,
to enter into a swap on a future date in exchange for a premium. A receiver
swaption gives the owner the right to receive the
return of a specified asset, reference rate, or index. A payer swaption gives
the owner the right to pay the return of a specified asset,
reference rate, or index. Swaptions also include options that allow an existing
swap to be terminated or extended by one of the counterparties.
General
Risks of Swaps.
The risks associated with swap transactions are different from, and possibly
greater than, the risks associated with
investing directly in the underlying instruments. Swaps are highly specialized
instruments that require investment techniques and
risk analyses different from those associated with other portfolio investments.
The use of swaps requires an understanding not only
of the underlying instrument but also of the swap contract itself. Swap
transactions may be subject to the risk factors generally applicable
to derivatives transactions described above, and may also be subject to certain
additional risk factors, including:
■ |
OTC
swap agreements are not traded on exchanges and may be subject to
liquidity risk, which exists when a particular swap is difficult
to purchase or sell. |
■ |
In
addition to the risk of default by the counterparty, if the
creditworthiness of a counterparty to a swap agreement declines, the
value
of the swap agreement would be likely to decline, potentially resulting in
losses. |
■ |
The
swaps market is subject to extensive regulation under the Dodd-Frank Act
and certain CFTC and SEC rules promulgated thereunder.
It is possible that further developments in the swaps market, including
new and additional governmental regulation, could
result in higher Fund costs and expenses and could adversely affect the
Fund’s ability to utilize swaps, terminate existing swap
agreements or realize amounts to be received under such
agreements. |
Combined
Transactions.
Combined transactions involve entering into multiple derivatives transactions
(such as multiple options transactions,
including purchasing and writing options in combination with each other;
multiple futures transactions; and combinations
of options, futures, forward and swap transactions) instead of a single
derivatives transaction in order to customize the risk
and return characteristics of the overall position. Combined transactions
typically contain elements of risk that are present in each
of the component transactions. The Fund may enter into a combined
transaction instead of a single derivatives transaction when,
in the opinion of the Adviser, it is in the best interest of the Fund to do so.
Because combined transactions involve multiple transactions,
they may result in higher transaction costs and may be more difficult to close
out.
Regulatory
Matters.
Regulatory developments affecting the exchange-traded and OTC derivatives
markets may impair the Fund’s ability
to manage or hedge its investment portfolio through the use of derivatives. In
particular, in October 2020, the SEC adopted a final
rule related to the use of derivatives, short sales, reverse repurchase
agreements and certain other transactions by registered investment
companies that rescinded and withdrew the guidance of the SEC and its staff
regarding asset segregation and cover transactions
previously applicable to the Fund’s derivatives and other transactions. These
requirements may limit the ability of the Fund
to use derivatives and reverse repurchase agreements and similar financing
transactions as part of its investment strategies. The final
rule requires the Fund to trade derivatives and other transactions that create
future payment or delivery obligations subject to a value-at-risk
(“VaR”) leverage limit, certain derivatives risk management program and
reporting requirements. Generally, these requirements
apply unless the Fund qualifies as a “limited derivatives user.” Under the final
rule, when the Fund trades reverse repurchase
agreements or similar financing transactions, including certain tender option
bonds, it needs to aggregate the amount of indebtedness
associated with the reverse repurchase agreements or similar financing
transactions with the aggregate amount of any other
senior securities representing indebtedness when calculating the Fund’s asset
coverage ratio or treat all such transactions as derivatives
transactions. Reverse repurchase agreements or similar financing transactions
aggregated with other indebtedness do not need
to be included in the calculation of whether the Fund is a limited derivatives
user, but for funds subject to the VaR testing, reverse
repurchase agreements and similar financing transactions must be included for
purposes of such testing whether treated as derivatives
transactions or not. The SEC also provided guidance in connection with the rule
regarding use of securities lending collateral
that may limit the Fund’s securities lending activities. In addition, under the
rule, the Fund is permitted to invest in a security
on a when-issued or forward-settling basis, or with a non-standard settlement
cycle, and the transaction will be deemed not to
involve a senior security under the 1940 Act, provided that (i) the Fund intends
to physically settle the transaction and (ii) the transaction
will settle within 35 days of its trade date (the “Delayed-Settlement Securities
Provision”). The Fund may otherwise engage
in such transactions that do not meet the conditions of the Delayed-Settlement
Securities Provision so long as the Fund treats any
such transaction as a “derivatives transaction” for purposes of compliance with
the rule. Furthermore, under the rule, the Fund will
be permitted to enter into an unfunded commitment agreement, and such unfunded
commitment agreement will not be subject to
the asset coverage requirements under the 1940 Act, if the Fund reasonably
believes, at the time it enters into such agreement, that it
will have sufficient cash and cash equivalents to meet its obligations with
respect to all such agreements as they come due.
The Dodd-Frank
Act
and the rules promulgated thereunder may limit the ability of the Fund to enter
into one or more exchange-traded
or OTC derivatives transactions.
The Fund’s
use of derivatives may also be limited by the requirements of the Code for
qualification as a regulated investment company
(“RIC”) for U.S. federal
income tax purposes.
The
Adviser, with respect to the Fund, has filed a notice of eligibility with the
National Futures Association (“NFA”) claiming an exclusion
from the definition of the term “commodity pool operator” (“CPO”) pursuant to
CFTC Regulation 4.5, as promulgated under
the Commodity Exchange Act, as amended (“CEA”), with respect to the Fund’s
operations. Therefore, neither the Fund nor the
Adviser (with respect to the Fund) is subject to registration or regulation as a
commodity pool or CPO under the CEA. If the Adviser
or the Fund becomes subject to these requirements, as well as related NFA rules,
the Fund may incur additional compliance and
other expenses.
With
respect to investments in swap transactions, commodity futures, commodity
options or certain other commodity interests used for
purposes other than bona fide hedging purposes
an investment company must meet one of the following tests under the
CFTC amended
regulations in order for its investment adviser to claim an exemption from being
considered a CPO. First, the aggregate initial
margin and premiums required to establish an investment company’s positions in
such investments may not exceed five percent
(5%) of the liquidation value of the investment company’s portfolio (after
accounting for unrealized profits and unrealized losses
on any such investments). Alternatively, the aggregate net notional value of
such instruments, determined at the time of the most
recent position established, may not exceed one hundred percent (100%) of the
liquidation value of the investment company’s portfolio
(after accounting for unrealized profits and unrealized losses on any such
positions). In addition to meeting one of the
foregoing
trading limitations, the investment company may not market itself as a commodity
pool or otherwise as a vehicle for trading
in the commodity futures, commodity options or swaps and derivatives
markets.
Regulations
recently adopted by federal banking regulators under the Dodd-Frank Act require
that certain qualified financial contracts
(“QFCs”) with counterparties that are part of U.S. or foreign global
systemically important banking organizations be amended
to include contractual restrictions on close-out and cross-default rights. QFCs
include, but are not limited to, securities contracts,
commodities contracts, forward contracts, repurchase agreements, securities
lending agreements and swaps agreements, as well
as related master agreements, security agreements, credit enhancements, and
reimbursement obligations. If a covered counterparty
of the Fund or certain of the covered counterparty’s affiliates were to become
subject to certain insolvency proceedings, the
Fund may be temporarily unable to exercise certain default rights, and the QFC
may be transferred to another entity. These requirements
may impact the Fund’s credit and counterparty risks.
Sector
Risk. The
Fund may, from time to time, invest more heavily in companies in a particular
economic sector or sectors. Economic
or regulatory changes adversely affecting such sectors may have more of an
impact on the Fund’s performance than if the Fund
held a broader range of investments.
U.S.
Government Securities.
U.S. government securities refer to a variety of fixed-income securities issued
or guaranteed by the U.S. Government
and its various instrumentalities and agencies. 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 by agencies and instrumentalities of the U.S. Government that are backed
by the full faith and credit of the United States.
Among the agencies and instrumentalities issuing these obligations are the
Government National Mortgage Association (“Ginnie
Mae”) and the Federal Housing Administration. The Fund may also
purchase securities issued by agencies and instrumentalities
that 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 the Federal National
Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation
(“Freddie Mac”) and the Federal Home
Loan Banks. Further, the Fund may purchase securities issued by agencies
and instrumentalities that are backed solely by the credit
of the issuing agency or instrumentality. Among these agencies and
instrumentalities is the Federal Farm Credit System.
LIBOR
Discontinuance or Unavailability Risk.
The Fund’s investments, payment obligations and financing terms may be based
on
floating rates, such as the London Interbank Offered Rates (collectively,
“LIBOR”), Euro Interbank Offered Rate, Secured Overnight
Financing Rate (“SOFR”) and other similar types of reference rates (each, a
“Reference Rate”). These Reference Rates are generally
intended to represent the rate at which contributing banks may obtain short-term
borrowings from each other within certain
financial markets. London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) was the basic rate of
interest used in lending transactions between
banks on the London interbank market and has been widely used as a reference for
setting the interest rate on loans globally. As
a result of benchmark reforms, publication of most LIBOR settings has ceased.
However, the publication of certain other LIBORs will
continue to be published on a temporary, synthetic and non-representative basis
(e.g., the 1-month, 3-month, and 6-month USD
LIBOR settings which are expected to be continued to be published until the end
of September 2024). As these synthetic LIBOR
settings are expected to be published for a limited period of time and are
considered non-representative of the underlying market,
regulators have advised that these settings should be used only in limited
circumstances.
Various
financial industry groups have been planning for the transition from LIBOR
and certain regulators and industry groups have taken
actions to establish alternative reference rates (e.g., the SOFR, which measures
the cost of overnight borrowings through repurchase
agreement transactions collateralized with U.S. Treasury securities and is
intended to replace U.S. dollar LIBORs with certain
adjustments). It is expected that a substantial portion of future floating rate
investments will be linked to SOFR or benchmark rates
derived from SOFR (or other Alternative Reference Rates based on SOFR). There is
no assurance that the composition or characteristics
of any such alternative reference rate will be similar to or produce the same
value or economic equivalence as LIBOR or
that it will have the same volume or liquidity as did LIBOR. These relatively
new and developing rates may also behave differently than
LIBOR would have or may not match the reference rate applicable to the
underlying assets related to these investments. Investments
in structured finance investments, loans, debt instruments or other investments
tied to reference rates are also subject to operational
risk associated with the alternative reference rate, such as errors in the input
data or in the calculation of reference rates.
Additionally,
the transition away from LIBOR and certain other Reference Rates could,
among other negative consequences (i) adversely
impact the pricing, liquidity, value of, return on and trading for a broad array
of financial products, including any Reference
Rate-linked securities, loans and derivatives in which the Fund may invest; (ii)
require extensive negotiations of and/or amendments
to agreements and other documentation governing Reference Rate-linked
investments products; (iii) lead to disputes, litigation
or other actions with counterparties or portfolio companies regarding the
interpretation and enforceability of “fallback” provisions
that provide for an alternative reference rate in the event of Reference Rate
unavailability; and/or (iv) cause the Fund to incur
additional costs in relation to any of the above factors.
The
risks associated with the above factors, including decreased liquidity, may be
heightened with respect to investments in so-called “tough
legacy” Reference Rate-based products that do not include effective fallback
provisions to address how interest rates will be
determined
if LIBOR and certain other Reference Rates stop being published. In
addition, when a Reference Rate is discontinued, the
alternative Reference Rate may be lower than market expectations, which could
have an adverse impact on the value of preferred and
debt securities with floating or fixed-to-floating rate coupons.
These
developments could negatively impact financial markets in general and present
heightened risks, including with respect to the Fund’s
investments. As a result of the uncertainty and developments relating to the
transition process, performance, price volatility, liquidity
and value of the Fund and its assets may be adversely affected.
Additional
Risks.
In
addition to the investment strategies and risks described in the prospectus and
above, the Fund is subject to the following risks:
Special
Risks Related to Cyber Security.
The Fund and its service providers are susceptible to cyber security risks that
include, among other
things, theft, unauthorized monitoring, release, misuse, loss, destruction or
corruption of confidential and highly restricted data;
denial of service attacks; unauthorized access to relevant systems; compromises
to networks or devices that the Fund and its service
providers use to service the Fund’s operations; or operational disruption or
failures in the physical infrastructure or operating systems
that support the Fund and its service providers. Cyber attacks against or
security breakdowns of the Fund or its service providers
may adversely impact the Fund and its shareholders, potentially resulting in,
among other things, financial losses; the inability
of Fund shareholders to transact business and the Fund to process transactions;
inability to calculate the Fund’s NAV; violations
of applicable privacy and other laws; regulatory fines, penalties, reputational
damage, reimbursement or other compensation
costs; and/or additional compliance costs. The Fund may incur additional costs
for cyber security risk management and
remediation purposes. In addition, cyber security risks may also impact issuers
of securities in which the Fund invests, which may cause
the Fund’s investment in such issuers to lose value. There can be no assurance
that the Fund or its service providers will not suffer
losses relating to cyber attacks or other information security breaches in the
future.
Market
and Geopolitical Risk.
The value of your investment in the Fund is based on the values of the Fund’s
investments. These values
change daily 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.
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 the Fund
may adversely impact 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 in turn adversely impact
a Fund’s investments) and otherwise adversely affect the Fund and its
operations. Securities in a Fund’s portfolio may underperform
due to inflation (or expectations for inflation), interest rates, global demand
for particular products or resources, natural
disasters, pandemics, epidemics, terrorism, regulatory events and governmental
or quasi-governmental actions. The occurrence
of global events similar to those in recent years, such as terrorist attacks
around the world, natural disasters, social and political
discord 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. The occurrence of such events may be sudden
and unexpected, 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 have and the duration of
those effects. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the
value, liquidity and risk profile of the Fund’s portfolio,
as well as its ability to sell securities to meet redemptions. 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., epidemics and pandemics),
terrorism, conflicts, social unrest, recessions, inflation, rapid interest rate
changes and supply chain disruptions may occur
and could significantly impact issuers, industries, governments and other
systems, including the financial markets. As global systems,
economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, events that
once had only local impact are now more likely to
have regional or even global effects. Events that occur in one country, region
or financial market will, more frequently, adversely impact
issuers in other countries, regions or markets. These impacts can be exacerbated
by failures of governments and societies to adequately
respond to an emerging event or threat. These types of events quickly and
significantly impact markets in the U.S. and across
the globe leading to extreme market volatility and disruption. The extent and
nature of the impact on supply chains or economies
and markets from these events is unknown, particularly if a health emergency or
other similar event, persists for an extended
period of time. Social, political, economic and other conditions and events,
such as natural disasters, health emergencies (e.g.,
epidemics and pandemics), terrorism, conflicts, social unrest, recessions,
inflation, rapid interest rate changes and supply chain disruption
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. The value of the Fund’s
investment may decrease as a result of such events, particularly if these events
adversely impact the operations and effectiveness
of the Adviser or key service providers or if these events disrupt systems and
processes necessary or beneficial to the investment
advisory or other activities on behalf the Fund.
Additionally,
health crises and geopolitical developments have in the past, and may in the
future, adversely impact a number of industries,
including but not limited to retail, transportation, hospitality and
entertainment. In addition to these or other developments
having adverse consequences for certain companies and other issuers in which the
Fund invests and the value of the Fund’s
investments therein, the operations of the Adviser (including those relating to
the Fund) could be impacted adversely, including
through quarantine measures and travel restrictions imposed on the Adviser’s or
service providers’ personnel located in affected
countries, regions or local areas, or any related health issues of such
personnel. Any of the foregoing events could materially and
adversely affect the Adviser’s ability to source, manage and divest investments
on behalf of the Fund and pursue the Fund’s investment
objectives and strategies. Similar consequences could arise with respect to
other infectious diseases. Given the significant economic
and financial market disruptions and general uncertainty associated with
pandemics, the valuation and performance of the Fund’s
investments may be impacted adversely.
During
periods of low interest rates, the Fund’s susceptibility to interest rate risk
(i.e., the risks associated with changes in interest rates)
may be magnified, its yield and income may be diminished and its performance may
be adversely affected (e.g., during periods of
low interest rates, the Fund may be unable to maintain positive returns). These
levels of interest rates may magnify the risks associated
with rising interest rates. Changing interest rates may have unpredictable
effects on markets, including market volatility and
reduced liquidity, and may adversely affect the Fund’s yield, income and
performance. In addition, government actions (such as changes
to interest rates) could have unintended economic and market consequences that
adversely affect a Fund’s investments.
Government
and other public debt, including municipal obligations in which the Fund may
invest, can be adversely affected by large and
sudden 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.
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. For example, the SEC
recently adopted amendments to rules related to fund names and related
strategies, which could result in costs to some funds in amending
their names and/or strategies accordingly and could adversely impact the fund’s
operations. In addition, a rapidly expanding
or otherwise more aggressive regulatory environment may impose greater costs on
all sectors and on financial services companies
in particular.
Fund
Policies/Investment Restrictions
The
investment objective, policies and restrictions listed below have been adopted
by the Fund as fundamental policies. Under the 1940
Act, a fundamental policy may not be changed without the vote of a majority of
the outstanding voting securities of the Fund. The
1940 Act defines a majority as the lesser of (a) 67% or more of the shares
present at a meeting of shareholders, if the holders of 50%
of the outstanding shares of the Fund are present or represented by proxy, or
(b) more than 50% of the outstanding shares of the
Fund. For purposes of the following restrictions: (i) all percentage limitations
apply immediately after a purchase or initial investment;
and (ii) any subsequent change in any applicable percentage resulting from
market fluctuations or other changes in total or
net assets does not require elimination of any security from the portfolio,
except in the case of borrowings.
The
Fund will:
1 |
Seek
high current income consistent with safety of
principal. |
The
Fund will not:
1 |
Invest
25% or more of the value of its total assets in securities or issuers of
any one industry. This restriction does not apply to bank
obligations or obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government,
its agencies or instrumentalities. |
2 |
Invest
in a manner inconsistent with its classification as a “diversified
company” as provided by (i) the 1940 Act, as amended from
time to time, (ii) the rules and regulations promulgated by the SEC under
the 1940 Act, as amended from time to time, or (iii)
an exemption or other relief applicable to the Fund from the provisions of
the 1940 Act, as amended from time to time. |
3 |
Borrow
money, except the Fund may borrow money to the extent permitted by (i) the
1940 Act, as amended from time to time, (ii)
the rules and regulations promulgated by the SEC under the 1940 Act, as
amended from time to time, or (iii) an exemption or
other relief applicable to the Fund from the provisions of the 1940 Act,
as amended from time to time. |
4 |
Make
loans of money or property to any person, except (a) to the extent that
securities or interests in which the Fund may invest are
considered to be loans, (b) through the loan of portfolio securities, (c)
by engaging in repurchase agreements or (d) as may otherwise
be permitted by (i) the 1940 Act, as amended from time to time, (ii) the
rules and regulations promulgated by the SEC
under the 1940 Act, as amended from time to time, or (iii) an exemption or
other relief applicable to the Fund from the provisions
of the 1940 Act, as amended from time to time. |
5 |
Purchase
or sell physical commodities unless acquired as a result ownership of
securities or other instruments; provided that this restriction
shall not prohibit the Fund from purchasing or selling options, futures
contracts and related options thereon, forward contracts,
swaps, caps, floors, collars and any other financial instruments or from
investing in securities or other instruments backed
by physical commodities or as otherwise permitted by (i) the 1940 Act, as
amended from time to time, (ii) the rules and regulations
promulgated by the SEC under the 1940 Act, as amended from time to time,
or (iii) an exemption or other relief applicable
to the Fund from the provisions of the 1940 Act, as amended from time to
time. |
6 |
Issue
senior securities, except the Fund may issue senior securities to the
extent permitted by (i) the 1940 Act, as amended from time
to time, (ii) the rules and regulations promulgated by the SEC under the
1940 Act, as amended from time to time, or (iii) an
exemption or other relief applicable to the Fund from the provisions of
the 1940 Act, as amended from time to time. |
7 |
Underwrite
the securities of other issuers. |
8 |
Purchase
or sell real estate or interests therein (including limited partnership
interests), although the Fund may purchase securities
of issuers which engage in real estate operations and securities secured
by real estate or interests therein. |
In
addition, as non-fundamental policies, which can be changed with Board approval
and without shareholder vote, the Fund will not:
1 |
Invest
its assets in the securities of any investment company except as may be
permitted by (i) the 1940 Act, as amended from time
to time; (ii) the rules and regulations promulgated by the SEC under the
1940 Act, as amended from time to time; or (iii) an
exemption or other relief applicable to the Fund from the provisions of
the 1940 Act, as amended from time to time. |
The
Fund has an operating policy, which may be changed by the Fund’s Board of
Trustees, not to borrow except from a bank for temporary
or emergency purposes in amounts not exceeding 5% (taken at the lower of cost or
current value) of its total assets (not including
the amount borrowed).
Notwithstanding
any other investment policy or restriction, the Fund may seek to achieve its
investment objective by investing all or substantially
all of its assets in another investment company having substantially the same
investment objective and policies as the Fund.
The
investment policies, limitations or practices of the Fund may not apply during
periods of unusual or adverse market, economic, political
or other conditions. Such market, economic, political or other conditions may
include periods of abnormal or heightened market
volatility, strained credit and/or liquidity conditions or increased
governmental intervention in the markets or industries. During
such periods, the Fund may not invest according to its principal investment
strategies or in the manner in which its name may
suggest, and may be subject to different and/or heightened risks. It is possible
that such unusual or adverse conditions may continue
for extended periods of time.
For
purposes of policies adopted in accordance with Rule 35d-1 under the 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.
Disclosure
of Portfolio Holdings
The
Fund’s Board of Trustees and the Adviser have adopted policies and procedures
regarding disclosure of portfolio holdings (the “Policy”).
Pursuant to the Policy, the Adviser may disclose information concerning Fund
portfolio holdings only if such disclosure is consistent
with the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws and the Fund’s and
the Adviser’s fiduciary duties to Fund shareholders.
In no instance may the Adviser or the Fund receive compensation or any other
consideration in connection with the disclosure
of information about the portfolio securities of the Fund. Consideration
includes any agreement to maintain assets in the Fund
or in other investment companies or accounts managed by the Adviser or by any
affiliated person of the Adviser. Non-public information
concerning portfolio holdings may be divulged to third-parties only when the
Fund has a legitimate business purpose for doing
so and the recipients of the information are subject to a duty of
confidentiality. Under no circumstances shall current or prospective
Fund shareholders receive non-public portfolio holdings information, except as
described below.
The
Fund makes available on its public website the following portfolio holdings
information:
■ |
complete
portfolio holdings information monthly, at least 15 calendar days after
the end of each month; and |
■ |
top
10 holdings monthly, at least 15 calendar days after the end of each
month. |
The
Fund provides a complete schedule of portfolio holdings for the second and
fourth fiscal quarters in its Semi-Annual and Annual Reports,
and for the first and third fiscal quarters in its filings with the SEC as an
exhibit to Form N-PORT. These portfolio holdings
are also available on the Fund’s public website,
www.morganstanley.com/im/shareholderreports.
All
other portfolio holdings information that has not been disseminated in a manner
making it available generally as described above is
non-public information for purposes of the Policy.
The
Fund may make selective disclosure of non-public portfolio holdings information
pursuant to certain exemptions set forth in the Policy.
Third parties eligible for exemptions under the Policy and therefore eligible to
receive such disclosures currently include clients/shareholders
(such as redeeming shareholders in-kind), fund rating agencies, information
exchange subscribers, proxy voting or
advisory services, pricing services, consultants and analysts, portfolio
analytics providers, transition managers and service providers, provided
that the third-party expressly agrees to maintain the disclosed information in
confidence and not to trade portfolio securities or
related derivative securities based on the non-public information. Non-public
portfolio holdings information may not be disclosed to
a third party pursuant to an exemption unless and until the third-party
recipient has entered into a non-disclosure agreement with the
Fund and the arrangement has been reviewed and approved, as set forth in the
Policy and discussed below. In addition, persons who
owe a duty of trust or confidence to the Fund or the Adviser may receive
non-public portfolio holdings information without entering
into a non-disclosure agreement. Currently, these persons include (i) the Fund’s
independent registered public accounting firm
(as of the Fund’s fiscal year-end and on an as-needed basis), (ii) counsel to
the Fund (on an as-needed basis), (iii) counsel to the Independent
Trustees (on an as-needed basis) and (iv) members of the Board of Trustees (on
an as-needed basis). Subject to the terms
and conditions of any agreement between the Adviser or the Fund and the
third-party recipient, if these conditions for disclosure
are satisfied, there shall be no restriction on the frequency with which Fund
non-public portfolio holdings information is released,
and no lag period shall apply (unless otherwise indicated below).
The
Adviser may provide interest lists to broker-dealers who execute securities
transactions for the Fund without entering into a non-disclosure
agreement with the broker-dealers, provided that the interest list satisfies all
of the following criteria: (1) the interest list must
contain only the CUSIP numbers and/or ticker symbols of securities held in all
registered management investment companies advised
by the Adviser or any affiliate of the Adviser (the “Morgan Stanley Funds”) on
an aggregate, rather than a fund-by-fund basis; (2)
the interest list will not disclose portfolio holdings on a fund-by-fund basis;
(3) the interest list must not contain information about
the number or value of shares owned by a specified Morgan Stanley Fund; (4) the
interest list may identify the investment strategy,
but not the particular Morgan Stanley Funds, to which the list relates; and (5)
the interest list may not identify the portfolio manager
or team members responsible for managing the Morgan Stanley Funds.
The
Fund may discuss or otherwise disclose performance attribution analyses (i.e.,
mention the effects of having a particular security in
the portfolio(s)) where such discussion is not contemporaneously made public,
provided that the particular holding has been disclosed
publicly or the information that includes such holding(s) has been made
available to shareholders requesting such information.
Additionally, any discussion of the analyses may not be more current than the
date the holding was disclosed publicly or the
information that includes such holding(s) has been made available to
shareholders requesting such information.
Portfolio
holdings information may be provided to broker-dealers, prime brokers, futures
commission merchants, or similar providers in
connection with the Fund’s portfolio trading or operational processing
activities; such entities generally need access to such information
in the performance of their duties and responsibilities to fund service
providers and are subject to a duty of confidentiality,
including a duty not to trade on material non-public information, imposed by law
or contract. Portfolio holdings information
may also be provided to affiliates of the Adviser pursuant to regulatory
requirements or for legitimate business purposes, which
may include risk management, or may be reported by the Fund’s counterparties to
certain global trade repositories pursuant to regulatory
requirements.
The
Adviser and/or the Fund currently have entered into ongoing arrangements
regarding the selective disclosure of complete portfolio
holdings information with the following parties:
|
| |
Name |
Frequency1
|
Lag
Time |
Service
Providers |
|
|
State
Street Bank and Trust Company |
Daily
basis |
Daily |
BlackRock
Financial Management Inc. |
Daily
basis |
2
|
KellyCo
Marketing |
Monthly
basis and Quarterly basis |
Varying
lag times after the date of the information |
R.R.
Donnelley & Sons Company |
Monthly
basis and Quarterly basis |
Varying
lag times after the date of the information |
Fund
Rating Agencies |
|
|
Refinitiv
Lipper |
Monthly
basis |
Approximately
six business days after month end |
Portfolio
Analytics Providers |
|
|
Bloomberg
Finance, L.P. |
Daily
basis |
Daily |
Abel
Noser Solutions, LLC |
Daily
basis |
Daily |
1 |
Dissemination
of portfolio holdings information to entities listed above may occur less
frequently than indicated (or not at all). |
2 |
Information
will typically be provided on a real time basis or as soon thereafter as
possible. |
All
disclosures of non-public portfolio holdings information made to third-parties
pursuant to the exemptions set forth in the Policy must
be reviewed and approved by the Adviser, which will also determine from
time-to-time whether such third-parties should continue
to receive portfolio holdings information.
The
Adviser shall report quarterly to the Board of Trustees (or a designated
committee thereof) at the next regularly scheduled meeting:
(i) any material information concerning all parties receiving non-public
portfolio holdings information pursuant to an exemption;
and (ii) any new non-disclosure agreements entered into during the reporting
period. Procedures to monitor the use of such
non-public portfolio holdings information may include requiring annual
certifications that the recipients have utilized such information
only pursuant to the terms of the agreement between the recipient and the
Adviser and, for those recipients receiving information
electronically, acceptance of the information will constitute reaffirmation that
the third-party expressly agrees to maintain
the disclosed information in confidence and not to trade portfolio securities
based on the non-public information.
MANAGEMENT
OF THE FUND
Board
of Trustees
General.
