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Funds Group: Morgan Stanley Institutional Funds
Management Company: Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc.
Funds Affected: (1) Morgan Stanley Institutional Asia Opportunities Portfolio, Morgan Stanley Institutional Global Opportunity Portfolio, Morgan Stanley Institutional International Opportunity Portfolio, Morgan Stanley Institutional International Advantage Portfolio (2) Morgan Stanley Institutional Emerging Markets Fixed Income Opportunities Fund, Morgan Stanley Institutional Emerging Markets Leaders Portfolio, Morgan Stanley Institutional Emerging Markets Small Cap Portfolio, Morgan Stanley Institutional Frontier Markets Portfolio, (3) Morgan Stanley Institutional International Real Estate Portfolio, Morgan Stanley Institutional Global Real Estate Fund, Morgan Stanley Institutional US Real Estate Fund, Morgan Stanley Global Concentrated Real Estate, Morgan Stanley Institutional High Yield Portfolio, Morgan Stanley Institutional Corporate Bond Fund, Morgan Stanley Institutional Core Plus Fixed Income Fund, (4) Morgan Stanley Institutional Global Opportunity Portfolio, Morgan Stanley Institutional International Equity Portfolio, and Morgan Stanley Institutional International Advantage Portfolio, (5) Morgan Stanley Institutional Inception Fund, Morgan Stanley Insight Fund, and Morgan Stanley Institutional Discovery Fund, Morgan Stanley Institutional Advantage Fund, Morgan Stanley Global Permanence Fund
Principal Sustainable Investment Management Strategy: (1) ESG integration, (2) ESG Integration, Negative screening (exclusions), Shareholder Engagement, (3) ESG integration, Shareholder/Bondholder  Engagement, (4-5) ESG integration
Summary:
(1) The investment process integrates analysis of sustainability with respect to disruptive change, financial strength, environmental and social externalities and governance (also referred to as ESG).
(2) The investment process takes into account information about environmental, social and governance issues (also referred to as ESG) when making investment decisions. The adviser and/or sub-adviser focus on engaging company management around corporate governance practices as well as what the adviser and/or sub-adviser deem to be materially important environmental and/or social issues facing a company. The investment process excludes holdings in tobacco companies.
(3) The investment process takes into account information about environmental, social and governance issues (also referred to as ESG) when making investment decisions. The adviser and/or sub-adviser focus on engaging company management around corporate governance practices as well as what the adviser and/or sub-adviser deem to be materially important environmental and/or social issues facing a company.
(4) The investment process takes into account information about environmental, social and governance issues (also referred to as ESG) when making investment decisions.
(5) The adviser actively integrates sustainability into the investment process by using environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) factors as a lens for additional fundamental research, which can contribute to investment decision-making. The adviser conducts research to examine how environmental and social initiatives within companies can drive enterprise value by creating growth opportunities, reducing risk, driving profitability, strengthening durable competitive advantages and/or aligning with secular growth trends. Other aspects of the investment process include a proprietary, systematic evaluation of governance policies, specifically focusing on compensation alignment on long-term value creation. The adviser does not treat ESG as a deterministic, reductive screen, nor as a portfolio construction tool layered on top of a passive vehicle.

 

 

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Research

Research and analysis to keep sustainable investors up to-date on a broad range of topics that include trends and developments in sustainable investing and sustainable finance, regulatory updates, performance results and considerations, investing through index funds and actively managed portfolios, asset allocation updates, expenses, ESG ratings and data, company and product news, green, social and sustainable bonds, green bond funds as well as reporting and disclosure practices, to name just a few.

A continuously updated Funds Directory is also available to investors.  This is intended to become a comprehensive listing of sustainable mutual funds, ETFs and other investment products along with a description of their sustainable investing approaches as set out in fund prospectuses and related regulatory filings.

Getting started

Many questions have surfaced in recent years regarding sustainable and ESG investing.  Here, investors and financial intermediaries will find materials that describe the various approaches to sustainable investing and their implementation.  While sustainable investing approaches vary and they have thus far defied universally accepted definitions, many practitioners agree that they fall into the following broad categories:  Values-based investing, investing via exclusions, impact investing, thematic investments and ESG integration.  In conjunction with each of these approaches, investors may also adopt various issuer engagement procedures and proxy voting practices.  That said, sustainable investing approaches will continue to evolve.

In addition to periodic updates regarding sustainable investing and how this form of investing is evolving, investors and financial intermediaries interested in implementing a sustainable investing approach will also find source materials that cover basic investing themes as well as asset allocation tactics.

Inesting ideas

Thoughts and ideas targeting sustainable investing strategies executed through various registered and non-registered sustainable investment funds and products such as mutual funds, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs), closed-end funds, Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Unit Investment Trusts (UITs). Coverage extends to investment management firms as well as fund groups. 

Independent source for sustainable investment management company research, analysis, opinions and sustainable fund disclosure assessments