The Board of Trustees of the Fund oversees the management of the Fund, but does
not itself manage the Fund. The Trustees
review various services provided by or under the direction of the Adviser to
ensure that the Fund’s general investment policies
and programs are properly carried out. The Trustees also conduct their review to
ensure that administrative services are provided
to the Fund in a satisfactory manner.
Under
state law, the duties of the Trustees are generally characterized as a duty of
loyalty and a duty of care. The duty of loyalty requires
a Trustee to exercise his or her powers in the interest of the Fund and not the
Trustee’s own interest or the interest of another
person or organization. A Trustee satisfies his or her duty of care by acting in
good faith with the care of an ordinarily prudent
person and in a manner the Trustee reasonably believes to be in the best
interest of the Fund and its shareholders.
Trustees
and Officers.
The Board of the Fund consists of ten Trustees. These same individuals also
serve as directors or trustees for certain
of the funds advised by the Adviser and Morgan Stanley AIP GP LP. None of the
Trustees have an affiliation or business connection
with the Adviser or any of its affiliated persons or own any stock or other
securities issued by the Adviser’s parent company,
Morgan Stanley. These Trustees
are
the “non-interested” or “Independent” Trustees of
the Fund as
defined under the 1940
Act.
Board
Structure and Oversight Function.
The Board’s leadership structure features an Independent Trustee serving as
Chairperson and
the Board Committees described below. The Chairperson participates in the
preparation of the agenda for meetings of the Board and
the preparation of information to be presented to the Board with respect to
matters to be acted upon by the Board. The Chairperson
also presides at all meetings of the Board and is involved in discussions
regarding matters pertaining to the oversight of the
management of the Fund between meetings.
The
Board of Trustees operates using a system of committees to facilitate the timely
and efficient consideration of all matters of importance
to the Trustees, the Fund and Fund shareholders, and to facilitate compliance
with legal and regulatory requirements and oversight
of the Fund’s activities and associated risks. The Board of Trustees has
established six standing committees: (1) Audit Committee,
(2) Governance Committee, (3) Compliance and Insurance Committee, (4) Equity
Investment Committee, (5) Fixed Income,
Liquidity and Alternatives Investment Committee and (6) Risk Committee, which
are each comprised exclusively of Independent
Trustees. Each committee charter governs the scope of the committee’s
responsibilities with respect to the oversight of the
Fund. The responsibilities of each committee, including their oversight
responsibilities, are described further under the caption “Independent
Trustees and the Committees.”
The
Fund is subject to a number of risks, including investment, compliance,
operational and valuation risk, among others. The Board
of Trustees oversees these risks as part of its broader oversight of the Fund’s
affairs through various Board and committee activities.
The Board has adopted, and periodically reviews, policies and procedures
designed to address various risks to the Fund. In addition,
appropriate personnel, including but not limited to the Fund’s Chief Compliance
Officer, members of the Fund’s administration
and accounting teams, representatives from the Fund’s independent registered
public accounting firm, the Fund’s Treasurer,
portfolio management personnel, risk management personnel and independent
valuation and brokerage evaluation service providers,
make regular reports regarding the Fund’s activities and related risks to the
Board of Trustees and the committees, as appropriate.
These reports include, among others, quarterly performance reports, quarterly
risk reports and discussions with members of
the risk teams relating to each asset class. The Board’s committee structure
allows separate committees to focus on different aspects of
risk and the potential impact of these risks on some or all of the funds in the
complex and then report back to the full Board. In between
regular meetings, Fund officers also communicate with the Trustees regarding
material exceptions and items relevant to the Board’s
risk oversight function. The Board recognizes that it is not possible to
identify all of the risks that may affect the Fund, and
that
it is not possible to develop processes and controls to eliminate all of the
risks that
may affect the Fund. Moreover, the Board recognizes
that it may be necessary for the Fund to bear certain risks (such as investment
risk) to achieve its investment objective.
As
needed between meetings of the Board, the Board or a specific committee receives
and reviews reports relating to the Fund and engages
in discussions with appropriate parties relating to the Fund’s operations and
related risks.
Management
Information
Trustees.
The Fund seeks as Trustees individuals of distinction and experience in business
and finance, government service or academia.
In determining that a particular Trustee was and continues to be qualified to
serve as Trustee, the Board has considered a variety
of criteria, none of which, in isolation, was controlling. Based on a review of
the experience, qualifications, attributes or skills of
each Trustee, including those enumerated in the table below, the Board has
determined that each of the Trustees is qualified to serve
as a Trustee of the Fund. In addition, the Board believes that, collectively,
the Trustees have balanced and diverse experience, qualifications,
attributes and skills that allow the Board to operate effectively in governing
the Fund and protecting the interests of shareholders.
Information about the Fund’s Governance Committee and Board of Trustees
nomination process is provided below under
the caption “Independent Trustees and the Committees.”
The
Trustees of the Fund, their birth years, addresses, positions held, length of
time served, their principal business occupations during
the past five years and other relevant professional experience, the number of
portfolios in the Fund Complex (described below)
overseen by each Independent Trustee and other directorships, if any, held by
the Trustees, are shown below (as of January 1, 2024).
The Fund Complex includes all open-end and closed-end funds (including all of
their portfolios) advised by the Adviser and any
registered funds that have an adviser that is an affiliate of the Adviser
(including, but not limited to, Morgan Stanley AIP GP LP) (the
“Morgan Stanley AIP Funds”).
|
|
|
|
| |
Name,
Address and Birth
Year of Independent
Trustee |
Position(s)
Held with Registrant |
Length
of Time Served* |
Principal
Occupation(s)
During Past
5 Years and Other
Relevant Professional
Experience |
Number
of Funds in
Fund Complex Overseen
by Independent
Trustee |
Other
Directorships Held by Independent
Trustee During Past
5 Years** |
Frank
L. Bowman c/o
Morgan, Lewis and Bockius
LLP Counsel
to the Independent
Trustees One
State Street Hartford,
CT 06103 Birth
Year: 1944 |
Trustee |
Since
August 2006 |
President,
Strategic Decisions,
LLC (consulting)
(since February
2009); Director
or Trustee of various
Morgan Stanley Funds
(since August 2006);
Chairperson of the
Compliance and Insurance
Committee (since
October 2015); formerly,
Chairperson of
the Insurance Sub-Committee
of the Compliance
and Insurance
Committee (2007-2015);
served as President
and Chief Executive
Officer of the Nuclear
Energy Institute
(policy organization)
(February 2005-November
2008); retired
as Admiral, U.S. Navy
after serving over 38
years on active duty including
8 years as Director
of the Naval Nuclear
Propulsion Program
in the Department
of the Navy
and the U.S. Department
of Energy (1996-2004);
served as Chief
of Naval Personnel
(July 1994-September
1996) and on
the Joint Staff as Director
of Political Military
Affairs (June 1992-July
1994); knighted
as Honorary Knight
Commander of the
Most Excellent Order
of the British Empire;
awarded the Officier
de l’Ordre National
du Mérite by the
French Government;
elected to the
National Academy of
Engineering (2009). |
87 |
Director
of Naval and Nuclear Technologies
LLP; Director Emeritus
of the Armed Services
YMCA; Member of the
National Security Advisory
Council of the Center
for U.S. Global Engagement
and a former member
of the CNA Military Advisory
Board; Chairman of the
Board of Trustees of Fairhaven
United Methodist Church;
Member of the Board of
Advisors of the Dolphin Scholarship
Foundation; Director
of other various nonprofit
organizations; formerly,
Director of BP, plc (November
2010-May 2019). |
|
|
|
|
| |
Name,
Address and Birth
Year of Independent
Trustee |
Position(s)
Held with Registrant |
Length
of Time Served* |
Principal
Occupation(s)
During Past
5 Years and Other
Relevant Professional
Experience |
Number
of Funds in
Fund Complex Overseen
by Independent
Trustee |
Other
Directorships Held by Independent
Trustee During Past
5 Years** |
Frances
L. Cashman c/o
Morgan, Lewis and Bockius
LLP Counsel
to the Independent
Trustees One
State Street Hartford,
CT 06103 Birth
Year: 1961 |
Trustee |
Since
February 2022 |
Chief
Executive Officer,
Asset Management
Portfolio, Delinian
Ltd. (financial information)
(May 2021-Present);
Executive
Vice President
and various other
roles, Legg Mason
& Co. (asset management)
(2010-2020);
Managing Director,
Stifel Nicolaus
(2005-2010). |
88 |
Trustee
and Investment Committee
Member, Georgia Tech
Foundation (Since June 2019);
Formerly, Trustee and Chair
of Marketing Committee,
and Member of Investment
Committee, Loyola Blakefield
(2017-2023);
Trustee, MMI Gateway
Foundation (2017-2023);
Director and Investment
Committee Member,
Catholic Community
Foundation Board
(2012–2018); Director and
Investment Committee Member,
St. Ignatius Loyola Academy
(2011-2017). |
Kathleen
A. Dennis c/o
Morgan, Lewis and Bockius
LLP Counsel
to the Independent
Trustees One
State Street Hartford,
CT 06103 Birth
Year: 1953 |
Trustee |
Since August 2006 |
Chairperson
of the Governance
Committee
(since January
2021), Chairperson
of the Liquidity
and Alternatives
Sub-Committee
of the Investment
Committee (2006-2020)
and Director
or Trustee of various
Morgan Stanley Funds
(since August 2006);
President, Cedarwood
Associates (mutual
fund and investment
management
consulting)
(since July 2006);
formerly, Senior Managing
Director of Victory
Capital Management
(1993-2006);
Senior Vice President,
Chase Bank (1984-1993). |
86 |
Board
Member, University of Albany
Foundation (2012-present);
Board Member, Mutual
Funds Directors Forum
(2014-present); Director
of various non-profit organizations. |
|
|
|
|
| |
Name,
Address and Birth
Year of Independent
Trustee |
Position(s)
Held with Registrant |
Length
of Time Served* |
Principal
Occupation(s)
During Past
5 Years and Other
Relevant Professional
Experience |
Number
of Funds in
Fund Complex Overseen
by Independent
Trustee |
Other
Directorships Held by Independent
Trustee During Past
5 Years** |
Nancy
C. Everett c/o
Morgan, Lewis and Bockius
LLP Counsel
to the Independent
Trustees One
State Street Hartford,
CT 06103 Birth
Year: 1955 |
Trustee |
Since January 2015 |
Chairperson
of the Equity
Investment Committee
(since January
2021); Director
or Trustee of various
Morgan Stanley Funds
(since January 2015);
Chief Executive Officer,
Virginia Commonwealth
University
Investment Company
(since November
2015); Owner,
OBIR, LLC (institutional
investment
management
consulting)
(since June 2014);
formerly, Managing
Director, BlackRock,
Inc. (February
2011-December
2013) and Chief
Executive Officer,
General Motors
Asset Management
(a/k/a Promark
Global Advisors,
Inc.) (June 2005-May
2010). |
88 |
Formerly,
Member of Virginia Commonwealth
University School
of Business Foundation
(2005-2016); Member
of Virginia Commonwealth
University Board
of Visitors (2013-2015);
Member of Committee
on Directors for Emerging
Markets Growth Fund,
Inc. (2007-2010); Chairperson
of Performance Equity
Management, LLC (2006-2010);
and Chairperson,
GMAM Absolute
Return Strategies Fund,
LLC (2006-2010). |
Eddie
A. Grier c/o
Morgan, Lewis and Bockius
LLP Counsel
to the Independent
Trustees One
State Street Hartford,
CT 06103 Birth
Year: 1955 |
Trustee |
Since
February 2022 |
Dean,
Santa Clara University
Leavey School
of Business (since
July 2021); Dean,
Virginia Commonwealth
University
School of Business
(2010-2021); President
and various other
roles, Walt Disney
Company (entertainment
and media)
(1981-2010). |
88 |
Director,
Witt/Kieffer, Inc. (executive
search) (since 2016);
Director, NuStar GP, LLC
(energy) (since August 2021);
Director, Sonida Senior
Living, Inc. (residential community
operator) (2016-2021);
Director, NVR, Inc. (homebuilding)
(2013-2020); Director,
Middleburg Trust Company
(wealth management)
(2014-2019); Director,
Colonial Williamsburg
Company (2012-2021);
Regent, University
of Massachusetts Global
(since 2021); Director and
Chair, ChildFund International
(2012-2021); Trustee,
Brandman University (2010-2021);
Director, Richmond
Forum (2012-2019). |
|
|
|
|
| |
Name,
Address and Birth
Year of Independent
Trustee |
Position(s)
Held with Registrant |
Length
of Time Served* |
Principal
Occupation(s)
During Past
5 Years and Other
Relevant Professional
Experience |
Number
of Funds in
Fund Complex Overseen
by Independent
Trustee |
Other
Directorships Held by Independent
Trustee During Past
5 Years** |
Jakki
L. Haussler c/o
Morgan, Lewis and Bockius
LLP Counsel
to the Independent
Trustees One
State Street Hartford,
CT 06103 Birth
Year: 1957 |
Trustee |
Since January 2015 |
Director
or Trustee of various
Morgan Stanley Funds
(since January 2015);
Chairman, Opus
Capital Group (since
1996); formerly, Chief
Executive Officer,
Opus Capital Group
(1996-2019); Director,
Capvest Venture
Fund, LP (May
2000-December 2011);
Partner, Adena Ventures,
LP (July 1999-December
2010); Director,
The Victory Funds
(February 2005-July
2008). |
88 |
Director,
Vertiv Holdings Co. (VRT)
(since August 2022); Director
of Cincinnati Bell Inc.
and Member, Audit Committee
and Chairman, Governance
and Nominating Committee
(2008-2021); Director
of Service Corporation
International and Member,
Audit Committee and
Investment Committee; Director,
Barnes Group Inc. (since
July 2021); Member of Chase
College of Law Center for
Law and Entrepreneurship Board
of Advisors; Director of Best
Transport (2005-2019); Director
of Chase College of Law
Board of Visitors; formerly,
Member, University of
Cincinnati Foundation Investment
Committee. |
Dr.
Manuel H. Johnson c/o
Johnson Smick International,
Inc. 220
I Street, NE Suite
200 Washington,
D.C. 20002 Birth
Year: 1949 |
Trustee |
Since July
1991 |
Senior
Partner, Johnson Smick
International, Inc.
(consulting firm); Chairperson
of the Fixed
Income, Liquidity
and Alternatives
Investment Committee
(since January
2021), Chairperson
of the Investment
Committee (2006-2020)
and Director
or Trustee of various
Morgan Stanley Funds
(since July 1991);
Co-Chairman and
a founder of the Group
of Seven Council
(G7C) (international
economic commission);
formerly, Chairperson
of the Audit
Committee (July 1991-September
2006); Vice
Chairman of the Board
of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System
and Assistant Secretary
of the U.S. Treasury. |
87 |
Director
of NVR, Inc. (home construction). |
|
|
|
|
| |
Name,
Address and Birth
Year of Independent
Trustee |
Position(s)
Held with Registrant |
Length
of Time Served* |
Principal
Occupation(s)
During Past
5 Years and Other
Relevant Professional
Experience |
Number
of Funds in
Fund Complex Overseen
by Independent
Trustee |
Other
Directorships Held by Independent
Trustee During Past
5 Years** |
Michael
F. Klein c/o
Morgan, Lewis and Bockius
LLP Counsel
to the Independent
Trustees One
State Street Hartford,
CT 06103 Birth
Year: 1958 |
Trustee |
Since August 2006 |
Chairperson
of the Risk Committee
(since January
2021); Managing
Director, Aetos
Alternatives Management,
LP (since March
2000); Co-President,
Aetos Alternatives
Management,
LP (since January
2004) and Co-Chief
Executive Officer of
Aetos Alternatives Management,
LP (since August
2013); Chairperson
of the Fixed
Income Sub-Committee
of the Investment
Committee (2006-2020)
and Director
or Trustee of various
Morgan Stanley Funds
(since August 2006);
formerly, Managing
Director, Morgan
Stanley & Co. Inc.
and Morgan Stanley
Dean Witter Investment
Management
and President,
various Morgan
Stanley Funds (June
1998-March 2000);
Principal, Morgan
Stanley & Co. Inc.
and Morgan Stanley
Dean Witter Investment
Management
(August 1997-December
1999). |
87 |
Director
of certain investment funds
managed or sponsored by
Aetos Alternatives Management,
LP; Director of Sanitized
AG and Sanitized Marketing
AG (specialty chemicals). |
|
|
|
|
| |
Name,
Address and Birth
Year of Independent
Trustee |
Position(s)
Held with Registrant |
Length
of Time Served* |
Principal
Occupation(s)
During Past
5 Years and Other
Relevant Professional
Experience |
Number
of Funds in
Fund Complex Overseen
by Independent
Trustee |
Other
Directorships Held by Independent
Trustee During Past
5 Years** |
Patricia
A. Maleski c/o
Morgan, Lewis and Bockius
LLP Counsel
to the Independent
Trustees One
State Street Hartford,
CT 06103 Birth
Year: 1960 |
Trustee |
Since January 2017 |
Director
or Trustee of various
Morgan Stanley Funds
(since January 2017);
Managing Director,
JPMorgan Asset
Management (2004-2016);
Oversight and
Control Head of Fiduciary
and Conflicts of
Interest Program (2015-2016);
Chief Control
Officer—Global
Asset Management
(2013-2015);
President, JPMorgan
Funds (2010-2013);
Chief Administrative
Officer (2004-2013);
various other
positions including
Treasurer and
Board Liaison (since
2001). |
88 |
Formerly,
Trustee (January 2022
to March 2023), Treasurer
(January 2023 to March
2023), and Finance Committee
(January 2022 to March
2023), Nutley Family Service
Bureau, Inc. |
W.
Allen Reed c/o
Morgan, Lewis and Bockius
LLP Counsel
to the Independent
Trustees One
State Street Hartford,
CT 06103 Birth
Year: 1947 |
Chair
of the Board and Trustee |
Chair
of the Board since
August 2020 and Trustee
since August 2006 |
Chair
of the Boards of various
Morgan Stanley Funds
(since August 2020);
Director or Trustee
of various Morgan
Stanley Funds (since
August 2006); formerly,
Vice Chair of the
Boards of various Morgan
Stanley Funds (January
2020-August 2020);
President and Chief
Executive Officer of
General Motors Asset
Management; Chairman
and Chief Executive
Officer of the GM
Trust Bank and Corporate
Vice President
of General Motors
Corporation (August
1994-December
2005). |
87 |
Formerly,
Director of Legg Mason,
Inc. (2006-2019); and Director
of the Auburn University
Foundation (2010-2015). |
* |
This
is the earliest date the Trustee began serving the Morgan Stanley
Funds. Each Trustee serves an indefinite term, until his or her
successor is elected. |
** |
This
includes any directorships at public companies and registered investment
companies held by the Trustee at any time during the past five
years. |
The
executive officers of the Fund, their birth years, addresses, positions held,
length of time served and their principal business occupations
during the past five years are shown below (as of January 1, 2024).
Executive
Officers
|
|
| |
Name,
Address and Birth Year
of Executive Officer |
Position(s)
Held with Registrant |
Length
of Time Served* |
Principal
Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years |
John
H. Gernon 1585
Broadway New
York, NY 10036 Birth
Year: 1963 |
President
and Principal
Executive Officer |
Since
September 2013 |
President
and Principal Executive Officer of the Equity and Fixed Income Funds
and
the Morgan Stanley AIP Funds (since September 2013) and the Liquidity
Funds
and various money market funds (since May 2014) in the Fund Complex;
Managing
Director of the Adviser. |
|
|
| |
Name,
Address and Birth Year
of Executive Officer |
Position(s)
Held with Registrant |
Length
of Time Served* |
Principal
Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years |
Deidre
A. Downes 1633
Broadway New
York, NY 10019 Birth
Year: 1977 |
Chief
Compliance Officer |
Since
November 2021 |
Managing
Director of the Adviser (since January 2024) and Chief Compliance
officer
of various Morgan Stanley Funds (since November 2021). Formerly, Vice
President
and Corporate Counsel at PGIM and Prudential Financial (October
2016
– December 2020). |
Francis
J. Smith 750
7th Ave New
York, NY 10019 Birth
Year: 1965 |
Treasurer
and Principal
Financial Officer |
Treasurer
since July 2003
and Principal Financial
Officer since September
2002 |
Managing
Director of the Adviser and various entities affiliated with the Adviser;
Treasurer
(since July 2003) and Principal Financial Officer of various Morgan
Stanley
Funds (since September 2002). |
Mary
E. Mullin 1633
Broadway New
York, NY 10019 Birth
Year: 1967 |
Secretary
and Chief Legal
Officer |
Since
June 1999 |
Managing
Director (since 2018) and Chief Legal Officer (since 2016) of the
Adviser
and various entities affiliated with the Adviser; Secretary (since 1999)
and Chief
Legal Officer (since 2016) of various Morgan Stanley
Funds. |
Michael
J. Key 1585
Broadway New
York, NY 10036 Birth
Year: 1979 |
Vice
President |
Since
June 2017 |
Vice
President of the Equity and Fixed Income Funds, Liquidity Funds, various
money
market funds and the Morgan Stanley AIP Funds in the Fund Complex
(since
June 2017); Managing Director of the Adviser; Head of Product Development
for Equity and Fixed Income Funds (since August
2013). |
* |
This
is the earliest date the officer began serving the Morgan Stanley Funds.
Each officer serves a one-year term, until his or her successor is elected
and has qualified. |
In
addition, the following individuals who are officers of the Adviser or its
affiliates serve as assistant secretaries of the Fund: Stefanie Chang
Yu, Nicholas Di Lorenzo, Francesca Mead and Sydney A. Walker.
It
is a policy of the Fund’s Board that each Trustee shall invest in any
combination of the Morgan Stanley Funds that the Trustee determines
meets his or her own specific investment objectives, without requiring any
specific investment in any particular Fund.
For
each Trustee, the dollar range of equity securities beneficially owned by the
Trustee in the Fund and in the Family of Investment Companies
(Family of Investment Companies includes all of the registered investment
companies advised by the Adviser and Morgan Stanley
AIP GP LP), which may include, for Independent Trustees, shares (if any) deemed
to be beneficially owned through a deferred
compensation plan, as of December 31, 2023, is set forth in the table
below.
|
| |
Name
of Trustee |
Dollar
Range of Equity Securities in the Fund (as of
December 31, 2023) |
Aggregate
Dollar Range of Equity Securities in All Registered
Investment Companies Overseen by Trustee
in Family of Investment Companies (as of December
31, 2023) |
Independent: |
|
|
Frank
L. Bowman |
None |
Over
$100,000 |
Frances
L. Cashman |
None |
Over
$100,000 |
Kathleen
A. Dennis |
None |
Over
$100,000 |
Nancy
C. Everett |
None |
Over
$100,000 |
Eddie
A. Grier |
None |
None |
Jakki
L. Haussler |
None |
Over
$100,000 |
Manuel
H. Johnson |
None |
Over
$100,000 |
Michael
F. Klein |
None |
Over
$100,000 |
Patricia
A. Maleski |
None |
Over
$100,000 |
W.
Allen Reed |
None |
Over
$100,000 |
As
to each Independent Trustee and his or her immediate family members, no person
owned beneficially or of record securities of an investment
adviser or principal underwriter of the Fund, or a person (other than a
registered investment company) directly or indirectly
controlling, controlled by or under common control with an investment adviser or
principal underwriter of the Fund.
As
of April 1, 2024, the Trustees and Officers of the Trust, as a group, owned less
than 1% of any class of the outstanding shares of beneficial
interest of the Fund.
Independent
Trustees and the Committees
Law
and regulation establish both general guidelines and specific duties for the
Independent Trustees. The Board has six committees: (1)
Audit Committee, (2) Governance Committee, (3) Compliance and Insurance
Committee, (4) Equity Investment Committee, (5)
Fixed Income, Liquidity and Alternatives Investment Committee and (6) Risk
Committee.
The
Independent Trustees are charged with recommending to the full Board approval of
management, advisory and administration contracts,
Rule 12b-1 plans and distribution and underwriting agreements; continually
reviewing fund performance, checking on the pricing
of portfolio securities, brokerage commissions, transfer agent costs and
performance and trading among funds in the same complex;
and approving fidelity bond and related insurance coverage and allocations, as
well as other matters that arise from time to
time.
The Independent Trustees are required to select and nominate individuals to fill
any Independent Trustee vacancy on the board of
any fund that has a Rule 12b-1 plan of distribution. Most of the retail Morgan
Stanley Funds have a Rule 12b-1 plan.
The
Board of Trustees has a separately-designated standing Audit Committee
established in accordance with Section 3(a)(58)(A) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “1934 Act”). The Audit
Committee is charged with recommending to the full Board
the engagement or discharge of the Fund’s independent registered public
accounting firm; directing investigations into matters within
the scope of the independent registered public accounting firm’s duties,
including the power to retain outside specialists; reviewing
with the independent registered public accounting firm the audit plan and
results of the auditing engagement; approving professional
services provided by the independent registered public accounting firm and other
accounting firms prior to the performance
of the services; reviewing the independence of the independent registered public
accounting firm; considering the range of
audit and non-audit fees; reviewing the adequacy of the Fund’s system of
internal controls and reviewing the valuation process. The
Fund has adopted a formal, written Audit Committee Charter.
The
members of the Audit Committee of the Fund are Nancy C. Everett, Eddie A. Grier
and Jakki L. Haussler. None of the members
of the Fund’s Audit Committee is an “interested person,” as defined under the
1940 Act, of the Fund (with such disinterested
Trustees being “Independent Trustees” or individually, an “Independent
Trustee”). Each Independent Trustee is also “independent”
from the Fund under the listing standards of the NYSE. The Chairperson of the
Audit Committee of the Fund is Jakki
L. Haussler.
The
Board of Trustees of the Fund also has a Governance Committee. The Governance
Committee identifies individuals qualified to serve
as Independent Trustees on the Fund’s Board and on committees of the Board and
recommends such qualified individuals for nomination
by the Fund’s Independent Trustees as candidates for election as
Independent Trustees, advises the Fund’s Board with respect
to Board composition, procedures and committees, develops and recommends to the
Fund’s Board a set of corporate governance
principles applicable to the Fund, monitors and makes recommendations on
corporate governance matters and policies and
procedures of the Fund’s Board of Trustees and any Board committees and oversees
periodic evaluations of the Fund’s Board and its
committees. The members of the Governance Committee of the Fund are Kathleen A.
Dennis, Manuel H. Johnson, Michael F. Klein,
Patricia A. Maleski and W. Allen Reed, each of whom is an Independent Trustee.
In addition, W. Allen Reed (as Chair of the Morgan
Stanley Funds) periodically may attend other operating Committee meetings. The
Chairperson of the Governance Committee
is Kathleen A. Dennis.
The
Fund does not have a separate nominating committee. While the Fund’s Governance
Committee recommends qualified candidates
for nominations as Independent Trustees, the Board of Trustees of the Fund
believes that the task of nominating prospective
Independent Trustees is important enough to require the participation of all
current Independent Trustees, rather than a separate
committee consisting of only certain Independent Trustees. Accordingly, all the
Independent Trustees participate in the selection
and nomination of candidates for election as Independent Trustees for the Fund.
Persons recommended by the Fund’s Governance
Committee as candidates for nomination as Independent Trustees shall possess
such experience, qualifications, attributes,
skills and diversity so as to enhance the Board’s ability to manage and direct
the affairs and business of the Fund, including,
when applicable, to enhance the ability of committees of the Board to fulfill
their duties and/or to satisfy any independence
requirements imposed by law, regulation or any listing requirements of the NYSE.
While the Independent Trustees of the
Fund expect to be able to continue to identify from their own resources an ample
number of qualified candidates for the Fund’s Board
as they deem appropriate, they will consider nominations from shareholders to
the Board. Nominations from shareholders should
be in writing and sent to the Independent Trustees as described below under the
caption “Shareholder Communications.”
The
Board formed the Compliance and Insurance Committee to address insurance
coverage and oversee the compliance function for the
Fund and the Board. The Compliance and Insurance Committee consists of Frank L.
Bowman, Kathleen A. Dennis and Patricia A.
Maleski, each of whom is an Independent Trustee. The Chairperson of the
Compliance and Insurance Committee is Frank L. Bowman.
The
Equity Investment Committee and the Fixed Income, Liquidity and Alternatives
Investment Committee oversee the Fund’s portfolio
investment process and review the performance of the Fund’s investments. The
Equity Investment Committee and the Fixed
Income, Liquidity and Alternatives Investment Committee also recommend to the
Board to approve or renew the Fund’s Investment
Advisory and Administration Agreements. Each Investment Committee focuses on the
Fund’s primary areas of investment,
namely equities, fixed income, liquidity and alternatives. Kathleen A. Dennis,
Nancy C. Everett, Eddie A. Grier, Jakki L. Haussler
and Michael F. Klein are members of the Equity Investment Committee. The
Chairperson of the Equity Investment Committee
is Nancy C. Everett. Frank L. Bowman, Frances L. Cashman, Manuel H.
Johnson, and Patricia A. Maleski are members of
the Fixed Income, Liquidity and Alternatives Investment Committee. The
Chairperson of the Fixed Income, Liquidity and Alternatives
Investment Committee is Manuel H. Johnson.
The
Risk Committee assists the Board in connection with the oversight of the Fund’s
risks, including investment risks, operational risks
and risks posed by the Fund’s service providers as well as the effectiveness of
the guidelines, policies and processes for monitoring
and mitigating such risks. The members of the Risk Committee of the Fund are
Frances L. Cashman, Manuel H.
Johnson,
Michael F. Klein and W. Allen Reed, each of whom is an Independent Trustee. The
Chairperson of the Risk Committee is Michael
F. Klein.
During
the Fund’s fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, the Board of Trustees held the
following meetings:
| |
Board
of Trustees/Committee |
Number
of Meetings |
Board
of Trustees |
5 |
Audit
Committee |
4 |
Governance
Committee |
4 |
Compliance
and Insurance Committee |
4 |
Equity
Investment Committee |
5 |
Fixed
Income, Liquidity and Alternatives Investment Committee |
5 |
Risk
Committee |
4 |
Experience,
Qualifications and Attributes
The
Board has concluded, based on each Trustee’s experience, qualifications and
attributes that each Board member should serve as a Trustee.
Following is a brief summary of the information that led to and/or supports this
conclusion.
Mr.
Bowman has experience in a variety of business and financial matters through his
prior service as a Director or Trustee for various
funds in the Fund Complex, where he serves as Chairperson of the Compliance and
Insurance Committee (and formerly served
as Chairperson of the Insurance Sub-Committee of the Compliance and Insurance
Committee). Mr. Bowman also serves as a Director
of Naval and Nuclear Technologies LLP and Director Emeritus for the Armed
Services YMCA, and formerly served as a Director
of BP, plc. Mr. Bowman serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the
Fairhaven United Methodist Church. Mr. Bowman
is also a member of the National Security Advisory Council of the Center for
U.S. Global Engagement, a former member of the
CNA Military Advisory Board and a member of the Dolphin Scholarship Foundation
Advisory Board. Mr. Bowman retired as an Admiral
in the U.S. Navy after serving over 38 years on active duty including eight
years as Director of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program
in the Department of the Navy and the U.S. Department of Energy (1996-2004).
Additionally, Mr. Bowman served as the U.S.
Navy’s Chief of Naval Personnel (1994-1996) where he was responsible for the
planning and programming of all manpower, personnel,
training and education resources for the U.S. Navy, and on the Joint Staff as
Director of Political Military Affairs (1992- 1994).
In addition, Mr. Bowman served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the
Nuclear Energy Institute. Mr. Bowman has received
such distinctions as a knighthood as Honorary Knight Commander of the Most
Excellent Order of the British Empire and the
Officier de l’Ordre National du Mérite from the French Government, and was
elected to the National Academy of Engineering (2009).
He is President of the consulting firm Strategic Decisions, LLC.
With
more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry,
Ms. Cashman possesses valuable insights and expertise regarding
governance, marketing, communications, and strategy. Ms. Cashman is Chief
Executive Officer of the Asset Management Portfolio
of Delinean Ltd. Prior to that, Ms. Cashman spent over 20 years at Legg
Mason & Co., ultimately serving as Executive Vice
President and Global Head of Marketing and Communications. She has gained
valuable experience as Director of two investment
management entities and as a distribution leader reporting to boards of other
mutual funds. In addition, Ms. Cashman also
serves as Trustee for the Georgia Tech Foundation.
Ms.
Dennis has over 25 years of business experience in the financial services
industry and related fields including serving as a Director or
Trustee of various other funds in the Fund Complex, where she serves as
Chairperson of the Governance Committee. Ms. Dennis possesses
a strong understanding of the regulatory framework under which investment
companies must operate based on her years of service
to this Board and her position as Senior Managing Director of Victory Capital
Management.
Ms.
Everett has over 35 years of experience in the financial services industry,
including roles with both registered investment companies
and registered investment advisers. Ms. Everett serves as the Chairperson of the
Equity Investment Committee. By serving on
the boards of other registered funds, such as GMAM Absolute Return Strategies
Fund, LLC and Emerging Markets Growth Fund,
Inc., Ms. Everett has acquired significant experience with financial,
accounting, investment and regulatory matters. Ms. Everett
is also a Chartered Financial Analyst.
During
the course of a career spanning more than 40 years in both academia and
industry, Mr. Grier has gained substantial experience
in management, operations, finance, marketing, and oversight. Mr. Grier is the
Dean of Santa Clara University’s Leavey School
of Business. Prior to that, Mr. Grier was the Dean of the Virginia Commonwealth
University School of Business. Before joining
academia, Mr. Grier spent 29 years at the Walt Disney Company where he served in
various leadership roles, including as President
of the Disneyland Resort. Mr. Grier also gained substantial oversight experience
serving on the boards of Sonia Senior Living,
Inc. (formerly, Capital Senior Living Corporation), NVR, Inc., and Middleburg
Trust Company. In addition, Mr. Grier currently
serves as a Director of Witt/Kieffer, Inc., Director of NuStar GP, LLC and
Regent of University of Massachusetts Global. Mr.
Grier is also a Certified Public Accountant.
With
more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry, including
her years of entrepreneurial and managerial experience
in the development and growth of Opus Capital Group, Ms. Haussler brings a
valuable perspective to the Fund’s Board, where
she serves as the Chairperson of the Audit Committee. Through her role at Opus
Capital and her service as a director of several venture
capital funds and other boards, Ms. Haussler has gained valuable experience
dealing with accounting principles and evaluating
financial results of large corporations. She is a certified public accountant
(inactive) and a licensed attorney in the State of Ohio
(inactive). The Board has determined that Ms. Haussler is an “audit committee
financial expert” as defined by the SEC.
In
addition to his tenure as a Director or Trustee of various other funds in the
Fund Complex, where he currently serves as the Chairperson
of the Fixed Income, Liquidity and Alternatives Investment Committee and
formerly served as Chairperson of the Audit Committee,
Dr. Johnson has also served as an officer or a board member of numerous
companies for over 20 years. These positions included
Co-Chairman and a founder of the Group of Seven Council, Director of NVR,
Inc., Director of Evergreen Energy and Director
of Greenwich Capital Holdings. He also has served as Vice Chairman of the Board
of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
and Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury. In addition, Dr. Johnson also
served as Chairman of the Financial Accounting Foundation,
which oversees the Financial Accounting Standards Board, for seven
years.
Through
his prior positions as a Managing Director of Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc. and
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Investment Management
and as President and a Trustee of the Morgan Stanley Institutional Funds, Mr.
Klein has experience in the management and
operation of registered investment companies, enabling him to provide management
input and investment guidance to the Board.
Mr. Klein is the Chairperson of the Risk Committee. Mr. Klein also has extensive
experience in the investment management industry
based on his current positions as Managing Director and Co-Chief Executive and
Co-President of Aetos Alternatives Management,
LP and as a Director of certain investment funds managed or sponsored by Aetos
Alternatives Management, LP. In addition,
he also has experience as a member of the board of other funds in the Fund
Complex.
Ms. Maleski
has over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry and extensive
experience with registered investment companies.
Ms. Maleski began her career as a certified public accountant at Price
Waterhouse LLP (“PW”) and was a member of PW’s
Investment Company Practice. After a brief stint at the Bank of New York, Ms.
Maleski began her affiliation with the JPMorgan
Funds, at the Pierpont Group, and then with J.P. Morgan Investment Management
Inc. From 2001-2013, Ms. Maleski held
roles with increasing responsibilities, from Vice President and Board Liaison,
Treasurer and Principal Financial Officer, Chief Administrative
Officer and finally President and Principal Executive Officer for the JPMorgan
Fund complex. Between 2013 and 2016,
Ms. Maleski served as Global Head of Oversight and Control of JPMorgan Asset
Management and then as Head of JPMorgan Chase’s
Fiduciary and Conflicts of Interest Program. Ms. Maleski has extensive
experience in the management and operation of funds in
addition to regulatory and accounting and valuation matters.
Mr.
Reed has experience on investment company boards and is experienced with
financial, accounting, investment and regulatory matters
through his prior service as a Director of iShares Inc. and his service as
Chair of the Board and as Trustee or Director of other funds
in the Fund Complex. Mr. Reed also gained substantial experience in the
financial services industry through his prior positions as
a Director of Legg Mason, Inc. and as President and CEO of General Motors Asset
Management.
The
Trustees’ principal occupations and other relevant professional experience
during the past five years or more are shown in the above
tables.
The
Board has adopted a policy that Board members are expected to retire no later
than the end of the year they reach the age of 78. The
Governance Committee has discretion to grant waivers from this retirement policy
under special circumstances, including for Board
members to continue serving in Chair or Chair-related roles beyond the
retirement age. Current Board members who have reached
the age of 75 as of January 1, 2021, are grandfathered as exceptions to the
retirement policy and may continue to serve on the
Board until the end of the year in which they turn 80 years of age.
Advantages
of Having the Same Individuals as Trustees for the Morgan Stanley
Funds.
The Independent Trustees and the Fund’s
management believe that having the same Independent Trustees for each of the
Morgan Stanley Funds avoids the duplication of
effort that would arise from having different groups of individuals serving as
Independent Trustees for each of the funds or even of sub-groups
of funds. They believe that having the same individuals serve as Independent
Trustees of all the Morgan Stanley Funds tends
to increase their knowledge and expertise regarding matters which affect the
Fund Complex generally and enhances their ability to
negotiate on behalf of each fund with the fund’s service providers. This
arrangement also precludes the possibility of separate groups
of Independent Trustees arriving at conflicting decisions regarding operations
and management of the funds and avoids the cost
and confusion that would likely ensue. Finally, having the same Independent
Trustees serve on all fund boards enhances the ability
of each fund to obtain, at modest cost to each separate fund, the services of
Independent Trustees of the caliber, experience and
business acumen of the individuals who serve as Independent Trustees of the
Morgan Stanley Funds.
Trustee
and Officer Indemnification.
The Fund’s Declaration of Trust provides that no Trustee, officer, employee or
agent of the Fund
is liable to the Fund or to a shareholder, nor is any Trustee, officer, employee
or agent liable to any third persons in connection with
the affairs of the Fund, except as such liability may arise from his/her or its
own bad faith, willful misfeasance, gross negligence or
reckless disregard of his/her or its duties. It also provides that all third
persons shall look solely to Fund property for satisfaction of
claims
arising in connection with the affairs of the Fund. With the exceptions stated,
the Declaration of Trust provides that a Trustee,
officer, employee or agent is entitled to be indemnified against all liability
in connection with the affairs of the Fund.
Shareholder
Communications.
Shareholders may send communications to the Fund’s Board of Trustees.
Shareholders should send communications
intended for the Fund’s Board of Trustees by addressing the communications
directly to the Board (or individual Board
members) and/or otherwise clearly indicating in the salutation that the
communication is for the Board (or individual Board members)
and by sending the communication to either the Fund’s office or directly to such
Board member(s) at the address specified for
each Trustee previously noted. Other shareholder communications received by the
Fund not directly addressed and sent to the Board
will be reviewed and generally responded to by management, and will be forwarded
to the Board only at management’s discretion
based on the matters contained therein.
Compensation
Each
Trustee (except for the Chair of the Boards) receives an annual retainer fee of
$335,000 for
serving as a Trustee of the Morgan Stanley
Funds.
The
Audit Committee Chairperson receives an additional annual retainer fee of
$80,000, the Risk Committee Chairperson, the Equity
Investment Committee Chairperson, Fixed Income, Liquidity and Alternatives
Investment Committee Chairperson and Governance
Committee Chairperson each receive an additional annual retainer fee of $50,000
and the Compliance and Insurance Committee
Chairperson receives an additional annual retainer fee of $65,000. The aggregate
compensation paid to each Trustee is paid
by the Morgan Stanley Funds, and is allocated on a pro rata basis among each of
the operational funds of the Morgan Stanley Funds
based on the relative net assets of each of the funds. The Chair of the Boards
receives a total annual retainer fee of $630,000 for
his services and for administrative services provided to each
Board.
The
Fund also reimburses such Trustees for travel and other out-of-pocket expenses
incurred by them in connection with attending such
meetings. Trustees of the Fund who are employed by the Adviser receive no
compensation or expense reimbursement from the Fund
for their services as Trustee.
Effective
April 1, 2004, the Fund began a Deferred Compensation Plan (the “DC Plan”),
which allows each Trustee to defer payment
of all, or a portion, of the fees he or she receives for serving on the Board of
Trustees throughout the year. Each eligible Trustee
generally may elect to have the deferred amounts credited with a return equal to
the total return on one or more of the Morgan
Stanley Funds that are offered as investment options under the DC Plan. At the
Trustee’s election, distributions are either in one
lump sum payment, or in the form of equal annual installments over a period of
five years. The rights of an eligible Trustee and the
beneficiaries to the amounts held under the DC Plan are unsecured and such
amounts are subject to the claims of the creditors of the
Fund.
Prior
to April 1, 2004, certain Morgan Stanley Funds maintained a similar Deferred
Compensation Plan (the “Prior DC Plan”), which
also allowed each Independent Trustee to defer payment of all, or a portion, of
the fees he or she received for serving on the Board
of Trustees throughout the year. Generally, the DC Plan amends and supersedes
the Prior DC Plan and all amounts payable under
the Prior DC Plan are now subject to the terms of the DC Plan (except for
amounts paid during the calendar year 2004, which remain
subject to the terms of the Prior DC Plan).
The
following table shows aggregate compensation payable to each of the Fund’s
Trustees from the Fund for the fiscal year ended December
31, 2023 and the aggregate compensation payable to each of the funds’
Trustees by the Fund Complex (which includes all of
the Morgan Stanley Funds) for the calendar year ended December 31, 2023.
|
| |
Compensation1
|
Name
of Independent Trustee: |
Aggregate
Compensation
From the
Fund2
|
Total
Compensation From
Fund and Fund
Complex Paid to
Trustee3
|
Frank
L. Bowman |
$319 |
$400,000 |
Frances
L. Cashman2,3
|
267 |
335,000 |
Kathleen
A. Dennis |
307 |
385,000 |
Nancy
C. Everett |
307 |
385,000 |
Eddie
A. Grier |
267 |
335,000 |
Jakki
L. Haussler |
330 |
415,000 |
Manuel
H. Johnson |
307 |
385,000 |
Joseph
J. Kearns2,3,4
|
267 |
335,000 |
Michael
F. Klein2,3
|
307 |
385,000 |
|
| |
Compensation1 |
Name
of Independent Trustee: |
Aggregate
Compensation
From the
Fund2 |
Total
Compensation From
Fund and Fund
Complex Paid to
Trustee3 |
Patricia
A. Maleski |
267 |
335,000 |
W.
Allen Reed3
|
502 |
630,000 |
1 |
Includes
all amounts paid for serving as director/trustee of the funds in the Fund
Complex, as well as serving as Chair of the Boards or a Chairperson of a
Committee.
|
2 |
The
amounts shown in this column represent the aggregate compensation before
deferral with respect to the Fund’s fiscal year. The following Trustees
deferred compensation
from the Fund during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023: Ms. Cashman,
$133, Mr. Kearns, $127 and Mr. Klein, $307. |
3 |
The
amounts shown in this column represent the aggregate compensation paid by
all of the funds in the Fund Complex as of December 31, 2023
before
deferral by
the Trustees under the DC Plan. As of December 31, 2023,
the
value (including interest) of the deferral accounts across the Fund
Complex for Ms. Cashman and
Messrs.
Kearns,
Klein and Reed pursuant to the deferred compensation plan was
$173,673,
$1,236,375, $3,928,291 and $4,422,691,
respectively. Because the
funds in the Fund Complex have different fiscal year ends, the amounts
shown in this column are presented on a calendar year
basis. |
4 |
Mr.
Kearns retired from the Board of Trustees on December 31,
2023. |
Prior
to December 31, 2003, 49 of the Morgan Stanley Funds (the “Adopting Funds”),
including the Fund, had adopted a retirement
program under which an Independent Trustee who retired after serving for at
least five years as an Independent Trustee of any
such fund (an “Eligible Trustee”) would have been entitled to retirement
payments, based on factors such as length of service, upon
reaching the eligible retirement age. On December 31, 2003, the amount of
accrued retirement benefits for each Eligible Trustee
was frozen, and will be payable, together with a return of 8% per annum, at or
following each such Eligible Trustee’s retirement
as shown in the table below.
The
following table illustrates the retirement benefits accrued to the Fund’s
Independent Trustees by the Fund for the fiscal year ended
December 31, 2023 and by the Adopting Funds for the calendar year ended
December 31, 2023, and the estimated retirement benefits
for the Independent Trustees, from the Fund as of the fiscal year ended December
31, 2023 and from the Adopting Funds for
each calendar year following retirement. Only the Trustees listed below
participated in the retirement program.
|
|
|
| |
|
Retirement
Benefits Accrued as Fund Expenses |
Estimated
Annual Benefits Upon Retirement1
|
Name
of Independent Trustee |
By
the Fund |
By
all Adopting Funds |
From
the Fund |
From
all Adopting Funds |
Manuel
H. Johnson2
|
$(492) |
$(19,083) |
$1,420 |
$55,816 |
1 |
Total
compensation accrued under the retirement plan, together with a return of
8% per annum, will be paid annually commencing upon retirement and
continuing
for the remainder of the Trustee’s life. |
2 |
Mr.
Johnson’s retirement expenses are negative due to the fact that his
retirement date has been extended and therefore his expenses have been
over-accrued. |
CONTROL
PERSONS AND PRINCIPAL HOLDERS OF SECURITIES
As
of April
1,
2024, the following persons or entities owned, of record or beneficially, more
than 5% of the shares of any class of the Fund’s
outstanding shares.
|
| |
Fund |
Name
and Address |
%
of Class |
Long
Duration Government Opportunities Fund Class
I) |
Morgan
Stanley & Co* Harborside
Financial Center Plaza
II 3rd Floor Jersey
City NJ 07311 |
32.17% |
|
National
Financial Services LLC For
Exclusive Benefit of our Customers 499
Washington BLVD ATTN
Mutual Funds Dept - 4th Floor Jersey
City NJ 07310-1995 |
28.89% |
|
Raymond
James House
Acct Firm 92500015 Omnibus
for Mutual Funds ATTN
Courtney Waller 880
Carillon Pkwy St
Petersburg FL 33716-1102 |
16.24% |
Long
Duration Government Opportunities Fund (Class
A) |
Morgan
Stanley & Co* Harborside
Financial Center Plaza
II 3rd Floor Jersey
City NJ 07311 |
62.52% |
|
| |
Fund |
Name
and Address |
%
of Class |
|
State
Street Bank and Trust as Trustee
and/or Custodian FBO
ADP Access Product 1
Lincoln St Boston
MA 02111-2901 |
5.17% |
Long
Duration Government Opportunities Fund (Class
L) |
Morgan
Stanley & Co* Harborside
Financial Center Plaza
II 3rd Floor Jersey
City NJ 07311 |
83.22% |
|
Charles
Schwab & Co Inc Special
Custody Acct FBO Customers ATTN:
Mutual Funds 211
Main St San
Francisco CA 94105-1901 |
5.99% |
Long
Duration Government Opportunities Fund (Class
C) |
Morgan
Stanley & Co* Harborside
Financial Center Plaza
II 3rd Floor Jersey
City NJ 07311 |
59.53% |
|
Wells
Fargo Clearing Services LLC A/C
1699-0135 Special
Custody Acct for the Exclusive
Benefit of Customer 2801
Market St Saint
Louis MO 63103-2523 |
26.32% |
|
Raymond
James Omnibus
For Mutual Funds House
Acct Firm 92500015 ATTN
Courtney Waller 880
Carillon Pkwy St
Petersburg FL 33716-1102 |
10.47% |
* |
The
persons listed above as owning 25% or more of the outstanding shares of a
Fund may be presumed to “control” (as that term is defined in the 1940
Act) such Fund.
As a result, those persons could have the ability to vote a majority of
the shares of the respective Fund on any matter requiring the approval of
shareholders of
such Fund. |
The
percentage ownership of shares of the Fund changes from time to time depending
on purchases and redemptions by shareholders and
the total number of shares outstanding.
INVESTMENT
ADVISORY AND OTHER SERVICES
Adviser
and Administrator
The
Adviser to the Fund is Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc., a Delaware
corporation, whose address is 1585 Broadway, New
York, NY 10036. The Adviser is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Morgan Stanley, a
Delaware corporation traded on the NYSE under
the symbol “MS.” Morgan Stanley is 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. As
of March 31, 2024,
the Adviser, together with its affiliated asset management companies, had
approximately $1.5 trillion in assets under management
or supervision.
Pursuant
to an Investment Advisory Agreement (the “Investment Advisory Agreement”) with
the Adviser, the Fund has retained the Adviser
to manage and/or oversee the investment of the Fund’s assets, including the
placing of orders for the purchase and sale of portfolio
securities. The Fund pays the Adviser monthly compensation calculated daily by
applying the following annual rates to the daily
net assets of the Fund determined as of the close of each business day: 0.42% of
the portion of the daily net assets not exceeding $1
billion; 0.395% of the portion of the daily net assets exceeding $1 billion but
not exceeding $1.5 billion; 0.37% of the portion of the
daily net assets exceeding $1.5 billion but not exceeding $2 billion; 0.345% of
the portion of the daily net assets exceeding $2 billion
but not exceeding $2.5 billion; 0.32% of the portion of the daily net assets
exceeding $2.5 billion but not exceeding $5 billion;
0.295% of the portion of the daily net assets exceeding $5 billion but not
exceeding $7.5 billion; 0.27% of the portion of the daily
net assets exceeding $7.5 billion but not exceeding $10 billion; 0.245% of the
portion of the daily net assets exceeding $10 billion
but not exceeding $12.5 billion; and 0.22% of the portion of the daily net
assets exceeding $12.5 billion. The investment advisory
fee is allocated among the classes pro rata based on the net assets of the Fund
attributable to each class.
Administration
services are provided to the Fund by Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc.,
a wholly-owned subsidiary of Morgan
Stanley, pursuant to a separate administration agreement (the “Administration
Agreement”) entered into by the Fund with
the
Administrator. The Fund pays the Administrator monthly compensation which on an
annual basis equals 0.08% of 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 waivers
and/or expense reimbursements 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 the 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
following table reflects for the Fund (i) the advisory fee paid; and (ii) the
advisory fee waived and/or affiliated rebates for each of the
past three fiscal years ended December 31, 2021, 2022 and 2023:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Advisory
Fees Paid (After
Fee Waivers and/or Affiliated Rebates) |
Advisory
Fees Waived |
Affiliated
Rebates |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
$1,145,364 |
$747,178 |
$383,107 |
$326,113 |
$370,105 |
$501,043 |
$3,494 |
$1,647 |
$18,398 |
For
the fiscal years ended December 31, 2021, 2022 and 2023, the Fund paid
compensation under its Administration Agreement as follows
(no administrative fees were waived):
|
| |
Compensation
Paid for the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
$280,947 |
$213,130 |
$171,914 |
Under
a Sub-Administration Agreement between the Administrator and State Street Bank
and Trust Company (“State Street”), State Street
provides certain administrative services to the Fund. For such services, the
Administrator pays State Street a portion of the fee the
Administrator receives from the Fund. The Administrator supervises and monitors
the administrative and accounting services provided
by State Street. Their services are also subject to the supervision of the
officers and Board of Trustees of the Fund. State Street’s
business address is One Congress Street, Boston, MA 02114-2016.
Principal
Underwriter
The
Fund’s principal underwriter is Morgan Stanley Distribution, Inc. (which
has the same address as the Adviser). In this capacity, the
Fund’s shares are distributed by the Distributor. The Distributor has entered
into a selected dealer agreement with Morgan Stanley
Smith Barney LLC and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, which through their own sales
organizations sell shares of the Fund. In addition,
the Distributor may enter into similar agreements with other selected
broker-dealers. The Distributor, a Delaware corporation,
is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Morgan Stanley.
The
Distributor bears all expenses it may incur in providing services under the
Distribution Agreement. These expenses include the payment
to Financial Intermediaries of any sales commissions, service fees and other
expenses for sales of the Fund’s shares incurred or
paid by Financial Intermediaries. The Distributor also pays certain expenses in
connection with the distribution of the Fund’s shares,
including the costs of preparing, printing and distributing advertising or
promotional materials, and the costs of printing and distributing
prospectuses and supplements thereto used in connection with the offering and
sale of the Fund’s shares. The Fund bears the
costs of initial typesetting, printing and distribution of prospectuses and
supplements thereto to shareholders. The Fund also bears
the costs of registering the Fund and its shares under federal and state
securities laws and pays filing fees in accordance with state
securities laws.
The
Fund and the Distributor have agreed to indemnify each other against certain
liabilities, including liabilities under the 1933 Act. Under
the Distribution Agreement, the Distributor uses its best efforts in rendering
services to the Fund, but in the absence of willful misfeasance,
bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of its obligations, the
Distributor is not liable to the Fund or any of its shareholders
for any error of judgment or mistake of law or for any act or omission or for
any losses sustained by the Fund or its shareholders.
Services
Provided by the Adviser and Administrator
The
Adviser manages the investment of the Fund’s assets, including the placing of
orders for the purchase and sale of portfolio securities.
The Adviser obtains and evaluates the information and advice relating to the
economy, securities markets and specific
securities
as it considers necessary or useful to continuously manage the assets of the
Fund in a manner consistent with its investment objective.
Under
the terms of the Administration Agreement, the Administrator maintains certain
of the Fund’s books and records and furnishes,
at its own expense, the office space, facilities, equipment, clerical help and
bookkeeping as the Fund may reasonably require in
the conduct of its business. The Administrator also assists in the preparation
of prospectuses, proxy statements and reports required
to be filed with federal and state securities commissions (except insofar as the
participation or assistance of the independent registered
public accounting firm and attorneys is, in the opinion of the Administrator,
necessary or desirable). The Administrator also
bears the cost of telephone service, heat, light, power and other utilities
provided to the Fund.
Expenses
not expressly assumed by the Adviser under the Investment Advisory Agreement or
by the Administrator under the Administration
Agreement or by the Distributor will be paid by the Fund. These expenses will be
allocated among the four classes of shares
pro rata based on the net assets of the Fund attributable to each class, except
as described below. Such expenses include, but are not
limited to: expenses of the Plan of Distribution pursuant to Rule 12b-1; charges
and expenses of any registrar, custodian, stock transfer
and dividend disbursing agent; brokerage commissions; taxes; registration costs
of the Fund and its shares under federal and state
securities laws; the cost and expense of printing, including typesetting, and
distributing prospectuses of the Fund and supplements
thereto to the Fund’s shareholders; all expenses of shareholders’ and Trustees’
meetings and of preparing, printing and mailing
of proxy statements and reports to shareholders; fees and travel expenses of
Trustees or members of any advisory board or committee
who are not employees of the Adviser or any corporate affiliate of the Adviser;
all expenses incident to any dividend, withdrawal
or redemption options; charges and expenses of any outside service used for
pricing of the Fund’s shares; fees and expenses
of legal counsel, including counsel to the Trustees who are not interested
persons of the Fund or of the Adviser (not including
compensation or expenses of attorneys who are employees of the Adviser); fees
and expenses of the Fund’s independent registered
public accounting firm; membership dues of industry associations; interest on
Fund borrowings; postage; insurance premiums
on property or personnel (including officers and Trustees) of the Fund which
inure to its benefit; extraordinary expenses (including,
but not limited to, legal claims and liabilities and litigation costs and any
indemnification relating thereto); and all other costs
of the Fund’s operation. The 12b-1 fees relating to a particular class will be
allocated directly to that class. In addition, sub-accounting
and other expenses directly attributable to a particular class (except advisory
or custodial fees) will be allocated directly to such
class.
The
Investment Advisory Agreement provides that in the absence of willful
misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard
of its obligations thereunder, the Adviser is not liable to the Fund or any of
its investors for any act or omission by the Adviser
or for any losses sustained by the Fund or its investors.
The
Investment Advisory Agreement will remain in effect from year to year, provided
continuance of the Investment Advisory Agreement
is approved at least annually by the vote of the holders of a majority, as
defined in the 1940 Act, of the outstanding shares of
the Fund, or by the Trustees; provided that in either event such continuance is
approved annually by the vote of a majority of the Independent
Trustees.
The
Administration Agreement provides that in the absence of willful misfeasance,
bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of its
obligations thereunder, the Administrator is not liable to the Fund or any of
its investors for any act or omission by the Administrator
or for any losses sustained by the Fund or its investors. The Administration
Agreement will continue unless terminated by
either party by written notice delivered to the other party within 30
days.
Dealer
Reallowances
Upon
notice to selected broker-dealers, the Distributor may reallow up to the full
applicable front-end sales charge during periods specified
in such notice. During periods when 90% or more of the sales charge is
reallowed, such selected broker-dealers may be deemed
to be underwriters as that term is defined in the 1933 Act.
Rule
12b-1 Plan
The
Fund has adopted an Amended and Restated Plan of Distribution, effective April
30, 2015, pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940
Act (the “Current Plan”) pursuant to which each class, other than Class I, pays
the Distributor compensation accrued daily and payable
monthly at the following maximum annual rates: 0.25%, 0.50% and 1.00% of the
average daily net assets of Class A, Class L and
Class C shares, respectively.
The
Distributor also receives the proceeds of front-end sales charges (“FSCs”) and
of contingent deferred sales charges (“CDSCs”) imposed
on certain redemptions of shares, which are separate and apart from payments
made pursuant to the Plan. The Distributor has
informed the Fund that it and/or Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC received the
proceeds of CDSCs and FSCs, for the last three fiscal years
ended December 31, as applicable, in approximate amounts as provided in the
table below:
|
|
|
| |
Class |
2021 |
|
2022 |
2023 |
Class
A |
FSCs:1 CDSCs: |
$13,871 $13,299 |
$4,360 $3,245 |
$15,606 $3,568 |
Class
C |
CDSCs: |
$2,936 |
$0 |
$834 |
1 |
FSCs
apply to Class A only. |
The
entire fee payable by Class A shares and a portion of the fees payable by each
of Class L and Class C shares each year pursuant to the
Plan up to 0.25% of such class‘
average daily net assets are currently each characterized as a “service fee”
under the Rules of the Financial
Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) (of which the Distributor is a member).
The “service fee” is a payment made for personal
service and/or the maintenance of shareholder accounts. The remaining portion of
the Plan fees payable by a class,
if any, is characterized
as an “asset-based sales charge” as such is defined by the Rules of
FINRA.
Under
the Plan and as required by Rule 12b-1, the Trustees receive and review promptly
after the end of each calendar quarter a written
report provided by the Distributor of the amounts expended under the Plan and
the purpose for which such expenditures were
made. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, Class A, Class L and Class C
shares of the Fund made payments under the Plan
amounting to $428,948,
$17,537
and $33,948
respectively, which amounts are equal to 0.25%, 0.50% and 1.00% of the
average
daily net assets of Class A, Class L and Class C, respectively, for the fiscal
year.
The
Plan was adopted in order to permit the implementation of the Fund’s method of
distribution. Under this distribution method the
Fund offers four classes,
each with a different distribution arrangement.
With
respect to Class A shares of the Fund, the Distributor generally compensates
Financial Intermediaries from proceeds of the FSC,
commissions for the sale of Class A shares, currently a gross sales credit of up
to 3.75% of the amount sold and an annual residual
commission, currently a residual of up to 0.25% of the current value of the
respective accounts for which they are dealers of record
in all cases.
With
respect to Class C shares of the Fund, a commission or transaction fee generally
will be compensated by the Distributor at the time
of purchase directly out of the Distributor’s assets (and not out of the Fund’s
assets) to Financial Intermediaries who initiate and are
responsible for such purchases computed based on a percentage of the
dollar value of such shares sold of up to 1.00% on Class C shares.
Proceeds
from any CDSC and any distribution fees on Class C shares are paid to the
Distributor and are used by the Distributor to defray
its distribution related expenses in connection with the sale of the Fund’s
shares, such as the payment to Financial Intermediaries
for selling such shares.
With
respect to Class L and Class C shares of the Fund, the Financial Intermediaries
generally receive from the Distributor ongoing distribution
fees of up to 0.50% of the average daily net assets of the Fund’s Class L shares
annually commencing in the second year after
purchase and up to 1.00% of the average daily net assets of the Fund’s Class C
shares annually.
The
distribution fee that the Distributor receives from the Fund under the Plan, in
effect, offsets distribution expenses incurred under
the Plan on behalf of the Fund.
These expenses may include the cost of Fund-related educational and/or
business-related trips or
payment of Fund-related educational and/or promotional expenses of Financial
Intermediaries.
The
Fund may reimburse expenses incurred or to be incurred in promoting the
distribution of the Fund’s Class A, Class L and Class C
shares and/or in servicing shareholder accounts. Reimbursement will be made
through payments at the end of each month. The amount
of each monthly payment may in no event exceed an amount equal to a payment at
the annual rate of 0.25%, in the case of Class
A, 0.50%, in the case of Class L and 1.00%, in the case of Class C, of the
average net assets of the respective Class during the month.
No interest or other financing charges, if any, incurred on any distribution
expenses on behalf of Class A, Class L and Class C
will be reimbursable under the Plan.
Each
Class paid 100% of the amounts accrued under the Plan with respect to that Class
for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 to
the Distributor. It is estimated that the Distributor spent this amount in
approximately the following ways: (i) 0%
($0)
— advertising
and promotional expenses; (ii) 0%
($0)
— printing and mailing of prospectuses for distribution to other than current
shareholders;
and (iii) 0%
($0)
— other expenses, including the gross sales credit and the carrying charge, of
which 0%
($0)
represents
carrying charges, 0%
($0)
represents commission credits for payments of commissions to Financial
Intermediaries and 0%
($0)
represents overhead and other branch office distribution-related expenses. The
amounts accrued by Class A and a portion of the amounts
accrued by Class L
under the Plan during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 were service fees.
The remainder of the amounts
accrued by Class L were for expenses, which relate to compensation of sales
personnel and associated overhead expenses.
In
the case of Class A, Class L and Class C shares, expenses incurred pursuant to
the Plan in any calendar year in excess of 0.25%, 0.50%
or 1.00% of the average daily net assets of Class A, Class L and Class C shares,
respectively, will not be reimbursed by the Fund
through payments in any subsequent year, except that expenses representing a
gross sales commission credited to Financial Intermediaries
at the time of sale may be reimbursed in the subsequent calendar year. The
Distributor has advised the Fund that
there
were no unreimbursed expenses representing a gross sales commission
credited to Financial Intermediaries in the case of Class A,
Class L or Class C shares at December 31, 2023 (the end of the calendar year).
No interest or other financing charges will be incurred
on any Class A, Class L or Class C distribution expenses incurred by the
Distributor under the Plan or on any unreimbursed expenses
due to the Distributor pursuant to the Plan.
No
interested person of the Fund nor any Independent Trustee has any direct
financial interest in the operation of the Plan except to the
extent that the Distributor, the Adviser, the Administrator, Morgan Stanley
Smith Barney LLC or certain of their employees may be
deemed to have such an interest as a result of benefits derived from the
successful operation of the Plan or as a result of receiving a portion
of the amounts expended thereunder by the Fund.
On
an annual basis, the Trustees, including a majority of the Independent Trustees,
consider whether the Plan should be continued. Prior
to approving the last continuation of the Plan, the Trustees requested and
received from the Distributor and reviewed all the information
which they deemed necessary to arrive at an informed determination. In making
their determination to continue the Plan,
the Trustees considered: (1) the Fund’s experience under the Plan and whether
such experience indicates that the Plan is operating
as anticipated; (2) the benefits the Fund had obtained, was obtaining and would
be likely to obtain under the Plan, including
that: (a) the Plan is essential in order to give Fund investors a choice of
alternatives for payment of distribution and service charges
and to enable the Fund to continue to grow and avoid a pattern of net
redemptions which, in turn, are essential for effective investment
management; and (b) without the compensation to individual brokers and the
reimbursement of distribution and account maintenance
expenses of Financial Intermediaries made possible by the 12b-1 fees, Financial
Intermediaries could not establish and maintain
an effective system for distribution, servicing of Fund shareholders and
maintenance of shareholder accounts; and (3) what services
had been provided and were continuing to be provided under the Plan to the Fund
and its shareholders. Based upon their review,
the Trustees, including each of the Independent Trustees, determined that
continuation of the Plan would be in the best interest
of the Fund and would have a reasonable likelihood of continuing to benefit the
Fund and its shareholders.
The
Plan may not be amended to increase materially the amount to be spent for the
services described therein without approval by the
shareholders of the affected class
or classes
of the Fund, and all material amendments to the Plan must also be approved by
the Trustees.
The Plan may be terminated at any time, without payment of any penalty, by vote
of a majority of the Independent Trustees
or by a vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund (as
defined in the 1940 Act) on not more than 30 days’
written notice to any other party to the Plan. So long as the Plan is in effect,
the election and nomination of Independent Trustees
shall be committed to the discretion of the Independent Trustees.
Other
Service Providers
Transfer
Agent/Dividend Disbursing Agent
SS&C
Global Investor and Distribution Solutions, Inc. (“SS&C GIDS”), 333 W 11th
Street, Kansas City, MO 64105, serves as the Fund’s
transfer agent and dividend disbursing agent for payment of dividends and
distributions on Fund shares.
Co-Transfer
Agent
Eaton
Vance Management is the co-transfer agent with respect to the Fund. Eaton Vance
Management is a registered transfer agent and
operates the Fund’s call center
at 1-800-869-6397.
In connection therewith, Eaton Vance Management performs certain transfer
agency
services related to processing and relaying purchase and redemption orders to
SS&C GIDS, the Fund’s transfer agent. The Fund
will bear the costs associated with Eaton Vance Management’s provision of these
transfer agency services.
Custodian
and Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
State
Street Bank and Trust Company, One Congress Street, Boston, MA 02114,
is the custodian of the Fund’s assets. Any of the Fund’s
cash balances with the Custodian in excess of $250,000 are unprotected by
federal deposit insurance. These balances may, at times,
be substantial.
Ernst
& Young LLP, located at 200 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA 02116,
serves as the Fund’s independent registered public accounting
firm and provides audit and audit-related services, tax-related services and
assistance in connection with various SEC filings.
Fund
Management
Other
Accounts Managed by the Portfolio Managers
Other
Accounts Managed by Portfolio Managers at December 31, 2023 (unless
otherwise indicated):
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Other
Registered Investment Companies |
Other
Pooled Investment Vehicles |
Other
Accounts |
Portfolio
Managers |
Number
of Accounts |
Total
Assets in the Accounts |
Number
of Accounts |
Total
Assets in the Accounts |
Number
of Accounts |
Total
Assets in the Accounts |
Alexander
Payne |
3 |
$1.7
billion |
1 |
$24.6
million |
0 |
0 |
Andrew
Szczurowski |
6 |
$8.0
billion |
2 |
$88.4
million |
0 |
0 |
Because
the portfolio managers may manage assets for other investment companies, pooled
investment vehicles and/or other accounts (including
institutional clients, pension plans and certain high net worth individuals),
there may be an incentive to favor one client over
another resulting in conflicts of interest. For instance, the Adviser may
receive fees from certain accounts that are higher than the fee
it receives from the Fund, or it may receive a performance-based fee on certain
accounts. In those instances, the portfolio managers
may have an incentive to favor the higher and/or performance-based fee accounts
over the Fund. In addition, a conflict of interest
could exist to the extent the Adviser has proprietary investments in certain
accounts, where portfolio managers have personal investments
in certain accounts or when certain accounts are investment options in the
Adviser’s employee benefits and/or deferred compensation
plans. The portfolio managers may have an incentive to favor these accounts over
others. If the Adviser manages accounts
that engage in short sales of securities of the type in which the Fund invests,
the Adviser could be seen as harming the performance
of the Fund for the benefit of the accounts engaging in short sales if the short
sales cause the market value of the securities
to fall. The Adviser has adopted trade allocation and other policies and
procedures that it believes are reasonably designed to address
these and other conflicts of interest.
Portfolio
Manager Compensation Structure
Morgan
Stanley’s compensation structure is based on a total reward system of base
salary and incentive compensation, which is paid either
in the form of cash bonus, or for employees meeting the specified deferred
compensation eligibility threshold, partially as a cash
bonus and partially as mandatory deferred compensation. MSIM
compensates employees based on principles of pay-for-performance,
market competitiveness and risk management. Deferred
compensation granted to Investment Management employees are
generally granted as a mix of deferred cash awards under the Investment
Management Alignment Plan (IMAP) and equity-based awards
in the form of stock units. The portion of incentive compensation granted in the
form of a deferred compensation award and the
terms of such awards are determined annually by the Compensation, Management
Development and Succession Committee of the
Morgan Stanley Board of Directors.
Base
salary compensation.
Generally, portfolio managers receive base salary compensation based on the
level of their position with the Adviser.
Incentive
compensation. In
addition to base compensation, portfolio managers may receive discretionary
year-end compensation.
Incentive
compensation may include:
■ |
A
mandatory program that defers a portion of incentive compensation into
restricted stock units or other awards based on Morgan
Stanley common stock or other plans that are subject to vesting and other
conditions. |
■ |
IMAP
is a cash-based deferred compensation plan designed to increase the
alignment of participants’ interests with the interests
of the Advisor’s clients. For eligible employees, a portion of their
deferred compensation is mandatorily deferred into
IMAP on an annual basis. Awards granted under IMAP are notionally invested
in referenced funds available pursuant to
the plan, which are funds advised by MSIM
and its affiliates that are investment advisers.
Portfolio managers are required
to notionally invest a minimum of 40% of their account balance in the
designated funds that they manage and are included
in the IMAP notional investment fund
menu. |
■ |
Deferred
compensation awards are typically subject to vesting over a multi-year
period and are subject to cancellation through
the payment date for competition, cause (i.e., any act or omission that
constitutes a breach of obligation to the Company,
including failure to comply with internal compliance, ethics or risk
management standards, and failure or refusal
to perform duties satisfactorily, including supervisory and management
duties), disclosure of proprietary information,
and solicitation of employees or clients. Awards are also subject to
clawback through the payment date if an employee’s
act or omission (including with respect to direct supervisory
responsibilities) causes a restatement of the Firm’s consolidated
financial results, constitutes a violation of the Firm’s global risk
management principles, policies and standards,
or causes a loss of revenue associated with a position on which the
employee was paid and the employee operated
outside of internal control policies. |
Eligibility
for, and the amount of any, discretionary compensation is subject to a
multi-dimensional process. Specifically, consideration
is given to one or more of the following factors, which can vary by portfolio
management team and circumstances:
■ |
Revenue
and profitability of the business and/or each fund/account
managed by the portfolio manager |
■ |
Revenue
and profitability of the Firm |
■ |
Return
on equity and risk factors of both the business units and Morgan
Stanley |
■ |
Assets
managed by the portfolio manager |
■ |
External
market conditions |
■ |
New
business development and business
sustainability |
■ |
Contribution
to client objectives |
■ |
Team,
product and/or MSIM performance |
■ |
The
pre-tax investment performance of the funds/accounts managed by the
portfolio manager (which may, in certain cases, be measured
against the applicable benchmark(s) and/or peer group(s) over one, three
and five-year periods) |
■ |
Individual
contribution and performance |
Further,
the Firm’s Global Incentive Compensation Discretion Policy requires compensation
managers to consider only legitimate, business
related factors when exercising discretion in determining variable incentive
compensation, including adherence to Morgan Stanley’s
core values, conduct, disciplinary actions in the current performance year, risk
management and risk outcomes.
Securities
Ownership of Portfolio Managers
As
of December 31, 2023 (unless otherwise noted), the dollar range of Fund shares
beneficially owned (or held notionally through IMAP)
by the portfolio managers in the Fund is shown below:
| |
Alexander
Payne |
$10,001
- $50,000 |
Andrew
Szczurowski |
$100,001
- $500,000 |
Codes
of Ethics
The
Fund, the Adviser and the Distributor have each adopted a Code of Ethics
pursuant to Rule 17j-1 under the 1940 Act. The Codes
of Ethics are designed to detect and prevent improper personal trading. The
Codes of Ethics permit personnel subject to the Codes
of Ethics to invest in securities, including securities that may be purchased,
sold or held by the Fund, subject to a number of restrictions
and controls, including prohibitions against purchases of securities in an
initial public offering and a preclearance requirement
with respect to personal securities transactions.
Proxy
Voting Policy and Proxy Voting Record
The
Board of Trustees believes that the voting of proxies on securities held by the
Fund is an important element of the overall investment
process. As such, the Trustees have delegated the responsibility to vote such
proxies to the Adviser.
A
copy of the Adviser’s Proxy Voting Policy (“Proxy Policy”) is attached hereto as
Appendix A. In addition, a copy of the Proxy Policy,
as well as the Fund’s most recent proxy voting record for the 12-month period
ended June 30, as filed with the SEC, are available
without charge on our web site at www.morganstanley.com/im. The Fund’s proxy
voting record is also available without charge
on the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov.
Revenue
Sharing
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, including recordkeepers and administrators of various deferred
compensation plans, in connection with the sale,
distribution, marketing and retention of Fund shares and/or shareholder
servicing. For example, the Adviser or the Distributor may
pay additional compensation to a Financial Intermediary for, among other things,
promoting the sale and distribution of Fund shares,
providing access to various programs, mutual fund platforms or preferred or
recommended mutual fund lists that may be offered
by a Financial Intermediary, granting the Distributor access to a Financial
Intermediary’s financial advisors and consultants, providing
assistance in the ongoing education and training of a Financial Intermediary’s
financial personnel, furnishing marketing support,
maintaining share balances and/or for sub-accounting, recordkeeping,
administrative, shareholder or transaction processing services.
The Adviser and/or Distributor will also reimburse certain investors, or make
payments to certain third-party vendors, to defray
costs incurred by investors for the use of treasury management systems or other
business-related software for investments in funds.
Such payments are in addition to any distribution fees, shareholder servicing
fees and/or transfer agency fees that may be payable
by the Fund. The additional payments may be based on various factors, including
level of sales (based on gross or net sales or some
specified minimum sales or some other similar criteria related to sales of the
Fund and/or some or all other Morgan Stanley Funds),
amount of assets invested by the Financial Intermediary’s customers (which could
include current or aged assets of the Fund and/or
some or all other Morgan Stanley Funds), the Fund’s advisory fees, some other
agreed upon amount or other measures as determined
from time to time by the Adviser and/or Distributor. The amount of these
payments may be different for different Financial
Intermediaries.
With
respect to Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, these payments may include the
following amounts, which are paid in accordance
with the applicable compensation structure:
|
(1)
the
Adviser may, from time-to-time, pay fees
in consideration of its
participation at various Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC
events, including seminars, conferences and meetings; |
|
(2)
an ongoing annual fee in an amount of $575,000 in consideration of Morgan
Stanley Smith Barney LLC providing Adviser with
access to distribution analytical data in relation to sales of the Fund
and certain other products managed and/or sponsored by the
Adviser or its affiliates; |
|
(3)
on Class I, Class A, Class L and Class C shares of the Fund held in Morgan
Stanley Smith Barney LLC brokerage and advisory accounts,
an ongoing annual fee in an amount up to 0.10% of the total average daily
NAV of such shares for the applicable quarterly
period; |
|
(4)
on Class I shares of the Fund held in Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC
brokerage and advisory accounts as of June 30, 2014, where
each such account holds $5 million or more in Class I shares of the Fund,
or had $4 million or more in assets (but less than $5
million) as of June 30, 2014 and reached $5 million by December 31, 2014,
an ongoing annual fee in an amount equal to 35%
of the advisory fee the Adviser receives from the Fund based on the
average daily NAV of such shares for the applicable quarterly
period; |
|
(5)
on Class A and Class I shares of the Fund held in an account through
certain 401(k) platforms in Morgan Stanley Smith Barney
LLC’s Corporate Retirement Solutions, an ongoing annual fee in an amount
up to 0.20% of the total average daily NAV of
such shares for the applicable quarterly period;
and |
|
(6)
on purchases of $1 million or more of Class A shares (for which no initial
sales charge was paid), Morgan Stanley Smith Barney
LLC may, at the discretion of the Distributor, receive a gross sales
credit of up to 0.50% of the amount
sold.* |
|
* Commissions
or transaction fees paid when Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC or other
Financial Intermediaries initiate and are
responsible for purchases of $1 million or more are computed on a
percentage of the dollar value of such shares sold as follows:
0.75%
on sales of $500,000 to $4 million, then 0.50% on sales over $4 million to
$15 million and then 0.25% on the excess over $15
million. Purchases of Class A shares for which no initial sales charge is
paid are subject to a CDSC of 0.50% if the redemption
of such shares occurs within 12 months after purchase. The full amount of
such CDSC will be retained by the Distributor. |
With
respect to Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, these payments may include the
following amounts, which are paid in accordance with the
applicable compensation structure:
|
(1)
on shares of the Fund, a fee in an amount up to 20% of the advisory fee
the Adviser receives from the Fund attributable to such
shares for the applicable period, not to exceed one
year. |
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 disclosure provided by Financial Intermediaries as to their
compensation.
Other
Payments to Intermediaries
The
Adviser and/or the Distributor may also make payments, out of their own assets
and not as an expense to the Fund, to Intermediaries
to offset certain nominal expenses of Intermediaries related to setup,
connectivity or other technological maintenance of
the Intermediary’s investment platform and/or the provision of services with
respect to the Fund or share class on an Intermediary’s
investment platform. Investors may wish to take such payment arrangements into
account when considering an investment
in Fund shares.
BROKERAGE
ALLOCATION AND OTHER PRACTICES
Brokerage
Transactions
Subject
to the general supervision of the Trustees, the Adviser is responsible for the
investment decisions and the placing of the orders for
portfolio transactions for the Fund. The Fund’s portfolio transactions will
occur primarily with issuers, underwriters or major dealers
in U.S. Government securities acting as principals. Such transactions are
normally on a net basis and do not involve payment of
brokerage commissions. The cost of securities purchased from an underwriter
usually includes a commission paid by the issuer to the
underwriters; transactions with dealers normally reflect the spread between bid
and asked prices. Options and futures transactions
will
usually be effected through a broker and a commission will be charged. On
occasion, the Fund may also purchase certain money market
instruments directly from an issuer, in which case no commissions or discounts
are paid.
Pursuant
to an order issued by the SEC, the Fund is permitted to engage in principal
transactions in money market instruments, subject
to certain conditions, with Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, a broker-dealer
affiliated with the Fund’s Adviser.
During
the fiscal years ended December 31, 2021, 2022 and 2023, the Fund did not effect
any principal transactions with Morgan Stanley
& Co. LLC.
Commissions
Brokerage
transactions in securities listed on exchanges or admitted to unlisted trading
privileges may be effected through Morgan Stanley
& Co. LLC and other affiliated brokers and dealers. In order for an
affiliated broker or dealer to effect any portfolio transactions
on an exchange for the Fund, the commissions, fees or other remuneration
received by the affiliated broker or dealer must
be reasonable and fair compared to the commissions, fees or other remuneration
paid to other brokers in connection with comparable
transactions involving similar securities being purchased or sold on an exchange
during a comparable period of time. This standard
would allow the affiliated broker or dealer to receive no more than the
remuneration which would be expected to be received
by an unaffiliated broker in a commensurate arm’s-length transaction.
Furthermore, the Trustees, including the Independent Trustees,
have adopted procedures which are reasonably designed to provide that any
commissions, fees or other remuneration paid to
an affiliated broker or dealer are consistent with the foregoing standard. The
Fund does not reduce the management fee it pays to the
Adviser by any amount of the brokerage commissions it may pay to an affiliated
broker or dealer.
During
the fiscal years ended December 31, 2021, 2022 and 2023, the Fund paid a total
of $13,055, $13,134 and $25,733
respectively,
in brokerage commissions.
During
the fiscal years ended December 31, 2021, 2022 and 2023, the Fund did not pay
any brokerage commissions to Morgan Stanley
& Co. LLC and/or its affiliated broker or dealer.
Brokerage
Selection
The
Adviser is responsible for decisions to buy and sell securities for the Fund,
for broker-dealer selection and for negotiation of commission
rates. The Adviser is prohibited from directing brokerage transactions on the
basis of the referral of clients or the sale of shares
of advised investment companies. Purchases and sales of securities on a stock
exchange are effected through brokers who charge a
commission for their services. In the OTC market, securities may be traded as
agency transactions through broker dealers or traded on
a “net” basis with dealers acting as principal for their own accounts without a
stated commission, although the price of the security
usually includes profit to the dealer. In underwritten offerings, securities are
purchased at a fixed price which includes an amount
of compensation to the underwriter, generally referred to as the underwriter’s
concession or discount. When securities are purchased
or sold directly from or to an issuer, no commissions or discounts are
paid.
On
occasion, the Fund may purchase certain money market instruments directly from
an issuer without payment of a commission or concession.
Money market instruments are generally traded on a “net” basis with dealers
acting as principal for their own accounts without
a stated commission, although the price of the security usually includes a
profit to the dealer.
The
Fund anticipates that certain of its transactions involving foreign securities
will be effected on foreign securities exchanges. There is
also generally less government supervision and regulation of foreign securities
exchanges and brokers than in the United States.
The
Adviser selects broker-dealers for the execution of transactions for the Fund in
accordance with their duty to seek “best execution”
(i.e., the most favorable terms of execution). In seeking best execution, the
Adviser is not obligated to choose the broker-dealer
offering the lowest available commission rate if, in the Adviser’s reasonable
judgment, (i) the total costs or proceeds from the transaction
might be less favorable than may be obtained elsewhere; (ii) a higher commission
is justified by the brokerage and research
services provided by the broker-dealer that fall within the safe harbor of
Section 28(e) of the 1934 Act or otherwise is permitted
under applicable law; or (iii) other considerations, such as the order size, the
time required for execution, the depth and breadth
of the market for the security or minimum credit quality requirements to
transact business with a particular broker-dealer. The
research services received include services which aid the Adviser in fulfilling
their investment decision-making responsibilities, including
(a) furnishing advice as to the value of securities, the advisability of
investing in, purchasing or selling securities, and the availability
of securities or purchasers or sellers of securities; and (b) furnishing
analyses and reports concerning issuers, industries, securities,
economic factors and trends, portfolio strategy, and the performance of
accounts.
When
effecting transactions on behalf of the Fund, the Adviser may trade with any
broker-dealer on their list of approved broker-dealers.
Approved broker-dealers have met criteria as established by the Adviser’s
Trading and Research Governance team (“TRG”). TRG
reviews and approves broker-dealers periodically to determine whether
broker-dealers on the approved list continue to meet such
criteria. The approval lists are reported quarterly to the Adviser’s
Counterparty Governance Committee. When selecting an approved
broker-dealer (including an affiliate) to execute securities transactions, the
following factors may be considered: (i) best
available
price; (ii) reliability, integrity and reputation in the industry (which may
include a review of financial information and creditworthiness);
(iii) execution capabilities, including block positioning, speed of execution
and quality and responsiveness of its trading
desk; (iv) knowledge of and access to the markets for the securities being
traded; (v) potential ability to obtain price improvement;
(vi) ability to maintain confidentiality; (vii) ability to handle
non-traditional trades; (viii) commission and commission-equivalent
rates; (ix) technology infrastructure; (x) clearance and settlement
capabilities; (xi) the size of the trade relative to
other trades in the same instrument; (xii) ability of a counterparty to commit
its capital to the Fund’s trade and its access to liquidity;
(xiii) counterparty restrictions associated with a portfolio, including
regulatory trading, documentation requirement or any specific
clearing broker-dealer requirements; (xiv) client-directed execution; (xv)
client-specific restrictions; and (xvi) such other factors
as may be appropriate.
Subject
to the duty to seek best execution, the Adviser uses a portion of the
commissions generated when executing client transactions to
acquire brokerage and research services that aid in fulfilling investment
decision-making responsibilities in accordance with Section 28(e)
and applicable law. Commissions paid to broker-dealers providing brokerage and
research services may be higher than those charged
by other broker-dealers. Subject to applicable law, the Adviser receives a
benefit when using client commissions to obtain brokerage
and research services because the Adviser does not have to produce or pay for
the brokerage research services itself. Therefore,
the Adviser has an incentive to select or recommend a broker-dealer based on its
interest in receiving brokerage and research
services, rather than solely on its clients’ interest in obtaining the best
price.
The
Adviser has adopted policies and procedures designed to help track and evaluate
the benefits received from brokerage and research
services, as well as to track how much clients pay above the amount that
broker-dealers from which the Adviser receives brokerage
and research services may have charged solely for execution of such trades. The
Adviser utilizes a voting system to assist in making
a good faith determination of the value of brokerage and research services it
receives in accordance with Section 28(e) and applicable
law. In many cases, these involve subjective judgments or approximations. The
Adviser has established a process for budgeting
research costs and allocating such costs across client accounts.
The
Adviser and certain other affiliated advisers have entered into commission
sharing arrangements (“CSAs”) with executing brokers (“CSA
Partners”) and a third-party vendor (“CSA Aggregator”). Pursuant to these
arrangements, and under the Adviser’s supervision, the
CSA Partners and CSA Aggregator track execution and research commissions
separately and pool and distribute research credits in
accordance with the policies and procedures discussed above to approved research
providers (which may include executing brokerage
firms or independent research providers (“Approved Research Providers”)) that
provide brokerage and research services. The
CSA Aggregator also reconciles research credits from trades with CSA Partners,
and pays Approved Research Providers and provides
other related administrative functions. In addition, a CSA Partner may provide
the Adviser with proprietary research it has developed
and, upon instruction, may retain research commission credits as compensation
for the provision of such proprietary research
services. The Adviser believes that these arrangements allow it to monitor the
amount of trading costs that are attributable to execution
services on the one hand and other brokerage and research services on the
other.
Transactions
that generate research credits include equity transactions executed on an agency
basis or via a riskless principal transaction
where the executing broker-dealer receives a commission. The Adviser does not
use CSAs or otherwise have arrangements to
pay for brokerage and research services with client commissions in connection
with trading fixed-income securities. Consistent with
long-standing industry practice in the fixed-income markets, however, the
Adviser, subject to applicable law, may receive brokerage
and research services and other information, including access to fixed-income
trading platforms that dealers provide for no charge
to their customers in the ordinary course of business. Fixed-income instruments
typically trade at a bid/ask spread and without an
explicit brokerage charge. While there is not a formal trading expense or
commission, clients will bear the implicit trading costs reflected
in these spreads.
The
Adviser may receive “mixed use” products and services from an Approved Research
Provider, where a portion of the product or service
assists in its investment decision-making process in accordance with Section
28(e) and a portion may be used for other purposes.
Where a product or service has a mixed use, the Adviser will make a reasonable
allocation of its cost according to its use and will
use client commissions to pay only for the portion of the product or service
that assists in its investment decision-making process. The
Adviser may have an incentive to allocate the costs to uses that assist in its
investment decision-making process because the Adviser
may pay for such costs with client commissions rather than its own resources. To
the extent the Adviser receives “mixed use” products
and services, the Adviser will allocate the anticipated costs of a mixed use
product or service in good faith and maintain records
concerning allocations in order to mitigate such conflicts.
Client
accounts that pay a greater amount of commissions relative to other accounts may
bear a greater share of the cost of brokerage and
research services than such other accounts. The Adviser may use brokerage and
research services obtained with brokerage commissions
from some clients for the benefit of other clients whose brokerage commissions
do not pay for such brokerage and research
services. The Adviser may also share brokerage and research services with its
affiliated advisers, and the clients of its affiliated advisers
may receive the benefits of such brokerage and research services. These
arrangements remain subject to the Adviser’s overall obligation
to seek best execution for client trading.
The
European Union’s Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (“MiFID II”),
which became effective January 3, 2018, requires
investment advisers regulated under MiFID II to pay for research services
separately from trade execution services, either through
their own resources or a research payment account funded by a specific charge to
a client. Although the Adviser is not directly
subject to the provisions of MiFID II, certain of its affiliated advisers are,
such as Morgan Stanley Investment Management Limited;
accordingly, as applicable, the Adviser makes a reasonable valuation and
allocation of the cost of research services as between MiFID
II client accounts and other accounts that participate in CSAs and will pay for
research services received with respect to MiFID
II client accounts from its own resources. The Adviser and affiliated advisers
subject to MiFID II may separately pay for fixed income
research from their own resources. Following its withdrawal from the EU on
January 31, 2020, the United Kingdom has entered
a transition period, during which EU law (including MiFID II) will continue to
apply in the United Kingdom. Following the transition
period, investment managers in the United Kingdom may still be required to
comply with certain MiFID II equivalent requirements
in accordance with the handbook of rules and guidance issued by the Financial
Conduct Authority.
When
permitted under applicable law, portfolio managers generally will aggregate
orders of their clients for the same securities in a single
order so that such orders are executed simultaneously in order to facilitate
best execution and to reduce brokerage costs. The Adviser
effects aggregated orders in a manner designed to ensure that no participating
client is favored over any other client.
In
general, accounts that participate in an aggregated order will participate on a
pro rata or other objective basis. Pro rata allocation of securities
and other instruments will generally consist of allocation based on the order
size of a participating client account in proportion
to the size of the orders placed for other accounts participating in the
aggregated order. However, the Adviser may allocate such
securities and other instruments using a method other than pro rata if their
supply is limited, based on differing portfolio characteristics
among accounts or to avoid odd lots or small allocations, among other reasons.
These allocations are made in the good faith
judgment of the Adviser with a goal of seeking to ensure that fair and equitable
allocation occurs over time. There may be times that
the Adviser is not able to aggregate orders because of applicable law or other
considerations when doing so might otherwise be advantageous.
Regular
Broker-Dealers
During
the fiscal year ended December
31, 2023, the Fund did not purchase any securities issued by issuers who were
among the ten brokers
or the ten dealers which executed transactions for or with the Fund in the
largest dollar amounts during the period. At December
31, 2023, the Fund did not own any securities issued by any of such
issuers.
CAPITAL
STOCK AND OTHER SECURITIES
The
shareholders of the Fund are entitled to a full vote for each full share of
beneficial interest held. The Fund is authorized to issue an
unlimited number of shares of beneficial interest. All shares of beneficial
interest of the Fund are of $0.01 par value and are equal as
to earnings, assets and voting privileges except that each class will have
exclusive voting privileges with respect to matters relating to distribution
expenses borne solely by such class or any other matter in which the interests
of one class differ from the interests of any other
class. Also, Class A, Class L and Class C bear expenses related to the
distribution of their respective shares.
The
Fund’s Declaration of Trust permits the Trustees to authorize the creation of
additional series of shares (the proceeds of which would
be invested in separate, independently managed portfolios) and additional
classes of shares within any series. The Trustees have
not presently authorized any such additional series or classes of shares other
than as set forth in the Prospectus.
The
Fund is not required to hold annual meetings of shareholders and in ordinary
circumstances the Fund does not intend to hold such
meetings. The Trustees may call special meetings of shareholders for action by
shareholder vote as may be required by the 1940 Act
or the Declaration of Trust. Under certain circumstances, the Trustees may be
removed by the actions of the Trustees. In addition,
under certain circumstances, the shareholders may call a meeting to remove the
Trustees and the Fund is required to provide
assistance in communication with shareholders about such a meeting. The voting
rights of shareholders are not cumulative, so
that holders of more than 50% of the shares voting can, if they choose, elect
all Trustees being selected, while the holders of the remaining
shares would be unable to elect any Trustees.
Under
Massachusetts law, shareholders of a business trust may, under certain limited
circumstances, be held personally liable as partners
for the obligations of the Fund. However, the Declaration of Trust contains an
express disclaimer of shareholder liability for acts
or obligations of the Fund, requires that notice of such Fund obligations
include such disclaimer, and provides for indemnification
out of the Fund’s property for any shareholder held personally liable for the
obligations of the Fund. Thus, the risk of
a shareholder incurring financial loss on account of shareholder liability is
limited to circumstances in which the Fund itself would be
unable to meet its obligations. Given the above limitations on shareholder
personal liability, and the nature of the Fund’s assets and
operations, the possibility of the Fund being unable to meet its obligations is
remote and thus, in the opinion of Massachusetts counsel
to the Fund, the risk to Fund shareholders of personal liability is
remote.
The
Trustees themselves have the power to alter the number and the terms of office
of the Trustees (as provided for in the Declaration
of Trust), and they may at any time lengthen or shorten their own terms or make
their terms of unlimited duration and
appoint
their own successors, provided that always at least a majority of the Trustees
has been elected by the shareholders of the Fund.
PURCHASE,
REDEMPTION AND PRICING OF 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, respectively. However, the existing
Class L shareholders may invest in additional shares of their
respective class through reinvestment of dividends and
distributions.
Purchase/Redemption
of Shares
Information
concerning how Fund shares are offered to the public (and how they are redeemed
and exchanged) is provided in the Fund’s
Prospectus.
Suspension
of Redemptions.
Redemptions are not made on days during which the NYSE is closed. The right of
redemption may be suspended
and the payment therefore may be postponed for more than seven days during any
period when (a) the NYSE is closed for other
than customary weekends or holidays; (b) the SEC determines trading on the NYSE
is restricted; (c) the SEC determines an emergency
exists as a result of which disposal by the Fund of securities owned by it is
not reasonably practicable or it is not reasonably
practicable for the Fund to fairly determine the value of its net assets; or (d)
the SEC, by order, so permits.
Transfer
Agent as Agent.
With respect to the redemption or repurchase of Fund shares, the application of
proceeds to the purchase of
new shares in the Fund or any other Morgan Stanley Funds and the general
administration of the exchange privilege, the Transfer Agent
acts as agent for the Distributor and for the shareholder’s authorized
broker-dealer, if any, in the performance of such functions.
With respect to exchanges, redemptions or repurchases, the Transfer Agent is
liable for its own negligence and not for the default
or negligence of its correspondents or for losses in transit. The Fund is not
liable for any default or negligence of the Transfer Agent,
the Distributor or any authorized broker-dealer.
The
Distributor and any authorized broker-dealer have appointed the Transfer Agent
to act as their agent in connection with the application
of proceeds of any redemption of Fund shares to the purchase of shares of any
other Morgan Stanley Fund and the general
administration of the exchange privilege. No commission or discounts will be
paid to the Distributor or any authorized broker-dealer
for any transaction pursuant to the exchange privilege.
Transfers
of Shares.
In the event a shareholder requests a transfer of Fund shares to a new
registration, the shares will be transferred without
sales charge at the time of transfer. With regard to the status of shares which
are either subject to the CDSC or free of such charge
(and with regard to the length of time shares subject to the charge have been
held), any transfer involving less than all of the shares
in an account will be made on a pro rata basis (that is, by transferring shares
in the same proportion that the transferred shares bear
to the total shares in the account immediately prior to the transfer). The
transferred shares will continue to be subject to any applicable
CDSC as if they had not been so transferred.
Outside
Brokerage Accounts/Limited Portability.
Most Fund shareholders hold their shares with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney
LLC.
Please note that your ability to transfer your Fund shares to a brokerage
account at another securities dealer may be limited. Fund
shares may only be transferred to accounts held at securities dealers or
Financial Intermediaries. After a transfer, you may purchase
additional shares of the Morgan Stanley Fund(s) you owned before the transfer
and, in most instances, you will also be able to
purchase shares of most other Morgan Stanley Funds. If you transfer shares of a
fund that is not a Morgan Stanley Multi-Class Fund
(for example, a Morgan Stanley Money Market Fund) you will not be able to
exchange shares of that fund for any other Morgan
Stanley Fund after the transfer.
If
you wish to transfer Fund shares to a securities dealer or other financial
intermediary that has not entered into an agreement with the
Distributor, you may request that the securities dealer or financial
intermediary maintain the shares in an account at the Transfer Agent
registered in the name of such securities dealer or financial intermediary for
your benefit. You may also hold your Fund shares in
your own name directly with the Transfer Agent. In either case, you will
continue to have the ability to purchase additional Morgan
Stanley Funds and will have full exchange privileges. Other options may also be
available; please check with the respective securities
dealer or financial intermediary. If you choose not to hold your shares with the
Transfer Agent, either directly or through a securities
dealer or other financial intermediary, you must redeem your shares and pay any
applicable CDSC.
Offering
Price
The
Fund’s Class I and Class C shares are offered at NAV and the Class A shares are
offered at NAV plus any applicable FSC which is
distributed among the Fund’s Distributor, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC and
other Financial Intermediaries as described in “Investment
Advisory and Other Services — Rule 12b-1 Plan.” The NAV of the Fund (excluding
sales charges) is based on the value of
the Fund’s portfolio securities. NAV of each class is calculated by dividing the
value of the portion of the Fund’s securities and other
assets attributable to that class, less the total market value of the
liabilities attributable to that class, by the number of shares of
that
class outstanding. The assets of each class of shares are invested in a single
portfolio. The NAV of each class, however, will differ because
the classes have different ongoing fees.
In
the calculation of the Fund’s NAV: (1) an equity portfolio security listed or
traded on an exchange is valued at its latest reported sale
price (or at the exchange official closing price if such exchange reports an
official closing price), and if there were no sales on a given
day and if there is no official exchange closing price for that day, the
security is valued at the mean between the last reported bid
and asked prices if such bid and asked prices are available on the relevant
exchanges; and (2) all other equity portfolio securities for
which OTC market quotations are readily available are valued at the latest
reported sale price (or at the market official closing price
if such market reports an official closing price), and if there was no trading
in the security on a given day and if there is no official
closing price from the relevant markets for that day, the security is valued at
the mean between the last reported bid and asked prices
if such bid and asked prices are available on the relevant markets. Listed
equity securities not traded on the valuation date with no
reported bid and asked prices available on the exchange are valued at the mean
between the current bid and asked prices obtained from
one or more reputable brokers or dealers. An unlisted equity security that does
not trade on the valuation date and for which bid
and asked prices from the relevant markets are unavailable is valued at the mean
between the current bid and asked prices obtained
from one or more reputable brokers or dealers. In cases where a security is
traded on more than one exchange, the security is valued
on the exchange designated as the primary market. When market quotations are
readily available for a security or other asset, including
circumstances under which the Adviser determined that a 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. For
valuation purposes, quotations of foreign
portfolio securities, other assets and liabilities and forward contracts stated
in foreign currency are translated into U.S. dollar equivalents
at the prevailing market rates prior to the close of the NYSE. On any business
day when the Securities Industry and Financial
Markets Association recommends that the securities markets close trading early,
the Fund may close trading early and determine
NAV as of an earlier time.
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.
Certain
of the Fund’s portfolio securities may be valued using as an input evaluated
prices provided by an approved outside pricing service.
Prices obtained from these approved sources are monitored and reviewed by the
Adviser’s Valuation Committee and if not deemed
to represent fair value, may be overridden
and valued using procedures approved by the Fund’s Board. Prices obtained from
these
approved sources are monitored and reviewed by the Adviser’s Valuation Committee
and if not deemed to represent fair value, may
be overridden and valued using procedures adopted by the Board. The pricing
service may utilize a matrix system or other model incorporating
attributes such as security quality, maturity and coupon as the evaluation model
parameters, and/or research evaluations
by its staff, including review of broker-dealer market price quotations in
determining what it believes is the fair valuation of
the portfolio securities valued by such pricing service. Pricing services
generally value securities assuming orderly transactions of an institutional
round lot size, but the Fund may hold or transact in such securities in smaller,
odd lot sizes. Odd lots often trade at lower
prices than institutional round lots.
Listed
options are valued at the last reported sales price on the exchange on which
they are listed (or at the exchange official closing price
if such exchange reports an official closing price). If an official closing
price or last reported sale price is unavailable, the listed option
should be fair valued at the mean between its latest bid and ask prices. If an
exchange closing price or bid and asked prices are not
available from the exchange, then the quotes from one or more brokers or dealers
may be used. Unlisted options and swaps are valued
by an approved outside pricing service or quotes from a broker or dealer.
Unlisted options and swaps cleared on a clearinghouse
or exchange may be valued using the closing price provided by the clearinghouse
or exchange. Futures are valued at the settlement
price on the exchange on which they trade or, if a settlement price is
unavailable, then at the last sale price on the exchange.
If
the Adviser determines that the valuation received from the outside pricing
service or broker or dealer is not reflective of the security’s
market value, such security is valued at its fair value as determined in good
faith using methods approved by the Fund’s Board.
Generally,
trading in foreign securities, as well as corporate bonds, U.S. government
securities and money market instruments, is substantially
completed each day at various times prior to the close of the NYSE. The values
of such securities used in computing the NAV
of the Fund is determined as of such times. Foreign currency exchange rates are
also generally determined prior to the close of the
NYSE. Occasionally, events which may affect the values of such securities and
such exchange rates may occur between the times at
which they are determined and the close of the NYSE. If events that may affect
the value of such securities occur during such period,
then these securities may be valued at their fair value as determined in good
faith using methods approved by the Fund’s Board.
In
general, fair value represents the price that would be received to sell an asset
or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between
market participants at the measurement date. When there is no public market or
possibly no market at all for an asset, fair value
represents, in general, a good faith approximation of the current value of an
asset. A security that is fair valued may be valued at a
price higher or lower than actual market quotations or the value determined by
other funds using their own fair valuation procedures
or by other investors. The fair value of an asset may not be the price at which
that asset is ultimately sold.
The
Fund relies on various sources to calculate its NAV. The ability of the Fund 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.
TAXES
The
Fund generally will make two basic types of distributions: ordinary dividends
and long-term capital gain distributions. These two
types of distributions are reported differently on a shareholder’s income tax
return. The tax treatment of the investment activities of
the Fund will affect the amount, timing and character of the distributions made
by the Fund. The following discussion is only a summary
of certain tax considerations generally affecting the Fund and shareholders of
the Fund and is not intended as a substitute for
careful tax planning. Tax issues relating to the Fund are not generally a
consideration for shareholders such as tax-exempt entities and
tax-advantaged retirement vehicles such as an IRA or 401(k) plan. Shareholders
are urged to consult their own tax professionals regarding
specific questions as to federal, state or local taxes.
Investment
Company Taxation.
The Fund intends to continue to qualify as a RIC under Subchapter M of the Code.
To continue to
so qualify, the Fund will be required to, among other things, satisfy an asset
diversification test, a qualifying income test (the “Income
Test”) and a distribution test. Assuming the Fund satisfies the foregoing
requirements, the Fund will not be subject to federal
income tax on its net investment income and capital gains, if any, to the extent
that it timely distributes such income and capital
gains to its shareholders. If the Fund fails to qualify for any taxable year as
a RIC, all of its taxable income will be subject to tax
at regular corporate income tax rates without any deduction for distributions to
shareholders, and such distributions generally will be
taxable to shareholders as ordinary dividends to the extent of the Fund’s
current and accumulated earnings and profits.
The
Fund generally intends to distribute sufficient income and gains so that the
Fund will not pay corporate income tax on its earnings.
The Fund also generally intends to distribute to its shareholders in each
calendar year a sufficient amount of ordinary income
and capital gains to avoid the imposition of a 4% excise tax. However, the Fund
may instead determine to retain all or part of any
income or net long-term capital gains in any year for reinvestment. In such
event, the Fund will pay federal income tax (and possibly
excise tax) on such retained income or gains.
Gains
or losses on sales of securities by the Fund will generally be long-term capital
gains or losses if the securities have a tax holding period
of more than one year at the time of such sale. Gains or losses on the sale of
securities with a tax holding period of one year or less
will be short-term capital gains or losses. Special tax rules may change the
normal treatment of gains and losses recognized by the Fund
when the Fund invests in options and futures transactions. Those special tax
rules can, among other things, affect the treatment of
capital gain or loss as long-term or short-term and may result in ordinary
income or loss rather than capital gain or loss. The application
of these special rules would therefore also affect the character of
distributions made by the Fund.
The
Fund may make investments in which it recognizes income or gain prior to
receiving cash with respect to such investment. For example,
under certain tax rules, the Fund may be required to accrue a portion of any
discount at which certain securities are purchased
as income each year even though the Fund receives no payments in cash on the
security during the year. To the extent that the
Fund makes such investments, it generally would be required to pay out such
income or gain as a distribution in each year to avoid
taxation at the Fund level. Such distributions will be made from the available
cash of the Fund or by liquidation of portfolio securities
if necessary. If a distribution of cash necessitates the liquidation of
portfolio securities, the Adviser will
select which securities
to sell. The Fund may realize a gain or loss from such sales. In the event the
Fund realizes net capital gains from such transactions,
its shareholders may receive a larger capital gain distribution, if any, than
they would in the absence of such transactions.
The
Fund might invest directly or indirectly in residual interests in REMICs or
equity interests in taxable mortgage pools (“TMPS”). Under
a notice issued by the IRS in October 2006 and Treasury regulations that have
not yet been issued (but may apply with retroactive
effect) a portion of the Fund’s income from a REIT that is attributable to the
REIT’s residual interest in a REMIC or a TMP
(referred to in the Code as an “excess inclusion”) will be subject to regular
federal income taxation in all events. This notice also provides,
and the regulations are expected to provide, that excess inclusion of income of
a RIC, such as the Fund, will generally be allocated
to shareholders of the RIC in proportion to the dividends received by such
shareholders, with the same consequences as if the
shareholders held the related REMIC or TMP residual interest
directly.
In
general, excess inclusion income allocated to shareholders (i) cannot be offset
by net operating losses (subject to a limited exception for
certain thrift institutions), (ii) will constitute unrelated business taxable
income to entities (including a qualified pension plan, an individual
retirement account, a 401(k) plan, a Keogh plan or other tax-exempt entity)
subject to tax on unrelated business income, thereby
potentially requiring such an entity that is allocated excess inclusion income,
and that otherwise might not be required to file a
tax return, to file a tax return and pay tax on such income, and (iii) in the
case of a non-U.S. shareholder, will not qualify for any reduction
in U.S. federal withholding tax.
Taxation
of Dividends and Distributions.
Shareholders normally will be subject to regular federal income taxes on the
dividends and
other distributions they receive from the Fund. Such distributions also may be
subject to state and local income tax. However, dividends
attributable to interest earned on direct obligations of the U.S. government may
be exempt from state and local taxes. Such dividends
and distributions, to the extent that they are derived from net investment
income or short-term capital gains, are generally taxable
to the shareholder as ordinary income regardless of whether the shareholder
receives such payments in additional shares or in cash.
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 reduction.
Certain
distributions reported by the Fund as section 163(j) interest dividends may be
treated as interest income by shareholders for purposes
of the tax rules applicable to interest expense limitations under Code section
163(j). Such treatment by the shareholder is generally
subject to holding period requirements and other potential limitations, although
the holding period requirements are generally
not applicable to dividends declared by money market funds and certain other
funds that declare dividends daily and pay such
dividends on a monthly or more frequent basis. The amount that the Fund is
eligible to report as a Section 163(j) dividend for a tax
year is generally limited to the excess of the Fund’s business interest income
over the sum of the Fund’s (i) business interest expense
and (ii) other deductions properly allocable to the Fund’s business interest
income.
Distributions
of net long-term capital gains, if any, are taxable to shareholders as long-term
capital gains regardless of how long a shareholder
has held the Fund’s shares and regardless of whether the distribution is
received in additional shares or in cash. The maximum
individual rate applicable to long-term capital gains is generally either 15% or
20%, depending on whether the individual’s
income exceeds certain threshold amounts.
Shareholders
are generally taxed on any income dividend or capital gain distributions from
the Fund in the year they are actually distributed.
However, if any such dividends or distributions are declared in October,
November or December and paid to shareholders
of record of such month in January then such amounts will be treated for tax
purposes as received by the shareholders on
December 31.
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 new 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, while not subject to U.S. tax on distributions
of net long-term capital gains, will generally be subject to withholding of U.S.
tax at a rate of 30% on distributions made
by the Fund of investment income and short-term capital gains. Dividends
reported by the Fund as “interest-related dividends” or
“short-term capital gain dividends,” will generally not be subject to U.S.
withholding tax, provided that the income would not be subject
to U.S. federal income tax if earned directly by the foreign shareholder.
However, depending on the circumstances, the Fund may
designate all, some or none of the Fund’s potentially eligible dividends as
exempt.
Prospective investors are urged to consult their tax
advisors regarding the specific tax consequences discussed above. Such
prospective investors are urged to consult their tax advisors regarding
the tax consequences to them of dividends and distributions and the potential
applicability of the U.S.
estate tax.
The
Fund is required to withhold U.S. tax (at a 30% rate) on payments of taxable
dividends 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.
After
the end of each calendar year, shareholders will be sent information on their
dividends and capital gain distributions for tax purposes,
including the portion taxable as ordinary income and the portion taxable as
long-term capital gains.
Purchases
and Redemptions and Exchanges of Fund Shares.
Any dividend or capital gains distribution received by a shareholder
from
any investment company will have the effect of reducing the NAV of the
shareholder’s stock in that company by the exact amount
of the dividend or capital gains distribution. Furthermore, such dividends and
capital gains distributions are subject to regular
federal income taxes. If the NAV of the shares should be reduced below a
shareholder’s cost as a result of the payment of dividends
or the distribution of realized long-term capital gains, such payment or
distribution would be in part a return of the shareholder’s
investment but nonetheless would be taxable to the shareholder. Therefore, an
investor should consider the tax implications
of purchasing Fund shares immediately prior to a distribution record
date.
Shareholders
normally will be subject to regular federal income taxes, and state and/or local
income taxes, on the sale or disposition of Fund
shares. In general, a sale of shares results in capital gain or loss, and for
individual shareholders, is taxable at a federal rate dependent
upon the length of time the shares were held. A redemption of a shareholder’s
Fund shares is normally treated as a sale for tax
purposes. Fund shares held for a period of one year or less at the time of such
sale or redemption will, for tax purposes, generally result
in short-term capital gains or losses and those held for more than one year will
generally result in long-term capital gains or losses.
The maximum individual rate applicable to long-term capital gains is generally
either 15% or 20%, depending on whether the individual’s
income exceeds certain threshold amounts.
Any
loss realized by shareholders upon a sale or redemption of shares within six
months of the date of their purchase will be treated as a
long-term capital loss to the extent of any distributions of net long-term
capital gains with respect to such shares during the six-month
period.
Gain
or loss on the sale or redemption of shares in the Fund is measured by the
difference between the amount of cash received (or the
fair market value of any property received) and the adjusted tax basis of the
shares. Shareholders should keep records of investments
made (including shares acquired through reinvestment of dividends and
distributions) so they can compute the tax basis of
their shares. Under certain circumstances, a shareholder may compute and use an
average cost basis in determining the gain or loss on
the sale or redemption of shares.
The
Fund (or its administrative agent) is required to report to the U.S. Internal
Revenue Service (“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.
Exchanges
of Fund shares for shares of another fund, including shares of other Morgan
Stanley Funds, are also subject to similar tax treatment.
Such an exchange is treated for tax purposes as a sale of the original shares in
the Fund, followed by the purchase of shares in
the other fund.
The
ability to deduct capital losses may be limited. In addition, if a shareholder
realizes a loss on the redemption or exchange of a fund’s
shares and receives securities that are considered substantially identical to
that fund’s shares or reinvests in that fund’s shares or substantially
identical shares within 30 days before or after the redemption or exchange, the
transactions may be subject to the “wash sale”
rules, resulting in a postponement of the recognition of such loss for tax
purposes.
Backup
Withholding.
The Fund may be required to withhold U.S. federal income tax (currently, at a
rate of 24%) (“backup withholding”)
from all taxable distributions payable to (1) any shareholder who fails to
furnish the Fund with its correct taxpayer identification
number or a certificate that the shareholder is exempt from backup withholding,
and (2) any shareholder with respect to
whom the IRS notifies the Fund that the shareholder has failed to properly
report certain interest and dividend income to the IRS and
to respond to notices to that effect. An individual’s taxpayer identification
number is his or her social security number. The 24% backup
withholding tax is not an additional tax and may be credited against a
taxpayer’s regular federal income tax liability.
Shareholders
are advised to consult their own tax advisers with respect to the particular tax
consequences to them of an investment in the
Fund.
UNDERWRITERS
The
Fund’s shares are offered to the public on a continuous basis. The Distributor,
as the principal underwriter of the shares, has certain
obligations under the Distribution Agreement concerning the distribution of the
shares. These obligations and the compensation
the Distributor receives are described above in the sections titled “Principal
Underwriter” and “Rule 12b-1 Plan.”
PERFORMANCE
DATA
For
the 30-day period ended December 31, 2023, the yield was 4.36%,
4.24%,
4.85%
and 3.76%
for Class A, Class L,
Class I and Class
C shares, respectively.
|
|
|
|
| |
Average
annual returns assuming deduction of maximum sales
charge Period
Ended December 31, 2023 |
Class |
Inception
Date |
1
Year |
5
Years |
10
Years |
Since
Inception |
Class
A |
7/28/1997 |
2.26% |
-0.44% |
0.84% |
2.91% |
Class
L |
7/28/1997 |
5.32% |
-0.08% |
0.88% |
2.62% |
Class
I |
7/28/1997 |
6.02% |
0.58% |
1.51% |
3.32% |
|
|
|
|
| |
Class
C |
4/30/2015 |
3.79% |
-0.58% |
N/A |
-0.08%* |
* |
Class
C shares will 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. |
|
|
|
|
| |
Average
annual returns assuming NO deduction of sales charge Period
Ended December 31, 2023 |
Class |
Inception
Date |
1
Year |
5
Years |
10
Years |
Since
Inception |
Class
A |
7/28/1997 |
5.65% |
0.22% |
1.17% |
3.03% |
Class
L |
7/28/1997 |
5.32% |
-0.08% |
0.88% |
2.62% |
Class
I |
7/28/1997 |
6.02% |
0.58% |
1.51% |
3.32% |
Class
C |
4/30/2015 |
4.79% |
-0.58% |
N/A |
-0.08%* |
|
|
|
|
| |
Aggregate
total returns assuming NO deduction of sales charge Period
Ended December 31, 2023 |
Class |
Inception
Date |
1
Year |
5
Years |
10
Years |
Since
Inception |
Class
A |
7/28/1997 |
5.65% |
1.09% |
12.33% |
120.22% |
Class
L |
7/28/1997 |
5.32% |
-0.42% |
9.20% |
98.26% |
Class
I |
7/28/1997 |
6.02% |
2.92% |
16.21% |
136.77% |
Class
C |
4/30/2015 |
4.79% |
-2.88% |
N/A |
-0.73%* |
* |
Class
C shares will 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. |
|
|
|
|
| |
Average
annual after-tax returns assuming deduction of maximum sales
charge Class
A Period
Ended December 31, 2023 |
Calculation
Methodology |
Inception
Date |
1
Year |
5
Years |
10
Years |
Since
Inception |
After
taxes on distributions |
7/28/1997 |
0.56% |
-1.62% |
-0.33% |
1.42% |
After
taxes on distributions and redemptions |
7/28/1997 |
1.27% |
-0.81% |
0.14% |
1.63% |
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 the Morgan Stanley Funds, any new or
successor funds, programs, accounts or businesses (other than funds, programs,
accounts or businesses sponsored, managed, or advised
by former direct or indirect subsidiaries of Eaton Vance Corp. (“Eaton Vance
Investment Accounts”)), the ‘‘MS Investment Accounts”,
and, together with the Eaton Vance Investment Accounts, 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 or the Adviser 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.
The
discussions below with respect to actual, apparent and potential conflicts of
interest also may be applicable to or arise from the Eaton
Vance Investment Accounts whether or not specifically identified.
Material
Non-public and Other Information.
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. The Adviser may also
from time to time be subject to contractual
‘‘stand-still’’ obligations and/or confidentiality obligations that may restrict
its ability to trade in certain investments on the
Fund’s behalf. In addition, the Adviser may be precluded from disclosing such
information to an investment team, even in circumstances
in which the information would be beneficial if disclosed. Therefore, the
investment team may not be provided access to
material non-public information in the possession of Morgan Stanley that might
be relevant to an investment decision to be made on
behalf of the Fund, and the investment team may initiate a transaction or sell
an investment that, if such information had been known
to it, may not have been undertaken. In addition, certain members of the
investment team may be recused from certain investment-related
discussions so that such members do not receive information that would limit
their ability to perform functions of
their
employment with the Adviser or its affiliates unrelated to that of the Fund.
Furthermore, access to certain parts of Morgan Stanley
may be subject to third party confidentiality obligations and to information
barriers established by Morgan Stanley in order to
manage potential conflicts of interest and regulatory restrictions, including
without limitation joint transaction restrictions pursuant
to the 1940 Act. Accordingly, the Adviser’s ability to source investments from
other business units within Morgan Stanley may
be limited and there can be no assurance that the Adviser will be able to source
any investments from any one or more parts of the
Morgan Stanley network.
The
Adviser may restrict its investment decisions and activities on behalf of the
Fund in various circumstances, including because of applicable
regulatory requirements or information held by the Adviser or Morgan Stanley.
The Adviser might not engage in transactions
or other activities for, or enforce certain rights in favor of, the Fund due to
Morgan Stanley’s activities outside the Fund. In
instances where trading of an investment is restricted, the Adviser may not be
able to purchase or sell such investment on behalf of the
Fund, resulting in the Fund’s inability to participate in certain desirable
transactions. This inability to buy or sell an investment could
have an adverse effect on the Fund’s portfolio due to, among other things,
changes in an investment’s value during the period its
trading is restricted. Also, in situations where the Adviser is required to
aggregate its positions with those of other Morgan Stanley business
units for position limit calculations, the Adviser may have to refrain from
making investments due to the positions held by other
Morgan Stanley business units or their clients. There may be other situations
where the Adviser refrains from making an investment
due to additional disclosure obligations, regulatory requirements, policies, and
reputational risk, or the Adviser may limit purchases
or sales of securities in respect of which Morgan Stanley is engaged in an
underwriting or other distribution capacity.
Morgan
Stanley has established certain information barriers and other policies to
address the sharing of information between different businesses
within Morgan Stanley. As a result of information barriers, the Adviser
generally will not have access, or will have limited access,
to certain information and personnel in other areas of Morgan Stanley and
generally will not manage the Fund with the benefit
of the information held by such other areas. Morgan Stanley, due to its access
to and knowledge of funds, markets and securities
based on its prime brokerage and other businesses, may make decisions based on
information or take (or refrain from taking)
actions with respect to interests in investments of the kind held (directly or
indirectly) by the Fund in a manner that may be adverse
to the Fund, and will not have any obligation or other duty to share information
with the Adviser.
In
limited circumstances, however, including for purposes of managing business and
reputational risk, and subject to policies and procedures
and any applicable regulations, Morgan Stanley personnel, including personnel of
the 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). In managing conflicts of interest that arise
because of the foregoing, the Adviser generally will be subject
to fiduciary requirements. The Adviser may also implement internal information
barriers or ethical walls, and the conflicts described
herein with respect to information barriers and otherwise with respect to Morgan
Stanley and the Adviser will also apply internally
within the Adviser. As a result, the Fund may not be permitted to transact in
(e.g., dispose of a security in whole or in part) during
periods when it otherwise would have been able to do so, which could adversely
affect the Fund. Other investors in the security
that are not subject to such restrictions may be able to transact in the
security during such periods. There may also be circumstances
in which, as a result of information held by certain portfolio management teams
in the Adviser, the Adviser limits an activity
or transaction for the Fund, including if the Fund is managed by a portfolio
management team other than the team holding such
information.
Investments
by Morgan Stanley and its Affiliated Investment Accounts.
In serving in multiple capacities to Affiliated Investment Accounts,
Morgan Stanley, including the Adviser and its investment teams, 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.
Morgan
Stanley currently invests and plans to continue to invest on its own behalf and
on behalf of its Affiliated Investment Accounts
in a wide variety of investment opportunities globally. Morgan Stanley and its
Affiliated Investment Accounts, to the extent consistent
with applicable law and policies and procedures, will be permitted to invest in
investment opportunities without making such
opportunities available to the Fund beforehand. Subject to the foregoing, Morgan
Stanley may offer investments that fall into the
investment objectives of an Affiliated Investment Account to such account or
make such investment on its own behalf, even though
such investment also falls within the Fund’s investment objectives. The Fund may
invest in opportunities that Morgan Stanley
and/or one or more Affiliated Investment Accounts has declined, and vice versa.
All of the foregoing may reduce the number of
investment opportunities available to the Fund and may create conflicts of
interest in allocating investment opportunities.
Investors
should note that the conflicts inherent in making such allocation decisions may
not always be resolved to the Fund’s advantage.
There can be no assurance that the Fund will have an opportunity to participate
in certain opportunities that fall within their
investment objectives.
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, 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. Each client of the Adviser that
is subject to the allocation policies and procedures, including the
Fund, is assigned an investment team and portfolio manager(s) by
the Adviser. The investment team and portfolio managers review investment
opportunities and will decide with respect to the allocation
of each opportunity considering various factors and in accordance with the
allocation policies and procedures. The allocation
policies and procedures are subject to change. Investors should note that the
conflicts inherent in making such allocation decisions
may not always be resolved to the advantage of the Fund.
It
is possible that Morgan Stanley or an Affiliated Investment Account, including
another Morgan Stanley Fund, will invest in or advise
(in the case of Morgan Stanley) a company that is or becomes a competitor of a
company of which the Fund holds an investment.
Such investment could create a conflict between the Fund, on the one hand, and
Morgan Stanley or the Affiliated Investment
Account, on the other hand. In such a situation, Morgan Stanley may also have a
conflict in the allocation of its own resources
to the portfolio investment. Furthermore, certain Affiliated Investment Accounts
will be focused primarily on investing in other
funds which may have strategies that overlap and/or directly conflict and
compete with the
Fund.
In
addition, certain investment professionals who are involved in the Fund’s
activities remain responsible for the investment activities of
other Affiliated Investment Accounts managed by the Adviser and its affiliates,
and they will devote time to the management of such
investments and other newly created Affiliated Investment Accounts (whether in
the form of funds, separate accounts or other vehicles),
as well as their own investments. In addition, in connection with the management
of investments for other Affiliated Investment
Accounts, members of Morgan Stanley and its affiliates may serve on the boards
of directors of or advise companies which
may compete with the Fund’s portfolio investments. Moreover, these Affiliated
Investment Accounts managed by Morgan Stanley
and its affiliates may pursue investment opportunities that may also be suitable
for the Fund.
It
should be noted that Morgan Stanley may, directly or indirectly, make large
investments in certain of its Affiliated Investment Accounts,
and accordingly Morgan Stanley’s investment in the Fund may not be a determining
factor in the outcome of any of the foregoing
conflicts. Nothing herein restricts or in any way limits the activities of
Morgan Stanley, including its ability to buy or sell interests
in, or provide financing to, equity and/or debt instruments, funds or portfolio
companies, for its own accounts or for the accounts
of Affiliated Investment Accounts or other investment funds or clients in
accordance with applicable law.
Different
clients of the Adviser, including the Fund, may invest in different classes of
securities of the same issuer, depending on the respective
clients’ investment objectives and policies. As a result, the Adviser and its
affiliates, at times, will seek to satisfy fiduciary obligations
to certain clients owning one class of securities of a particular issuer by
pursuing or enforcing rights on behalf of those clients
with respect to such class of securities, and those activities may have an
adverse effect on another client which owns a different class
of securities of such issuer. For example, if one client holds debt securities
of an issuer and another client holds equity securities of
the same issuer, if the issuer experiences financial or operational challenges,
the Adviser and its affiliates may seek a liquidation of the
issuer on behalf of the client that holds the debt securities, whereas the
client holding the equity securities may benefit from a reorganization
of the issuer. Thus, in such situations, the actions taken by the Adviser or its
affiliates on behalf of one client can negatively
impact securities held by another client. These conflicts also exist as between
the Adviser’s clients, including the Fund, and the
Affiliated Investment Accounts managed by Eaton Vance.
The
Adviser and its affiliates may give advice and recommend securities to other
clients which may differ from advice given to, or securities
recommended or bought for, the Fund even though such other clients’ investment
objectives may be similar to those of the Fund.
The
Adviser and its affiliates manage long and short portfolios. The simultaneous
management of long and short portfolios creates conflicts
of interest in portfolio management and trading in that opposite directional
positions may be taken in client accounts, including
client accounts managed by the same investment team, and creates risks such as:
(i) the risk that short sale activity could adversely
affect the market value of long positions in one or more portfolios (and vice
versa) and (ii) the risks associated with the trading
desk receiving opposing orders in the same security simultaneously. The Adviser
and its affiliates have adopted policies and procedures
that are reasonably designed to mitigate these conflicts. In certain
circumstances, the Adviser invests on behalf of itself in securities
and other instruments that would be appropriate for, held by, or may fall within
the investment guidelines of its clients, including
the Fund. At times, the Adviser may give advice or take action for its own
accounts that differs from, conflicts with, or is adverse
to advice given or action taken for any client.
From
time to time, conflicts also arise due to the fact that certain securities or
instruments may be held in some client accounts, including
the Fund, but not in others, or that client accounts may have different levels
of holdings in certain securities or
instruments.
In addition, due to differences in the investment strategies or restrictions
among client accounts, the Adviser may take action
with respect to one account that differs from the action taken with respect to
another account. In some cases, a client account may
compensate the Adviser based on the performance of the securities held by that
account. The existence of such a performance based
fee may create additional conflicts of interest for the Adviser in the
allocation of management time, resources and investment opportunities.
The Adviser has adopted several policies and procedures designed to address
these potential conflicts including a code of
ethics and policies that govern the Adviser’s trading practices, including,
among other things, the aggregation and allocation of trades
among clients, brokerage allocations, cross trades and best
execution.
In
addition, at times an investment team will give advice or take action with
respect to the investments of one or more clients that is not
given or taken with respect to other clients with similar investment programs,
objectives, and strategies. Accordingly, clients with similar
strategies will not always hold the same securities or instruments or achieve
the same performance. The Adviser’s investment teams
also advise clients with conflicting programs, objectives or strategies. These
conflicts also exist as between the Adviser’s clients, including
the Fund, and the Affiliated Investment Accounts managed by Eaton
Vance.
Morgan
Stanley and its affiliates maintain separate trading desks that operate
independently of each other and do not share information
with the Adviser. The Morgan Stanley and affiliate trading desks may compete
against the Adviser trading desks when implementing
buy and sell transactions, possibly causing certain Affiliated Investment
Accounts to pay more or receive less for a security
than other Affiliated Investment Accounts.
Investments
by Separate Investment Departments.
The entities and individuals that provide investment-related services for the
Fund
and certain other MS Investment Accounts (the “MS Investment Department”) may be
different from the entities and individuals
that provide investment-related services to Eaton Vance Investment Accounts (the
“Eaton Vance Investment Department”
and, together with the MS Investment Department, the “Investment Departments”).
Although Morgan Stanley has implemented
information barriers between the Investment Departments in accordance with
internal policies and procedures, each Investment
Department may engage in discussions and share information and resources with
the other Investment Department on certain
investment-related matters. The sharing of information and resources between the
Investment Departments is designed to further
increase the knowledge and effectiveness of each Investment Department. Because
each Investment Department generally makes
investment decisions and executes trades independently of the other, the quality
and price of execution, and the performance of
investments and accounts, can be expected to vary. In addition, each Investment
Department may use different trading systems and
technology and may employ differing investment and trading strategies. As a
result, an Eaton Vance Investment Account could trade
in advance of the Fund (and vice versa), might complete trades more quickly and
efficiently than the Fund, and/or achieve different
execution than the Fund on the same or similar investments made
contemporaneously, even when the Investment Departments
shared research and viewpoints that led to that investment decision. Any sharing
of information or resources between the
Investment Department servicing the Fund and the Eaton Vance Investment
Department may result, from time to time, in the Fund
simultaneously or contemporaneously seeking to engage in the same or similar
transactions as an account serviced by the other Investment
Department and for which there are limited buyers or sellers on specific
securities, which could result in less favorable execution
for the Fund than such Affiliated Investment Account. The MS Investment
Department will not knowingly or intentionally
cause the Fund to engage in a cross trade with an account serviced by the Eaton
Vance Investment Department, however,
subject to applicable law and internal policies and procedures, the Fund may
conduct cross trades with other accounts serviced
by the MS Investment Department. Although the MS Investment Department may
aggregate the Fund’s trades with trades of
other accounts serviced by the MS Investment Department, subject to applicable
law and internal policies and procedures, there will
be no aggregation or coordination of trades with accounts serviced by the Eaton
Vance Investment Department, even when both Investment
Departments are seeking to acquire or dispose of the same investments
contemporaneously.
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
the 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. For
example, the Adviser or the Distributor may
pay additional compensation to a Financial Intermediary for, among other things,
promoting the sale and distribution of Fund shares,
providing access to various programs, mutual fund platforms or preferred or
recommended mutual fund lists that may be offered
by a Financial Intermediary, granting the Distributor access to a Financial
Intermediary’s financial advisors and consultants, providing
assistance in the ongoing education and training of a Financial Intermediary’s
financial personnel, furnishing marketing support,
maintaining share balances and/or for sub-accounting, recordkeeping,
administrative, shareholder or transaction processing services.
Such payments are in addition to any distribution fees, shareholder servicing
fees and/or transfer agency fees that may be payable
by the Fund. The additional payments may be based on various factors, including
level of sales (based on gross or net sales or some
specified minimum sales or some other similar criteria related to sales of the
Fund and/or some or all other Morgan Stanley Funds),
amount of assets invested by the Financial Intermediary’s customers (which could
include current or aged assets of the Fund and/or
some or all other Morgan Stanley Funds), the Fund’s advisory fee, some other
agreed upon amount or other measures as determined
from time to time by the Adviser and/or the Distributor. The amount of these
payments may be different for different Financial
Intermediaries.
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. Furthermore, from time to time, the Adviser or its affiliates may
invest “seed” capital in the Fund, typically to enable
the Fund to commence investment operations and/or achieve sufficient scale. The
Adviser and its affiliates may hedge such seed
capital exposure by investing in derivatives or other instruments expected to
produce offsetting exposure. Such hedging transactions,
if any, would occur outside of the Fund.
Morgan
Stanley’s sales and trading, financing and principal investing businesses
(whether or not specifically identified as such, and including
Morgan Stanley’s trading and principal investing businesses) will not be
required to offer any investment opportunities to the
Fund. These businesses may encompass, among other things, principal trading
activities as well as principal investing.
Morgan
Stanley’s sales and trading, financing and principal investing businesses have
acquired or invested in, and in the future may acquire
or invest in, minority and/or majority control positions in equity or debt
instruments of diverse public and/or private companies.
Such activities may put Morgan Stanley in a position to exercise contractual,
voting or creditor rights, or management or other
control with respect to securities or loans of portfolio investments or other
issuers, and in these instances Morgan Stanley may, in
its discretion and subject to applicable law, act to protect its own interests
or interests of clients, and not the Fund’s interests.
Subject
to the limitations of applicable law, the Fund may purchase from or sell assets
to, or make investments in, companies in which
Morgan Stanley has or may acquire an interest, including as an owner, creditor
or counterparty.
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 could be engaged in financial advising, whether on the buy-side or
sell-side, or in financing or lending assignments that
could result in Morgan Stanley’s determining in its discretion or being required
to act exclusively on behalf of one or more third parties,
which could limit the Fund’s ability to transact with respect to one or more
existing or potential investments. Morgan Stanley may
have relationships with third-party funds, companies or investors who may have
invested in or may look to invest in portfolio companies,
and there could be conflicts between the Fund’s best interests, on the one hand,
and the interests of a Morgan Stanley client
or counterparty, on the other hand.
To
the extent that Morgan Stanley advises creditor or debtor companies in the
financial restructuring of companies either prior to or after
filing for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code or similar
laws in other jurisdictions, the Adviser’s flexibility
in making investments in such restructurings on the Fund’s behalf may be
limited.
Morgan
Stanley could provide investment banking services to competitors of portfolio
companies, as well as to private equity and/or private
credit funds; such activities may present Morgan Stanley with a conflict of
interest vis-a-vis the Fund’s investment and may also
result in a conflict in respect of the allocation of investment banking
resources to portfolio companies.
To
the extent permitted by applicable law, Morgan Stanley may provide a broad range
of financial services to companies in which the Fund
invests, including strategic and financial advisory services, interim
acquisition financing and other lending and underwriting or placement
of securities, and Morgan Stanley generally will be paid fees (that may include
warrants or other securities) for such services.
Morgan Stanley will not share any of the foregoing interest, fees and other
compensation received by it (including, for the avoidance
of doubt, amounts received by the Adviser) with the Fund, and any advisory fees
payable will not be reduced thereby.
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 merger or
acquisition.
The
involvement or presence of Morgan Stanley in the investment banking and other
commercial activities described above (or the financial
markets more broadly) may restrict or otherwise limit investment opportunities
that may otherwise be available to the Fund. For
example, issuers may hire and compensate Morgan Stanley to provide underwriting,
financial advisory, placement agency, brokerage
services or other services and, because of limitations imposed by applicable law
and regulation, the Fund may be prohibited from
buying or selling securities issued by those issuers or participating in related
transactions or otherwise limited in its ability to engage
in such investments.
Morgan
Stanley’s Marketing Activities.
Morgan Stanley is engaged in the business of underwriting, syndicating,
brokering, administering,
servicing, arranging and advising on the distribution of a wide variety of
securities and other investments in which the Fund
may invest. Subject to the restrictions of the 1940 Act, including Sections
10(f) and 17(e) thereof, the Fund may invest in transactions
in which Morgan Stanley acts as underwriter, placement agent, syndicator,
broker, administrative agent, servicer, advisor, arranger
or structuring agent and receives fees or other compensation from the sponsors
of such products or securities. Any fees earned
by Morgan Stanley in such capacity will not be shared with the Adviser or the
Fund. Certain conflicts of interest, in addition to
the receipt of fees or other compensation, would be inherent in these
transactions. Moreover, the interests of one of Morgan Stanley’s
clients with respect to an issuer of securities in which the Fund has an
investment may be adverse to the Adviser’s or the Fund’s
best interests. In conducting the foregoing activities, Morgan Stanley will be
acting for its other clients and will have no obligation
to act in the Adviser’s or the Fund’s best interests.
Client
Relationships.
Morgan Stanley has existing and potential relationships with a significant
number of corporations, institutions and
individuals. In providing services to its clients, Morgan Stanley may face
conflicts of interest with respect to activities recommended
to or performed for such clients, on the one hand, and the Fund, its
shareholders or the entities in which the Fund invests,
on the other hand. In addition, these client relationships may present conflicts
of interest in determining whether to offer certain
investment opportunities to the Fund.
In
acting as principal or in providing advisory and other services to its other
clients, Morgan Stanley may engage in or recommend activities
with respect to a particular matter that conflict with or are different from
activities engaged in or recommended by the Adviser
on the Fund’s behalf.
Principal
Investments.
To the extent permitted by applicable law, there may be situations in which the
Fund’s interests may conflict with
the interests of one or more general accounts of Morgan Stanley and its
affiliates or accounts managed by Morgan Stanley or its affiliates.
This may occur because these accounts hold public and private debt and equity
securities of many issuers which may be or become
portfolio companies, or from whom portfolio companies may be
acquired.
Transactions
with Portfolio Companies of Affiliated Investment Accounts.
The companies in which the Fund may invest may be counterparties
to or participants in agreements, transactions or other arrangements with
portfolio companies or other entities of portfolio
investments of Affiliated Investment Accounts (for example, a company in which
the Fund invests may retain a company in which
an Affiliated Investment Account invests to provide services or may acquire an
asset from such company or vice versa). Certain of
these agreements, transactions and arrangements involve fees, servicing
payments, rebates and/or other benefits to Morgan Stanley or
its affiliates. For example, portfolio entities may, including at the
encouragement of Morgan Stanley, enter into agreements regarding
group procurement and/or vendor discounts. Morgan Stanley and its affiliates may
also participate in these agreements and may
realize better pricing or discounts as a result of the participation of
portfolio entities. To the extent permitted by applicable law, certain
of these agreements may provide for commissions or similar payments and/or
discounts or rebates to be paid to a portfolio entity
of an Affiliated Investment Account, and such payments or discounts or rebates
may also be made directly to Morgan Stanley or
its affiliates. Under these arrangements, a particular portfolio company or
other entity may benefit to a greater degree than the other
participants, and the Morgan Stanley Funds, investment vehicles and accounts
(which may or may not include the Fund) that own
an interest in such entity will receive a greater relative benefit from the
arrangements than the Morgan Stanley Funds, investment
vehicles or accounts that do not own an interest therein. Fees and compensation
received by portfolio companies of Affiliated
Investment Accounts in relation to the foregoing will not be shared with the
Fund or offset advisory fees payable.
Investments
in Portfolio Investments of Other Funds.
To the extent permitted by applicable law, when the Fund invests in certain
companies
or other entities, other funds affiliated with the Adviser may have made or may
be making an investment in such companies
or other entities. Other funds that have been or may be managed by the Adviser
may invest in the companies or other entities
in which the Fund has made an investment. Under such circumstances, the Fund and
such other funds may have conflicts of interest
(e.g., over the terms, exit strategies and related matters, including the
exercise of remedies of their respective investments). If
the
interests held by the Fund are different from (or take priority over) those held
by such other funds, the Adviser may be required to
make a selection at the time of conflicts between the interests held by such
other funds and the interests held by the Fund.
Allocation
of Expenses.
Expenses may be incurred that are attributable to the Fund and one or more other
Affiliated Investment Accounts
(including in connection with issuers in which the Fund and such other
Affiliated Investment Accounts have overlapping investments).
The allocation of such expenses among such entities raises potential conflicts
of interest. The Adviser and its affiliates intend
to allocate such common expenses among the Fund and any such other Affiliated
Investment Accounts on a pro rata basis or in
such other manner as the Adviser deems to be fair and equitable or in such other
manner as may be required by applicable law.
Temporary
Investments.
To more efficiently invest short-term cash balances held by the Fund, the
Adviser may invest such balances on
an overnight “sweep” basis in shares of one or more money market funds or other
short-term vehicles. It is anticipated that the investment
adviser to these money market funds or other short-term vehicles may be the
Adviser (or an affiliate) to the extent permitted
by applicable law, including Rule 12d1-1 under the 1940 Act. In such a case, the
affiliated investment adviser may receive asset-based
fees in respect of the Fund’s investment (which will reduce the net return
realized by the Fund).
Transactions
with Affiliates.
The Adviser and any investment sub-adviser might purchase securities from
underwriters or placement agents
in which a Morgan Stanley affiliate is a member of a syndicate or selling group,
as a result of which an affiliate might benefit from
the purchase through receipt of a fee or otherwise. Neither the Adviser nor any
investment sub-adviser will purchase securities on
behalf of the Fund from an affiliate that is acting as a manager of a syndicate
or selling group. Purchases by the Adviser on behalf of
the Fund from an affiliate acting as a placement agent must meet the
requirements of applicable law. Furthermore, Morgan Stanley
may face conflicts of interest when the Fund uses service providers affiliated
with Morgan Stanley because Morgan Stanley receives
greater overall fees when they are used.
General
Process for Potential Conflicts.
All of the transactions described above involve the potential for conflicts of
interest between
the Adviser, related persons of the Adviser and/or their clients. The Advisers
Act, the 1940 Act and ERISA impose certain requirements
designed to decrease the possibility of conflicts of interest between an
investment adviser and its clients. In some cases, transactions
may be permitted subject to fulfillment of certain conditions. Certain other
transactions may be prohibited. In addition, the
Adviser has instituted policies and procedures designed to prevent conflicts of
interest from arising and, when they do arise, to ensure
that it effects transactions for clients in a manner that is consistent with its
fiduciary duty to its clients and in accordance with applicable
law. The Adviser seeks to ensure that potential or actual conflicts of interest
are appropriately resolved taking into consideration
the overriding best interests of the client.
FINANCIAL
STATEMENTS
FUND
COUNSEL
Dechert
LLP, located at 1095 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036, acts as the
Fund’s legal counsel.
*****
This
SAI and the Prospectus do not contain all of the information set forth in the
Registration Statement the Fund has filed with the SEC.
The complete Registration Statement may be obtained from the
SEC.
APPENDIX
A MORGAN STANLEY INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT EQUITY PROXY VOTING POLICY
AND PROCEDURES
I.
GENERAL PROXY VOTING GUIDELINES
Morgan
Stanley Investment Management (“MSIM”) and its affiliates1 will
vote proxies in a prudent and diligent manner and in the best
interests of clients in accordance with their fiduciary duties, including
beneficiaries of and participants in a client’s benefit plan(s) for
which MSIM manages assets, consistent with the objective of maximizing long-term
investment returns (“Client Proxy Standard”)
and this Policy.2
MSIM
has a decentralized approach towards investment management, consisting of
independent investment teams. Accordingly, this Policy
serves as guidance for MSIM investment teams addressing a broad range of issues,
and general voting parameters on proposals that
arise most frequently.
MSIM
investment teams endeavor to integrate this Policy with their investment goals
and client expectations, using their vote to encourage
portfolio companies to enhance long-term shareholder value and to provide a high
standard of transparency such that equity
markets can value corporate assets appropriately.
As
such, MSIM investment teams seek to follow the Client Proxy Standard for
each client. At times, this may result in split votes, for example
when different vehicles/products and clients have varying economic interests and
/ or priorities reflected in their mandates with
respect to the outcome of a particular voting matter.
1 |
The
MSIM entities covered by this Equity Proxy Voting Policy and Procedures
(the “Policy”) currently include the following: Morgan Stanley AIP GP LP,
Morgan
Stanley Investment Management Inc., Morgan Stanley Investment Management
Limited, Morgan Stanley Investment Management Company, Morgan Stanley
Saudi Arabia, MSIM Fund Management (Ireland) Limited, Morgan Stanley Asia
Limited, Morgan Stanley Investment Management (Japan) Co. Limited,
Morgan
Stanley Investment Management Private Limited, Morgan Stanley Eaton Vance
CLO Manager LLC, Morgan Stanley Eaton Vance CLO CM LLC and FundLogic
SAS (each an “MSIM Affiliate” and collectively referred to as the “MSIM
Affiliates” or as “we” below). |
2 |
This
Policy does not apply to MSIM’s authority to exercise certain
decision-making rights associated with investments in loans and other
fixed-income instruments (collectively,
“Fixed Income Instruments”). Instead, MSIM’s Policy for Exercising
Consents Related to Fixed Income Instruments applies to MSIM’s exercise of
discretionary
authority or other investment management services, to the extent MSIM has
been granted authority to exercise consents for an account with respect
to
any Fixed Income Instruments held therein. |
Voting
Proxies for Certain Non-U.S. Companies
- Voting proxies of companies located in some jurisdictions may involve several
problems
that can restrict or prevent the ability to vote such proxies or entail
significant costs. These problems include, but are not limited
to: (i) proxy statements and ballots being written in a language other than
English; (ii) untimely and/or inadequate notice of shareholder
meetings; (iii) restrictions on the ability of holders outside the issuer’s
jurisdiction of organization to exercise votes; (iv) requirements
to vote proxies in person; (v) the imposition of restrictions on the sale of the
securities for a period of time in proximity to
the shareholder meeting; and (vi) requirements to provide local agents with
power of attorney to facilitate our voting instructions. As
a result, we vote clients’ non-U.S. proxies on a best efforts basis only, after
weighing the costs and benefits of voting such proxies, consistent
with the Client Proxy Standard. Institutional Shareholder Services (“ISS”) has
been retained to provide assistance in connection
with voting non-U.S. proxies.
Securities
Lending
- MS Funds or any other investment vehicle sponsored, managed or advised by an
MSIM affiliate may participate
in a securities lending program through a third party provider. The voting
rights for shares that are out on loan are transferred
to the borrower and therefore, the lender (i.e., an MS Fund or another
investment vehicle sponsored, managed or advised by
an MSIM affiliate) is not entitled to vote the lent shares at the company
meeting.
However,
in certain circumstances a portfolio manager may seek to recall shares for the
purposes of voting. In this event, the handling
of such recall requests would be on a best efforts basis.
A.
Routine Matters.
We
generally support routine management proposals. The following are examples of
routine management proposals:
■ |
Approval
of financial statements and auditor reports if delivered with an
unqualified auditor’s opinion. |
■ |
General
updating/corrective amendments to the charter, articles of association or
bylaws, unless we believe that such amendments
would diminish shareholder rights. |
Most
proposals related to the conduct of the annual meeting, with the following
exceptions. We generally oppose proposals that relate
to “the transaction of such other business which may come before the meeting,”
and open-ended requests for adjournment. However,
where management specifically states the reason for requesting an adjournment
and the requested adjournment would facilitate
passage of a proposal that would otherwise be supported under this Policy (i.e.,
an uncontested corporate transaction), the adjournment
request will be supported. We do not support proposals that allow companies to
call a special meeting with a short (generally
two weeks or less) time frame for review. We generally support shareholder
proposals advocating confidential voting procedures
and independent tabulation of voting results.
MSIM
is supportive of the use of technology to conduct virtual shareholder meetings
in parallel with physical meetings, for increased investor
participation. However, adoption of a ‘virtual-only’ approach would restrict
meaningful exchange between the company and shareholders.
Therefore, MSIM is generally not supportive of proposals seeking authority to
conduct virtual-only shareholder meetings.
B.
Board of Directors.
1 |
Election
of Directors:
Votes on board nominees can involve balancing a variety of considerations.
In vote decisions, we may take
into consideration whether the company has a majority voting policy in
place that we believe makes the director vote more meaningful.
In the absence of a proxy contest, we generally support the board’s
nominees for director except as follows: |
a |
We
consider withholding support from or voting against a nominee if we
believe a direct conflict exists between the interests
of the nominee and the public shareholders, including failure to meet
fiduciary standards of care and/or loyalty. We
may oppose directors where we conclude that actions of directors are
unlawful, unethical or negligent. We consider opposing
individual board members or an entire slate if we believe the board is
entrenched and/or dealing inadequately with
performance problems; if we believe the board is acting with insufficient
independence between the board and management;
or if we believe the board has not been sufficiently forthcoming with
information on key governance or other matters
we believe could be financially material. |
b |
We
consider withholding support from or voting against interested directors
if the company’s board does not meet market standards
for director independence, or if otherwise we believe board independence
is insufficient. We refer to prevalent market
standards as promulgated by a stock exchange or other authority within a
given market (e.g., New York Stock Exchange
or Nasdaq rules for most U.S. companies, and The Combined Code on
Corporate Governance in the United Kingdom).
Thus, for an NYSE company with no controlling shareholder, we would expect
that at a minimum a majority of
directors should be independent as defined by NYSE. Where we view market
standards as inadequate, we may withhold votes
based on stronger independence standards. Market standards
notwithstanding, we generally do not view long board tenure
alone as a basis to classify a director as
non-independent. |
i |
At
a company with a shareholder or group that controls the company by virtue
of a majority economic interest in the company,
we have a reduced expectation for board independence, although we believe
the presence of independent directors
can be helpful, particularly in staffing the audit committee, and at times
we may withhold support from or vote
against a nominee on the view the board or its committees are not
sufficiently independent. In markets where board
independence is not the norm, however, we consider factors including
whether a board of a controlled company
includes independent members who can be expected to look out for interests
of minority holders. |
ii |
We
consider withholding support from or voting against a nominee if he or she
is affiliated with a major shareholder that
has representation on a board disproportionate to its economic
interest. |
c |
Depending
on market standards, we consider withholding support from or voting
against a nominee who is interested and who
is standing for election as a member of the company’s
compensation/remuneration, nominating/governance or audit committee. |
d |
We
consider withholding support from or voting against nominees if the term
for which they are nominated is excessive. We
consider this issue on a market-specific basis. |
e |
We
consider withholding support from or voting against nominees if in our
view there has been insufficient board renewal (turnover),
particularly in the context of extended poor company performance. Also, if
the board has failed to consider diversity,
including but not limited to, gender and ethnicity, in its board
composition. |
f |
We
consider withholding support from or voting against a nominee standing for
election if the board has not taken action to
implement generally accepted governance practices for which there is a
“bright line” test. For example, in the context of the
U.S. market, failure to eliminate a dead hand or slow hand poison pill
would be seen as a basis for opposing one or more
incumbent nominees. |
g |
In
markets that encourage designated audit committee financial experts, we
consider voting against members of an audit committee
if no members are designated as such. We also consider voting against the
audit committee members if the company
has faced financial reporting issues and/or does not put the auditor up
for ratification by shareholders. |
h |
We
believe investors should have the ability to vote on individual nominees,
and may abstain or vote against a slate of nominees
where we are not given the opportunity to vote on individual
nominees. |
i |
We
consider withholding support from or voting against a nominee who has
failed to attend at least 75% of the nominee’s board
and board committee meetings within a given year without a reasonable
excuse. We also consider opposing nominees
if the company does not meet market standards for disclosure on
attendance. |
j |
We
consider withholding support from or voting against a nominee who appears
overcommitted, particularly through service
on an excessive number of boards. Market expectations are incorporated
into this analysis; for U.S. boards, we generally
oppose election of a nominee who serves on more than four public company
boards (excluding investment |
| companies),
or public company CEOs that serve on more than two outside boards given
level of time commitment required
in their primary job. |
k |
We
consider withholding support from or voting against a nominee where we
believe executive remuneration practices are poor,
particularly if the company does not offer shareholders a separate
“say-on-pay” advisory vote on pay. |
2 |
Discharge
of Directors’ Duties:
In markets where an annual discharge of directors’ responsibility is a
routine agenda item, we generally
support such discharge. However, we may vote against discharge or abstain
from voting where there are serious findings
of fraud or other unethical behavior for which the individual bears
responsibility. The annual discharge of responsibility represents
shareholder approval of disclosed actions taken by the board during the
year and may make future shareholder action against
the board difficult to pursue. |
3 |
Board
Independence:
We generally support U.S. shareholder proposals requiring that a certain
percentage (up to 66⅔%) of the company’s
board members be independent directors, and promoting all-independent
audit, compensation and nominating/governance
committees. |
4 |
Board
Diversity:
We believe that board diversity is a potentially financially material
issue. As such we generally support shareholder
proposals urging diversity of board membership with respect to gender,
race or other factors where we believe the board
has failed to take these factors into account. We will also consider not
supporting the re-election of the nomination committee
and / or chair (or other resolutions when the nomination chair is not up
for re-election) where we perceive limited progress
in gender diversity, with the expectation where feasible and with
consideration of any idiosyncrasies of individual markets,
that female directors represent not less than a third of the board, unless
there is evidence that the company has made significant
progress in this area. In markets where information on director ethnicity
is available, and it is legal to obtain it, and where
it is relevant, we will generally also consider not supporting the
re-election of the nomination committee chair (or other resolutions
when the nomination chair is not up for re-election) if the board lacks
ethnic diversity and has not outlined a credible
diversity strategy. |
5 |
Majority
Voting:
We generally support proposals requesting or requiring majority voting
policies in election of directors, so long
as there is a carve-out for plurality voting in the case of contested
elections. |
6 |
Proxy
Access:
We consider proposals on procedures for inclusion of shareholder nominees
and to have those nominees included in
the company’s proxy statement and on the company’s proxy ballot on a
case-by-case basis. Considerations include ownership thresholds,
holding periods, the number of directors that shareholders may nominate
and any restrictions on forming a group. |
7 |
Reimbursement
for Dissident Nominees:
We generally support well-crafted U.S. shareholder proposals that would
provide for reimbursement
of dissident nominees elected to a board, as the cost to shareholders in
electing such nominees can be factored into
the voting decision on those nominees. |
8 |
Proposals
to Elect Directors More Frequently:
In the U.S. public company context, we usually support shareholder and
management
proposals to elect all directors annually (to “declassify” the board),
although we make an exception to this policy where
we believe that long-term shareholder value may be harmed by this change
given particular circumstances at the company at
the time of the vote on such proposal. As indicated above, outside the
United States we generally support greater accountability
to shareholders that comes through more frequent director elections, but
recognize that many markets embrace longer
term lengths, sometimes for valid reasons given other aspects of the legal
context in electing boards. |
9 |
Cumulative
Voting:
We generally support proposals to eliminate cumulative voting in the U.S.
market context. (Cumulative voting
provides that shareholders may concentrate their votes for one or a
handful of candidates, a system that can enable a minority
bloc to place representation on a board.) U.S. proposals to establish
cumulative voting in the election of directors generally
will not be supported. |
10 |
Separation
of Chairman and CEO Positions:
We vote on shareholder proposals to separate the Chairman and CEO
positions and/or
to appoint an independent Chairman based in part on prevailing practice in
particular markets, since the context for such
a practice varies. In many non-U.S. markets, we view separation of the
roles as a market standard practice, and support division
of the roles in that context. In the United States, we consider such
proposals on a case-by-case basis, considering, among
other things, the existing board leadership structure, company
performance, and any evidence of entrenchment or perceived
risk that power is overly concentrated in a single
individual. |
11 |
Director
Retirement Age and Term Limits:
Proposals setting or recommending director retirement ages or director
term limits are
voted on a case-by-case basis that includes consideration of company
performance, the rate of board renewal, evidence of effective
individual director evaluation processes, and any indications of
entrenchment. |
12 |
Proposals
to Limit Directors’ Liability and/or Broaden Indemnification of Officers
and Directors:
Generally, we will support
such proposals provided that an individual is eligible only if he or she
has not acted in bad faith, with gross negligence or
with reckless disregard of their duties. |
C.
Statutory Auditor Boards.
The
statutory auditor board, which is separate from the main board of directors,
plays a role in corporate governance in several markets.
These boards are elected by shareholders to provide assurance on compliance with
legal and accounting standards and the company’s
articles of association. We generally vote for statutory auditor nominees if
they meet independence standards. In markets that
require disclosure on attendance by internal statutory auditors, however, we
consider voting against nominees for these positions who
failed to attend at least 75% of meetings in the previous year. We also consider
opposing nominees if the company does not meet
market standards for disclosure on attendance.
D.
Corporate Transactions and Proxy Fights.
We
examine proposals relating to mergers, acquisitions and other special corporate
transactions (i.e., takeovers, spin-offs, sales of assets,
reorganizations, restructurings and recapitalizations) on a case-by-case basis
in the interests of each fund or other account. Proposals
for mergers or other significant transactions that are friendly and approved by
the Research Providers usually are supported if
there is no portfolio manager objection. We also analyze proxy contests on a
case-by-case basis.
E.
Changes in Capital Structure.
We
generally support the following:
■ |
Management
and shareholder proposals aimed at eliminating unequal voting rights,
assuming fair economic treatment of classes of
shares we hold. |
■ |
U.S.
management proposals to increase the authorization of existing classes of
common stock (or securities convertible into common
stock) if: (i) a clear business purpose is stated that we can support and
the number of shares requested is reasonable in relation
to the purpose for which authorization is requested; and/or (ii) the
authorization does not exceed 100% of shares currently
authorized and at least 30% of the total new authorization will be
outstanding. (We consider proposals that do not meet
these criteria on a case-by-case basis.) |
■ |
U.S.
management proposals to create a new class of preferred stock or for
issuances of preferred stock up to 50% of issued capital,
unless we have concerns about use of the authority for anti-takeover
purposes. |
■ |
Proposals
in non-U.S. markets that in our view appropriately limit potential
dilution of existing shareholders. A major consideration
is whether existing shareholders would have preemptive rights for any
issuance under a proposal for standing share issuance
authority. We generally consider market-specific guidance in making these
decisions; for example, in the U.K. market we
usually follow Association of British Insurers’ (“ABI”) guidance, although
company-specific factors may be considered and for
example, may sometimes lead us to voting against share authorization
proposals even if they meet ABI guidance. |
■ |
Management
proposals to authorize share repurchase plans, except in some cases in
which we believe there are insufficient protections
against use of an authorization for anti-takeover
purposes. |
■ |
Management
proposals to reduce the number of authorized shares of common or preferred
stock, or to eliminate classes of preferred
stock. |
■ |
Management
proposals to effect stock splits. |
■ |
Management
proposals to effect reverse stock splits if management proportionately
reduces the authorized share amount set forth
in the corporate charter. Reverse stock splits that do not adjust
proportionately to the authorized share amount generally will
be approved if the resulting increase in authorized shares coincides with
the proxy guidelines set forth above for common stock
increases. |
■ |
Management
dividend payout proposals, except where we perceive company payouts to
shareholders as inadequate. |
We
generally oppose the following (notwithstanding management
support):
■ |
Proposals
to add classes of stock that would substantially dilute the voting
interests of existing shareholders. |
■ |
Proposals
to increase the authorized or issued number of shares of existing classes
of stock that are unreasonably dilutive, particularly
if there are no preemptive rights for existing shareholders. However,
depending on market practices, we consider voting
for proposals giving general authorization for issuance of shares not
subject to pre-emptive rights if the authority is limited. |
■ |
Proposals
that authorize share issuance at a discount to market rates, except where
authority for such issuance is de minimis, or if
there is a special situation that we believe justifies such authorization
(as may be the case, for example, at a company under severe
stress and risk of bankruptcy). |
■ |
Proposals
relating to changes in capitalization by 100% or
more. |
We
consider on a case-by-case basis shareholder proposals to increase dividend
payout ratios, in light of market practice and perceived market
weaknesses, as well as individual company payout history and current
circumstances. For example, currently we perceive low payouts
to shareholders as a concern at some Japanese companies, but may deem a low
payout ratio as appropriate for a growth company
making good use of its cash, notwithstanding the broader market
concern.
F.
Takeover Defenses and Shareholder Rights.
1 |
Shareholder
Rights Plans:
We generally support proposals to require shareholder approval or
ratification of shareholder rights plans
(poison pills). In voting on rights plans or similar takeover defenses, we
consider on a case-by-case basis whether the company
has demonstrated a need for the defense in the context of promoting
long-term share value; whether provisions of the defense
are in line with generally accepted governance principles in the market
(and specifically the presence of an adequate qualified
offer provision that would exempt offers meeting certain conditions from
the pill); and the specific context if the proposal
is made in the midst of a takeover bid or contest for
control. |
2 |
Supermajority Voting
Requirements:
We generally oppose requirements for supermajority votes to amend the
charter or bylaws,
unless the provisions protect minority shareholders where there is a large
shareholder. In line with this view, in the absence
of a large shareholder we support reasonable shareholder proposals to
limit such supermajority voting requirements. Also,
we oppose provisions that do not allow shareholders any right to amend the
charter of bylaws. |
3 |
Shareholders
Right to Call a Special Meeting:
We consider proposals to enhance a shareholder’s rights to call meetings
on a case-by-case
basis. At large-cap U.S. companies, we generally support efforts to
establish the right of holders of 10% or more of shares
to call special meetings, unless the board or state law has set a policy
or law establishing such rights at a threshold that we believe
to be acceptable. |
4 |
Written
Consent Rights:
In the U.S. context, we examine proposals for shareholder written consent
rights on a case-by-case basis. |
5 |
Reincorporation:
We consider management and shareholder proposals to reincorporate to a
different jurisdiction on a case-by-case
basis. We oppose such proposals if we believe the main purpose is to take
advantage of laws or judicial precedents that reduce
shareholder rights. |
6 |
Anti-greenmail
Provisions:
Proposals relating to the adoption of anti-greenmail provisions will be
supported, provided that the proposal:
(i) defines greenmail; (ii) prohibits buyback offers to large block
holders (holders of at least 1% of the outstanding shares
and in certain cases, a greater amount) not made to all shareholders or
not approved by disinterested shareholders; and (iii)
contains no anti-takeover measures or other provisions restricting the
rights of shareholders. |
7 |
Bundled
Proposals:
We may consider opposing or abstaining on proposals if disparate issues
are “bundled” and presented for a single
vote. |
G.
Auditors.
We
generally support management proposals for selection or ratification of
independent auditors. However, we may consider opposing
such proposals with reference to incumbent audit firms if the company has
suffered from serious accounting irregularities and
we believe rotation of the audit firm is appropriate, or if fees paid to the
auditor for non-audit-related services are excessive. Generally,
to determine if non-audit fees are excessive, a 50% test will be applied (i.e.,
non-audit-related fees should be less than 50% of
the total fees paid to the auditor). We generally vote against proposals to
indemnify auditors.
H.
Executive and Director Remuneration.
We
generally support the following:
a |
Proposals
for employee equity compensation plans and other employee ownership plans,
provided that our research does not
indicate that approval of the plan would be against shareholder interest.
Such approval may be against shareholder interest
if it authorizes excessive dilution and shareholder cost, particularly in
the context of high usage (“run rate”) of equity
compensation in the recent past; or if there are objectionable plan design
and provisions. |
b |
Proposals
relating to fees to outside directors, provided the amounts are not
excessive relative to other companies in the country
or industry, and provided that the structure is appropriate within the
market context. While stock-based compensation
to outside directors is positive if moderate and appropriately structured,
we are wary of significant stock option
awards or other performance-based awards for outside directors, as well as
provisions that could result in significant forfeiture
of value on a director’s decision to resign from a board (such forfeiture
can undercut director independence). |
c |
Proposals
for employee stock purchase plans that permit discounts, but only for
grants that are part of a broad-based employee
plan, including all non-executive employees, and only if the discounts are
limited to a reasonable market standard
or less. |
d |
Proposals
for the establishment of employee retirement and severance plans, provided
that our research does not indicate that
approval of the plan would be against shareholder
interest. |
We
generally oppose retirement plans and bonuses for non-executive directors and
independent statutory auditors.
In
the U.S. context, we generally vote against shareholder proposals requiring
shareholder approval of all severance agreements, but we
generally support proposals that require shareholder approval for agreements in
excess of three times the annual compensation (salary
and bonus) or proposals that require companies to adopt a provision requiring an
executive to receive accelerated vesting of
equity
awards if there is a change of control and
the executive is terminated. We generally oppose shareholder proposals that
would establish
arbitrary caps on pay. We consider on a case-by-case basis shareholder proposals
that seek to limit Supplemental Executive Retirement
Plans (SERPs), but support such shareholder proposals where we consider SERPs
excessive.
Shareholder
proposals advocating stronger and/or particular pay-for-performance models will
be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, with
consideration of the merits of the individual proposal within the context of the
particular company and its labor markets, and the
company’s current and past practices. While we generally support emphasis on
long-term components of senior executive pay and strong
linkage of pay to performance, we consider factors including whether a proposal
may be overly prescriptive, and the impact of the
proposal, if implemented as written, on recruitment and retention.
We
generally support proposals advocating reasonable senior executive and director
stock ownership guidelines and holding requirements
for shares gained in executive equity compensation programs.
We
generally support shareholder proposals for reasonable “claw-back” provisions
that provide for company recovery of senior executive
bonuses to the extent they were based on achieving financial benchmarks that
were not actually met in light of subsequent restatements.
Management
proposals effectively to re-price stock options are considered on a case-by-case
basis. Considerations include the company’s
reasons and justifications for a re-pricing, the company’s competitive position,
whether senior executives and outside directors
are excluded, potential cost to shareholders, whether the re-pricing or share
exchange is on a value-for-value basis, and whether
vesting requirements are extended.
Say-on-Pay:
We consider proposals relating to an advisory vote on remuneration on a
case-by-case basis. Considerations include a review
of the relationship between executive remuneration and performance based on
operating trends and total shareholder return over
multiple performance periods. In addition, we review remuneration structures and
potential poor pay practices, including relative
magnitude of pay, discretionary bonus awards, tax gross ups, change-in-control
features, internal pay equity and peer group construction.
As long-term investors, we support remuneration policies that align with
long-term shareholder returns.
I.
Social and Environmental Issues
Shareholders
in the United States and certain other markets submit proposals encouraging
changes in company disclosure and practices
related to particular social and environmental matters. Relevant social and
environmental issues, including principal adverse sustainability
impacts, may influence long-term risk and return. Consequently, investment teams
may consider how to vote on proposals
related to social and environmental issues on a case-by-case basis by
determining the extent to which they believe the social and
environmental issues identified in the proposal could impact shareholder value.
In reviewing proposals on such issues, investment teams
may consider the financial materiality, including the company’s exposure to the
risk or opportunity, the management of such issues
and a company’s current disclosures. In assessing and prioritizing proposals, we
carefully reflect on the potential financial materiality
of the issues as well as the sector and geography in which the company operates.
We also consider the explanation companies
provide where they may depart from best practice to assess the adequacy and
appropriateness of measures that are in place. Investment
teams may seek to balance concerns on reputational, operational, litigation and
other risks that lie behind a proposal against
costs of implementation, while considering appropriate shareholder and
management prerogatives. Investment teams may abstain
from voting on proposals that do not have a readily determinable financial
impact on shareholder value and may oppose proposals
that intrude excessively on management prerogatives and/or board discretion.
Investment teams may generally vote against proposals
requesting reports or actions they believe are duplicative, related to matters
not considered by the investment team to be financially
material to the business, or that would impose unnecessary or excessive costs.
We consider proposals on these sustainability risks,
opportunities and impacts on a case-by-case basis but generally support
proposals that seek to enhance useful disclosure. We focus
on understanding the company’s business and commercial context and recognise
that there is no one size fits all that can apply to
all companies.
Environmental
Issues:
We generally support proposals that, if implemented, would enhance useful
disclosure on climate, biodiversity,
and other environmental risks, such as disclosures aligned with SASB
(Sustainability Accounting Standards Board) and the
TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures) for companies for
which such issues may be financially material. We
also generally support proposals that aim to ensure companies communicate
credibly on their commitments to manage reputational
risks. As such, we generally support proposals that aim to encourage companies
to use independently verified Science Based
Targets to ensure emissions are in line with the Paris Agreement on Climate
Change, which should ultimately help companies who
seek to manage long-term climate-related risks do so in a way that remains
credible. We generally will support reasonable proposals
to reduce negative environmental impacts and ameliorate a company’s overall
environmental footprint, including any threats
to biodiversity in ecologically sensitive areas. We generally will also support
proposals asking companies to report on their environmental
practices, policies and impacts, including environmental damage and health risks
resulting from operations, and the impact
of environmental liabilities on shareholder value.
Social
Issues:
We generally support proposals that, if implemented, would enhance useful
disclosure on employee and board diversity,
including gender, race, and other factors, for companies where such issues could
be considered by the investment teams as financially
material. We consider proposals on other social issues on a case-by-case basis
but generally support proposals that:
■ |
Seek
to enhance useful disclosure or improvements on material issues such as
human rights risks, supply chain management. workplace
safety, human capital management and pay equity in line with local
rules. |
■ |
Encourage
policies to eliminate gender-based violence and other forms of harassment
from the workplace. |
■ |
Seek
disclosure of relevant diversity policies and meaningful workforce
diversity data, including EEO-1 data. |
We
consider proposals on other social issues on a case-by-case basis but generally
support proposals that: Seek to enhance transparency
through disclosures on supply chain management, particularly in cases where this
is a financially material risk.
We
may consider withholding support where we have material concerns in relation to
a company’s involvement/remediation of a breach
of global conventions such as UN Global Compact Principles on Human Rights,
Labour Standards, Environment and Business
Malpractice.
J.
Funds of Funds
Certain
MS Funds advised by an MSIM Affiliate invest only in other MS Funds. If an
underlying fund has a shareholder meeting, in order
to avoid any potential conflict of interest, such proposals will be voted in the
same proportion as the votes of the other shareholders
of the underlying fund, unless otherwise determined by the Proxy Review
Committee. In markets where proportional voting
is not available we will not vote at the meeting, unless otherwise determined by
the Proxy Review Committee. Other MS Funds
invest in unaffiliated funds. If an unaffiliated underlying fund has a
shareholder meeting and the MS Fund owns more than 25%
of the voting shares of the underlying fund, the MS Fund will vote its shares in
the unaffiliated underlying fund in the same proportion
as the votes of the other shareholders of the underlying fund to the extent
possible.
Voting
Conditions Triggered Under Rule 12d1-4.
Rule 12d1-4 sets forth the conditions under which a registered fund (“acquiring
fund”)
may invest in excess of the statutory limits of Section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act
(for example by owning more than 3% of the total
outstanding voting stock) in another registered fund (“acquired fund”). In the
event that a Morgan Stanley “acquiring fund” invests
in an “acquired fund” in reliance on Rule 12d1-4 under the 1940 Act, and the MS
Fund and its “advisory group” (as defined in
Rule 12d1-4) hold more than (i) 25% of the total outstanding voting stock of a
particular open-end fund (including ETFs) or (ii) 10%
of the total outstanding voting stock of a particular closed-end fund, the
Morgan Stanley “acquiring fund” and its “advisory group”
will be required to vote all shares of the open- or closed-end fund held by the
fund and its “advisory group” in the same proportion
as the votes of the other shareholders of the open- or closed-end
fund.
Because
MSIM and Eaton Vance are generally considered part of the same “advisory group,”
an Eaton Vance “acquiring fund” that is required
to comply with the voting conditions set forth in Rule 12d1-4 could potentially
implicate voting conditions for a MS Fund invested
in the same open- or closed-end fund as the Eaton Vance “acquiring fund.” The
Committee will be notified by Compliance if
the conditions are triggered for a particular open- or closed-end fund holding
in an MS Fund. In the event that the voting conditions
in Rule 12d1-4 are triggered, please refer to the Morgan Stanley Funds Fund of
Funds Investment Policy for specific information
on Rule 12d1-4 voting requirements and exceptions.
II.
ADMINISTRATION OF THE POLICY
The
MSIM Proxy Review Committee (the “Committee”) has overall responsibility for the
Policy. The Committee consists of investment
professionals who represent the different investment disciplines and geographic
locations of MSIM, and is chaired by the director
of the Global Stewardship Team (“GST”). Because proxy voting is an investment
responsibility and may affect shareholder value,
and because of their knowledge of companies and markets as well as their
understanding of their clients’ objectives, portfolio managers
and other members of investment staff play a key role in proxy voting,
individual investment teams are responsible for determining
decisions on proxy votes and may, where relevant, consult the GST. The GST
administers and implements the Policy, as well
as monitoring services provided by the proxy advisory firms, third-party proxy
engagements and other research providers used in the
proxy voting process. As noted below, certain ETFs will follow Calvert’s Proxy
Voting Policy and Procedures, which is administered
by Calvert’s Proxy Voting and Engagement Department and overseen by Calvert’s
Proxy Voting and Engagement Committee.
The GST periodically monitors Calvert’s proxy voting with respect to securities
held by the ETFs.
The
GST Director is responsible for identifying issues that require Committee
deliberation or ratification. The GST, working with advice
of investment teams, is responsible for voting on routine items and on matters
that can be addressed in line with these Policy guidelines.
The GST has responsibility for voting case-by-case where guidelines and
precedent provide adequate guidance.
The
Committee may periodically review and may amend, as necessary, the Policy and
establish and direct voting positions consistent with
the Client Proxy Standard following consultation and approval from the
investment teams.
GST
and members of the Committee may take into account Research Providers’
recommendations and research as well as any other relevant
information they may request or receive, including portfolio manager and/or
analyst comments and research, as applicable.
Generally,
proxies related to securities held in client accounts that are managed pursuant
to quantitative, index or index-like strategies (“Index
Strategies”) will be voted in the same manner as those held in actively managed
accounts, unless economic interests or investment
guidelines of the accounts differ. Because accounts managed using Index
Strategies are passively managed accounts, research
from portfolio managers and/or analysts related to securities held in these
accounts may not be available. If the affected securities
are held only in accounts that are managed pursuant to Index Strategies, and the
proxy relates to a matter that is not described
in this Policy, the GST will consider all available information from the
Research Providers, and to the extent that the holdings
are significant, from the portfolio managers and/or analysts.
A.
Committee Procedures
The
Committee meets at least quarterly, and reviews and considers changes to the
Policy at least annually. The Committee will review
developing issues, as appropriate, as requested by the GST.
B.
Material Conflicts of Interest
In
addition to the procedures discussed above, if the GST Director determines that
an issue raises a material conflict of interest, the GST
Director may request a special committee (“Special Committee”) to review, and
recommend a course of action with respect to, the
conflict(s) in question.
A
potential material conflict of interest could exist in the following situations,
among others:
■ |
The
issuer soliciting the vote is a client of MSIM or an affiliate of MSIM and
the vote is on a matter that materially affects the issuer. |
■ |
The
proxy relates to Morgan Stanley common stock or any other security issued
by Morgan Stanley or its affiliates except if echo voting
is used, as with MS Funds, as described
herein. |
■ |
Morgan
Stanley has a material pecuniary interest in the matter submitted for a
vote (e.g., acting as a financial advisor to a party to
a merger or acquisition for which Morgan Stanley will be paid a success
fee if completed). |
■ |
One
of Morgan Stanley’s independent directors or one of MS Funds’ directors
also serves on the board of directors or is a nominee
for election to the board of directors of a company held by an MS Fund or
affiliate. |
If
the GST Director determines that an issue raises a potential material conflict
of interest, depending on the facts and circumstances, the
issue will be addressed as follows:
■ |
If
the matter relates to a topic that is discussed in this Policy, the
proposal will be voted as per the Policy. |
■ |
If
the matter is not discussed in this Policy or the Policy indicates that
the issue is to be decided case-by-case, the proposal will be
voted in a manner consistent with the Research Providers, provided that
all the Research Providers consulted have the same recommendation,
no portfolio manager objects to that vote, and the vote is consistent with
MSIM’s Client Proxy Standard. |
■ |
If
the Research Providers’ recommendations differ, the GST Director will
refer the matter to a Special Committee to vote on the
proposal, as appropriate. |
Any
Special Committee shall be comprised of the GST Director, and at least two
portfolio managers (preferably members of the Committee),
as approved by the Committee. The GST Director may request non-voting
participation by MSIM’s General Counsel or
his/her designee and the Chief Compliance Officer or his/her designee. In
addition to the research provided by Research Providers, the
Special Committee may request analysis from MSIM Affiliate investment
professionals and outside sources to the extent it deems appropriate.
C.
Proxy Voting Reporting
The
GST will document in writing all Committee and Special Committee decisions and
actions, which documentation will be maintained
by the GST for a period of at least six years. To the extent these decisions
relate to a security held by an MS Fund, the GST
will report the decisions to each applicable Board of Trustees/Directors of
those MS Funds (the “Board”) at each Board’s next regularly
scheduled Board meeting. The report will contain information concerning
decisions made during the most recently ended calendar
quarter immediately preceding the Board meeting.
In
addition, to the extent that Committee and Special Committee decisions and
actions relate to a security held by other pooled investment
vehicles, the GST will report the decisions to the relevant governing board of
the pooled investment vehicle. MSIM will promptly
provide a copy of this Policy to any client requesting it.
MSIM
will also, upon client request, promptly provide a report indicating how each
proxy was voted with respect to securities held in that
client’s account.
MSIM’s
Legal Department, in conjunction with GST and GST IT for MS Fund reporting and
with the AIP investment team for AIP
Closed-End 40 Act Fund reporting, is responsible for filing an annual Form N-PX
on behalf of each MS Fund and AIP Closed-End
40 Act Fund for which such filing is required, indicating how all proxies were
voted with respect to each such fund’s holdings.
Also,
MSIM maintains voting records of individual agenda items a company meetings in a
searchable database on its website on a rolling
12-month basis.
In
addition, ISS provides vote execution, reporting and recordkeeping services to
MSIM.
D.
Retention and Oversight of Proxy Advisory Firms
ISS
and Glass Lewis (together with other proxy research providers as we may retain
from time to time, the “Research Providers”) are independent
advisers that specialize in providing a variety of fiduciary-level proxy-related
services to institutional investment managers,
plan sponsors, custodians, consultants, and other institutional investors. The
services provided include in-depth research, global
issuer analysis, record retention, ballot processing and voting
recommendations.
To
facilitate proxy voting MSIM has retained Research Providers to provide
company level reports that summarize key data elements contained
within an issuer’s proxy statement. Although we are aware of the voting
recommendations included in the Research Providers’
company level reports, these recommendations are not an input into our vote nor
is any potential vote prepopulated based on
a Research Provider’s research. MSIM votes all proxies based on its own proxy
voting policies, consultation with the investment teams,
and in the best interests of each client. In addition to research, MSIM retains
ISS to provide vote execution, reporting, and recordkeeping
services.
As
part of MSIM’s ongoing oversight of the Research Providers, MSIM performs
periodic due diligence on the Research Providers. Topics
of the reviews include, but are not limited to, conflicts of interest,
methodologies for developing their policies and vote recommendations,
and resources.
Recordkeeping.
Records are retained in accordance with Morgan Stanley’s Global
Information Management Policy,
which establishes
general Firm-wide standards and procedures regarding the retention, handling,
and destruction of official books and records
and other information of legal or operational significance. The Global
Information Management Policy
incorporates Morgan
Stanley’s Master
Retention Schedule,
which lists various record classes and associated retention periods on a global
basis.
Retention
and Oversight of Outsourced Proxy Voting.
Certain MSIM exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) will follow Calvert Research
and Management’s (“Calvert”) Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures and the Global
Proxy Voting Guidelines set forth in Appendix
A of the Calvert Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures. MSIM’s oversight of
Calvert’s proxy voting engagement is ongoing pursuant
to the 40 Act Fund Service Provider and Vendor Oversight Policy.
Policy
Statement.
The Policy, with respect to securities held in the accounts of clients applies
to those MSIM entities that provide discretionary
investment management services and for which an MSIM entity has authority to
vote proxies. For purposes of this Policy,
clients shall include: Morgan Stanley U.S. registered investment companies,
other Morgan Stanley pooled investment vehicles,
and MSIM separately managed accounts (including accounts for Employee Retirement
Income Security (“ERISA”) clients and
ERISA-equivalent clients). This Policy is reviewed and updated as necessary to
address new and evolving proxy voting issues and standards.
Each
MSIM Affiliate will use its best efforts to vote proxies as part of its
authority to manage, acquire and dispose of account assets.
■ |
With
respect to the U.S. registered investment companies sponsored, managed or
advised by any MSIM Affiliate (the “MS Funds”),
each MSIM Affiliate will vote proxies under this Policy pursuant to
authority granted under its applicable investment advisory
agreement or, in the absence of such authority, as authorized by the Board
of Directors/Trustees of the MS Funds. |
■ |
For
other pooled investment vehicles (e.g., UCITS), each MSIM Affiliate will
vote proxies under this Policy pursuant to authority
granted under its applicable investment advisory agreement or, in the
absence of such authority, as authorized by the relevant
governing board. |
■ |
For
separately managed accounts (including ERISA and ERISA-equivalent
clients), each MSIM Affiliate will vote proxies under this
Policy pursuant to authority granted under the applicable investment
advisory agreement or investment management agreement.
Where an MSIM Affiliate has the authority to vote proxies on behalf of
ERISA and ERISA-equivalent clients, the MSIM
Affiliate must do so in accordance with its fiduciary duties under ERISA
(and the Internal Revenue Code). |
■ |
In
certain situations, a client or its fiduciary may reserve the authority to
vote proxies for itself or an outside party or may provide
an MSIM Affiliate with a statement of proxy voting policy. The MSIM
Affiliate will comply with the client’s
policy. |
■ |
Certain
ETFs will follow Calvert’s Global Proxy Voting Guidelines set forth
in Appendix A of Calvert’s Proxy Voting Policies and
Procedures and the proxy voting guidelines discussed below do not apply to
such ETFs. See Appendix A of Calvert’s Proxy Voting
Policies and Procedures for a general discussion of the proxy voting
guidelines to which these ETFs will be
subject. |
An
MSIM Affiliate will not vote proxies unless the investment management agreement,
investment advisory agreement or other authority
explicitly authorizes the MSIM Affiliate to vote proxies.
In
addition to voting proxies of portfolio companies, MSIM routinely engages with,
or, in some cases, may engage a third party to engage
with, the management or board of companies in which we invest on a range of
environmental, social and governance issues. Governance
is a window into or proxy for management and board quality. MSIM engages with
companies where we have larger positions,
voting issues are material or where we believe we can make a positive impact on
the governance structure. MSIM’s
engagement
process, through private communication with companies, allows us to understand
the governance structures at investee companies
and better inform our voting decisions. In certain situations, a client or its
fiduciary may provide an MSIM Affiliate with a proxy
voting policy. In these situations, the MSIM Affiliate will comply with the
client’s policy.
Approved
by the Board September 2015, September 27–28, 2016, September 27–28, 2017,
October 3–4, 2018, September 24–25, 2019,
September 30 – October 1, 2020, March 1-2, 2022, December 7-8, 2022, March 1-2,
2023 and March 13-14, 2024.
APPENDIX
A
Appendix
A applies to the following accounts managed by Morgan Stanley AIP GP LP (i)
closed-end funds registered under the Investment
Company Act of 1940, as amended; (ii) discretionary separate accounts; (iii)
unregistered funds; and (iv) non-discretionary
accounts offered in connection with AIP’s Custom Advisory Portfolio Solutions
service.
Generally,
AIP will follow the guidelines set forth in Section II of MSIM’s Proxy Voting
Policy and Procedures. To the extent that such
guidelines do not provide specific direction, or AIP determines that consistent
with the Client Proxy Standard, the guidelines should
not be followed, the Proxy Review Committee has delegated the voting authority
to vote securities held by accounts managed by
AIP to the Fund of Hedge Funds investment team, the Private Markets investment
team or the Portfolio Solutions team of AIP. A summary
of decisions made by the applicable investment teams will be made available to
the Proxy Review Committee for its information
at the next scheduled meeting of the Proxy Review Committee.
In
certain cases, AIP may determine to abstain from determining (or recommending)
how a proxy should be voted (and therefore abstain
from voting such proxy or recommending how such proxy should be voted), such as
where the expected cost of giving due consideration
to the proxy does not justify the potential benefits to the affected account(s)
that might result from adopting or rejecting
(as the case may be) the measure in question.
Waiver
of Voting Rights.
For regulatory reasons, AIP may either 1) invest in a class of securities of an
underlying fund (the “Fund”) that
does not provide for voting rights; or 2) waive 100% of its voting rights with
respect to the following:
■ |
Any
rights with respect to the removal or replacement of a director, general
partner, managing member or other person acting in a
similar capacity for or on behalf of the Fund (each individually a
“Designated Person,” and collectively, the “Designated Persons”),
which may include, but are not limited to, voting on the election or
removal of a Designated Person in the event of such
Designated Person’s death, disability, insolvency, bankruptcy, incapacity,
or other event requiring a vote of interest holders of
the Fund to remove or replace a Designated Person;
and |
■ |
Any
rights in connection with a determination to renew, dissolve, liquidate,
or otherwise terminate or continue the Fund, which may
include, but are not limited to, voting on the renewal, dissolution,
liquidation, termination or continuance of the Fund upon
the occurrence of an event described in the Fund’s organizational
documents; provided, however, that, if the Fund’s organizational
documents require the consent of the Fund’s general partner or manager, as
the case may be, for any such termination
or continuation of the Fund to be effective, then AIP may exercise its
voting rights with respect to such
matter. |
APPENDIX
B — DESCRIPTION OF RATINGS
Standard
& Poor’s Ratings Services
An
S&P Global Ratings issue credit rating is a forward-looking opinion about
the creditworthiness of an obligor with respect to a specific
financial obligation, a specific class of financial obligations, or a specific
financial program (including ratings on medium-term
note programs and commercial paper programs). It takes into consideration the
creditworthiness of guarantors, insurers, or other
forms of credit enhancement on the obligation and takes into account the
currency in which the obligation is denominated. The
opinion reflects S&P Global Ratings’ view of the obligor’s capacity and
willingness to meet its financial commitments as they come
due, and this opinion may assess terms, such as collateral security and
subordination, which could affect ultimate payment in the
event of default.
Issue
credit ratings can be either long-term or short-term. Short-term ratings are
generally assigned to those obligations considered short-term
in the relevant market. Short-term ratings are also used to indicate the
creditworthiness of an obligor with respect to put features
on long-term obligations. Medium-term notes are assigned long-term
ratings.
I.
S&P’s Long-Term Issue Credit Ratings
AAA:
An obligation rated ‘AAA’ has the highest rating assigned by S&P Global
Ratings. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments
on the obligation is extremely strong.
AA:
An obligation rated ‘AA’ differs from the highest-rated obligations only to a
small degree. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial
commitments on the obligation is very strong.
A:
An obligation rated ‘A’ is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of
changes in circumstances and economic conditions than
obligations in higher-rated categories. However, the obligor’s capacity to meet
its financial commitments on the obligation is still
strong.
BBB:
An obligation rated ‘BBB’ exhibits adequate protection parameters. However,
adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances
are more likely to weaken the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial
commitments on the obligation.
BB;
B; CCC; CC; and C:
Obligations rated ‘BB’, ‘B’, ‘CCC’, ‘CC’, and ‘C’ are regarded as having
significant speculative characteristics.
‘BB’ indicates the least degree of speculation and ‘C’ the highest. While such
obligations will likely have some quality and
protective characteristics, these may be outweighed by large uncertainties or
major exposure to adverse conditions.
BB:
An obligation rated ‘BB’ is less vulnerable to nonpayment than other speculative
issues. However, it faces major ongoing uncertainties
or exposure to adverse business, financial, or economic conditions that could
lead to the obligor’s inadequate capacity to meet
its financial commitments on the obligation.
B:
An obligation rated ‘B’ is more vulnerable to nonpayment than obligations rated
‘BB’, but the obligor currently has the capacity to meet
its financial commitments on the obligation. Adverse business, financial, or
economic conditions will likely impair the obligor’s capacity
or willingness to meet its financial commitments on the obligation.
CCC:
An obligation rated ‘CCC’ is currently vulnerable to nonpayment and is dependent
upon favorable business, financial, and economic
conditions for the obligor to meet its financial commitments on the obligation.
In the event of adverse business, financial, or
economic conditions, the obligor is not likely to have the capacity to meet its
financial commitments on the obligation.
CC:
An obligation rated ‘CC’ is currently highly vulnerable to nonpayment. The ‘CC’
rating is used when a default has not yet occurred
but S&P Global Ratings expects default to be a virtual certainty, regardless
of the anticipated time to default.
C: An
obligation rated ‘C’ is currently highly vulnerable to nonpayment, and the
obligation is expected to have lower relative seniority
or lower ultimate recovery compared with obligations that are rated
higher.
D: An
obligation rated ‘D’ is in default or in breach of an imputed promise. For
non-hybrid capital instruments, the ‘D’ rating category
is used when payments on an obligation are not made on the date due, unless
S&P Global Ratings believes that such payments
will be made within five business days in the absence of a stated grace period
or within the earlier of the stated grace period or
30 calendar days. The ‘D’ rating also will be used upon the filing of a
bankruptcy petition or the taking of similar action and where
default on an obligation is a virtual certainty, for example due to automatic
stay provisions. A rating on an obligation is lowered
to ‘D’ if it is subject to a distressed exchange offer.
NR: Indicates
that a rating has not been assigned or is no longer assigned.
Note:
Ratings from ‘AA’ to ‘CCC’ may be modified by the addition of a plus (+) or
minus (-) sign to show relative standing within the
rating categories.
II.
S&P’s Short-Term Issue Credit Ratings
A-1:
A short-term obligation rated ‘A-1’ is rated in the highest category by S&P
Global Ratings. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial
commitments on the obligation is strong. Within this category, certain
obligations are designated with a plus sign (+). This indicates
that the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on these
obligations is extremely strong.
A-2:
A short-term obligation rated ‘A-2’ is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse
effects of changes in circumstances and economic
conditions than obligations in higher rating categories. However, the obligor’s
capacity to meet its financial commitments on
the obligation is satisfactory.
A-3:
A short-term obligation rated ‘A-3’ exhibits adequate protection parameters.
However, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances
are more likely to weaken an obligor’s capacity to meet its financial
commitments on the obligation.
B:
A short-term obligation rated ‘B’ is regarded as vulnerable and has significant
speculative characteristics. The obligor currently has the
capacity to meet its financial commitments; however, it faces major ongoing
uncertainties that could lead to the obligor’s inadequate
capacity to meet its financial commitments.
C:
A short-term obligation rated ‘C’ is currently vulnerable to nonpayment and is
dependent upon favorable business, financial, and economic
conditions for the obligor to meet its financial commitments on the
obligation.
D:
A short-term obligation rated ‘D’ is in default or in breach of an imputed
promise. For non-hybrid capital instruments, the ‘D’ rating
category is used when payments on an obligation are not made on the date due,
unless S&P Global Ratings believes that such payments
will be made within any stated grace period. However, any stated grace period
longer than five business days will be treated as
five business days. The ‘D’ rating also will be used upon the filing of a
bankruptcy petition or the taking of a similar action and where
default on an obligation is a virtual certainty, for example due to automatic
stay provisions. A rating on an obligation is lowered
to ‘D’ if it is subject to a distressed exchange offer.
NR:
Indicates that a rating has not been assigned or is no longer
assigned.
III.
Municipal Short-Term Note Ratings
SP-1:
Strong capacity to pay principal and interest. An issue determined to possess a
very strong capacity to pay debt service is given a plus
(+) designation.
SP-2:
Satisfactory capacity to pay principal and interest, with some vulnerability to
adverse financial and economic changes over the term
of the notes.
SP-3:
Speculative capacity to pay principal and interest.
D:
‘D’ is assigned upon failure to pay the note when due, completion of a
distressed exchange offer, or the filing of a bankruptcy petition
or the taking of similar action anywhere default on an obligation is a virtual
certainty, for example, due to automatic stay provisions.
Moody’s
Investors, Inc.
Ratings
assigned on Moody’s global long-term and short-term rating scales are
forward-looking opinions of the relative credit risks of financial
obligations issued by non-financial corporates, financial institutions,
structured finance vehicles, project finance vehicles, and
public sector entities. Long-term ratings are assigned to issuers or obligations
with an original maturity of one year or more and reflect
both on the likelihood of a default on contractually promised payments and the
expected financial loss suffered in the event of default.
Short-term ratings are assigned to obligations with an original maturity of
thirteen months or less and reflect both on the likelihood
of a default on contractually promised payments and the expected financial loss
suffered in the event of default.
I.
Moody’s Global Long-Term Rating Scale
Aaa:
Obligations rated Aaa are judged to be of the highest quality, subject to the
lowest level of credit risk.
Aa:
Obligations rated Aa are judged to be of high quality and are subject to very
low credit risk.
A:
Obligations rated A are judged to be upper-medium grade and are subject to low
credit risk.
Baa:
Obligations rated Baa are judged to be medium-grade and subject to moderate
credit risk and as such may possess certain speculative
characteristics.
Ba:
Obligations rated Ba are judged to be speculative and are subject to substantial
credit risk.
B:
Obligations rated B are considered speculative and are subject to high credit
risk.
Caa:
Obligations rated Caa are judged to be speculative of poor standing and are
subject to very high credit risk.
Ca:
Obligations rated Ca are highly speculative and are likely in, or very near,
default, with some prospect of recovery of principal and
interest.
C:
Obligations rated C are the lowest rated and are typically in default, with
little prospect for recovery of principal or interest.
Note:
Moody’s appends numerical modifiers 1, 2, and 3 to each generic rating
classification from Aa through Caa. The modifier 1 indicates
that the obligation ranks in the higher end of its generic rating category; the
modifier 2 indicates a mid-range ranking; and the
modifier 3 indicates a ranking in the lower end of that generic rating category.
Additionally, a “(hyb)” indicator is appended to all ratings
of hybrid securities issued by banks, insurers, finance companies, and
securities firms.
II.
Moody’s Global Short-Term Rating Scale
P-1:
Issuers (or supporting institutions) rated Prime-1 have a superior ability to
repay short-term debt obligations.
P-2:
Issuers (or supporting institutions) rated Prime-2 have a strong ability to
repay short-term debt obligations.
P-3:
Issuers (or supporting institutions) rated Prime-3 have an acceptable ability to
repay short-term obligations.
NP:
Issuers (or supporting institutions) rated Not Prime do not fall within any of
the Prime rating categories.
Fitch
Ratings Inc.
Fitch
Ratings’ credit ratings relating to issuers are an opinion on the relative
ability of an entity to meet financial commitments, such as
interest, preferred dividends, repayment of principal, insurance claims or
counterparty obligations. Credit ratings relating to securities
and obligations of an issuer can include a recovery expectation. Credit ratings
are used by investors as indications of the likelihood
of receiving the money owed to them in accordance with the terms on which they
invested. The agency’s credit ratings cover
the global spectrum of corporate, sovereign financial, bank, insurance, and
public finance entities (including supranational and sub-national
entities) and the securities or other obligations they issue, as well as
structured finance securities backed by receivables or other
financial assets.
I.
Fitch’s Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating Scale
AAA:
Highest credit quality. ‘AAA’ ratings denote the lowest expectation of default
risk. They are assigned only in cases of exceptionally
strong capacity for payment of financial commitments. This capacity is highly
unlikely to be adversely affected by foreseeable
events.
AA:
Very high credit quality. ‘AA’ ratings denote expectations of very low default
risk. They indicate very strong capacity for payment of
financial commitments. This capacity is not significantly vulnerable to
foreseeable events.
A:
High credit quality. ‘A’ ratings denote expectations of low default risk. The
capacity for payment of financial commitments is considered
strong. This capacity may, nevertheless, be more vulnerable to adverse business
or economic conditions than is the case for higher
ratings.
BBB:
Good credit quality. ‘BBB’ ratings indicate that expectations of default risk
are currently low. The capacity for payment of financial
commitments is considered adequate, but adverse business or economic conditions
are more likely to impair this capacity.
BB:
Speculative. ‘BB’ ratings indicate an elevated vulnerability to default risk,
particularly in the event of adverse changes in business or
economic conditions over time; however, business or financial flexibility exists
that supports the servicing of financial commitments.
B:
Highly speculative. ‘B’ ratings indicate that material default risk is present,
but a limited margin of safety remains. Financial commitments
are currently being met; however, capacity for continued payment is vulnerable
to deterioration in the business and economic
environment.
CCC:
Substantial credit risk. Default is a real possibility.
CC:
Very high levels of credit risk. Default of some kind appears
probable.
C: Near
default. A default or default-like process has begun, or the issuer is in
standstill, or for a closed funding vehicle, payment capacity
is irrevocably impaired. Conditions that are indicative of a ‘C’ category rating
for an issuer include: a. the issuer has entered into
a grace or cure period following non-payment of a material financial obligation;
b. the issuer has entered into a temporary negotiated
waiver or standstill agreement following a payment default on a material
financial obligation; c. the formal announcement by
the issuer or their agent of a distressed debt exchange; d. a closed financing
vehicle where payment capacity is irrevocably impaired such
that it is not expected to pay interest and/or principal in full during the life
of the transaction, but where no payment default is imminent.
RD:
Restricted default. ‘RD’ ratings indicate an issuer that in Fitch’s
opinion has experienced: a. an uncured payment default or distressed
debt exchange on a bond, loan or other material financial obligation, but b. has
not entered into bankruptcy filings,
administration,
receivership, liquidation, or other formal winding-up procedure, and c. has not
otherwise ceased operating. This would
include: i. the selective payment default on a specific class or currency of
debt; ii. the uncured expiry of any applicable grace period,
cure period or default forbearance period following a payment default on a bank
loan, capital markets security or other material
financial obligation; iii. the extension of multiple waivers or forbearance
periods upon a payment default on one or more material
financial obligations, either in series or in parallel; ordinary execution of a
distressed debt exchange on one or more material financial
obligations.
D:
Default. ‘D’ ratings indicate an issuer that in Fitch’s opinion has
entered into bankruptcy filings, administration, receivership, liquidation
or other formal winding-up procedure or that has otherwise ceased
business.
Default
ratings are not assigned prospectively to entities or their obligations; within
this context, non-payment on an instrument that contains
a deferral feature or grace period will generally not be considered a default
until after the expiration of the deferral or grace period,
unless a default is otherwise driven by bankruptcy or other similar
circumstance, or by a distressed debt exchange.
Imminent
default, categorized under ‘C’, typically refers to the occasion where a payment
default has been intimated by the issuer and
is all but inevitable. This may, for example, be where an issuer has missed a
scheduled payment but (as is typical) has a grace period
during which it may cure the payment default. Another alternative would be where
an issuer has formally announced a distressed
debt exchange, but the date of the exchange still lies several days or weeks in
the immediate future.
In
all cases, the assignment of a default rating reflects the agency’s opinion as
to the most appropriate rating category consistent with the
rest of its universe of ratings and may differ from the definition of default
under the terms of an issuer’s financial obligations or local
commercial practice.
Note:
The modifiers “+” or “-“ may be appended to a rating to denote relative status
within major rating categories. Such suffixes are not
added to ‘AAA’ ratings and ratings below the ‘CCC’ category.
II.
Fitch’s Short-Term Ratings Assigned to Issuers or Obligations in Corporate,
Public and Structure Finance
F1:
Highest Short-Term Credit Quality. Indicates the strongest intrinsic capacity
for timely payment of financial commitments; may have
an added “+” to denote any exceptionally strong credit feature.
F2:
Good Short-Term Credit Quality. Good intrinsic capacity for timely payment of
financial commitments.
F3:
Fair Short-Term Credit Quality. The intrinsic capacity for timely payment of
financial commitments is adequate.
B:
Speculative Short-Term Credit Quality. Minimal capacity for timely payment of
financial commitments, plus heightened vulnerability
to near term adverse changes in financial and economic conditions.
C:
High Short-Term Default Risk. Default is a real possibility.
RD:
Restricted Default. Indicates an entity that has defaulted on one or more of its
financial commitments, although it continues to meet
other financial obligations. Typically applicable to entity ratings
only.
D:
Default. Indicates a broad-based default event for an entity, or the default of
a short-term obligation.
Note: The
modifiers “+” or “-“ may be appended to a rating to denote relative status
within major rating categories. For the short-term
rating category of ‘F1’, a ‘+’ may be appended.
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