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Form ADV Wrap Fee Program Brochure
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC
Consulting and Evaluation Services Program
Investment Management Services Program
December 10, 2025
2000 Westchester Avenue
Purchase, NY 10577
Tel: (914) 225-1000
www.morganstanley.com
This Wrap Fee Program Brochure provides information about the qualifications and business practices of
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (“MSWM”). If you have any questions about the contents of this
Brochure, please contact us at (914) 225-1000. The information in this Brochure has not been approved or
verified by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) or by any state securities
authority.
Additional information about MSWM also is available on the SEC’s website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov.
Registration with the SEC does not imply a certain level of skill or training.
Item 2: Material Changes
This section identifies and discusses material changes to the ADV
Brochure since the version of this Brochure dated October 17,
2025. For more details on any particular matter, please see the
item in this ADV Brochure referred to in the summary below.
CES Investment Strategies
Updates were made to the CES Program to reflect inclusion of
certain investment strategies not covered by GIMA. (Item 4.A,
General Description of Products and Services).
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Item 3: Table of Contents
Item 1: Cover Page .................................................................................................................................................................................... 1
Item 2: Material Changes ........................................................................................................................................................................... 2
Item 3: Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Item 4: Services, Fees and Compensation .................................................................................................................................................. 4
A. General Description of Programs and Services ........................................................................................................................ 4
Consulting and Evaluation Services Program .......................................................................................................................... 4
PWM Manager Assessment Program (CLOSED) ................................................................................................................... 4
Investment Management Services Program ............................................................................................................................. 4
Account Opening ..................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Ineligible Securities and Investment Restrictions .................................................................................................................... 5
Trading and Execution Services .............................................................................................................................................. 5
Trade Confirmations, Account Statements and Performance Reviews .................................................................................... 6
Risks ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 6
Tax and Legal Considerations................................................................................................................................................ 11
Principal Trading and Related Fees ....................................................................................................................................... 12
Proxies and Related Materials................................................................................................................................................ 12
Custody .................................................................................................................................................................................. 12
Fees ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 13
B. Comparing Costs .................................................................................................................................................................... 15
C. Additional Fees ....................................................................................................................................................................... 15
Funds in Advisory Programs ................................................................................................................................................. 15
Cash Sweeps .......................................................................................................................................................................... 17
D. Compensation to Financial Advisors ..................................................................................................................................... 18
Item 5: Account Requirements and Types of Clients ........................................................................................................................... 19
Item 6: Portfolio Manager Selection and Evaluation ............................................................................................................................... 19
A. Selection and Review of Portfolio Managers for the Programs .............................................................................................. 19
CES Program ......................................................................................................................................................................... 19
IMS Program.......................................................................................................................................................................... 20
Other Relationships with Managers ....................................................................................................................................... 20
B. Conflicts of Interest ................................................................................................................................................................ 20
Item 7: Client Information Provided to Portfolio Managers .................................................................................................................. 23
Item 8: Client Contact with Portfolio Managers ................................................................................................................................... 23
Item 9: Additional Information .............................................................................................................................................................. 23
Disciplinary Information ........................................................................................................................................................ 23
Other Financial Industry Activities and Affiliations .............................................................................................................. 24
Exhibit: Affiliated Money Market Funds Fee Disclosure Statement and Float Disclosure Statement ............................... 28
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Item 4: Services, Fees and
Compensation
MSWM and its Financial Advisors may also provide other services
in connection with these programs. Any such services will be
specified in the investment advisory agreement between MSWM
and you (see “Account Opening” in this Item 4.A below).
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (“Morgan Stanley Wealth
Management”, “MSWM”, “we”, “us” or “our”) is a registered
investment adviser and a registered broker-dealer. MSWM is one
of the largest financial services firms in the United States with
branch offices in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
MSWM offers clients (“you”, “your” or “Client”) many different
advisory programs. Many of MSWM’s advisory services are
provided by its Consulting Group business unit (“CG”). You
may obtain Brochures for other MSWM investment advisory
programs at www.morganstanley.com/ADV or by asking your
Financial Advisor or, for Morgan Stanley Private Wealth
Management clients, your Private Wealth Advisor. Throughout
the rest of this Brochure, “Financial Advisor” means either your
Financial Advisor or your Private Wealth Advisor, as applicable.
Consulting and Evaluation Services Program
The Consulting and Evaluation Services (“CES”) program offers
you
the portfolio management services of affiliated and
unaffiliated Managers. MSWM generally selects and approves the
Managers and Strategies available for investment through the
CES program, based on a variety of factors and then provides
ongoing due diligence and monitoring of those investment
products through Morgan Stanley’s Global Investment Manager
Analysis unit (“GIMA”) as described further in “Selection and
Review of Portfolio Managers for the Programs” Item 6 below.
Certain Strategies available in the Program may be based upon
model portfolios managed by MSWM and strategies managed by
MSWM are generally not reviewed by GIMA.
After obtaining certain information from you including your
investment objectives, risk
tolerance and other financial
information, we will recommend certain CES Managers and
respective Strategies appropriate for you. The Manager you select
has the sole authority to manage your account on a discretionary
basis and make investment decisions in light of, among other
things, your investment objectives, risk tolerance, financial
situation, and any reasonable restrictions you may choose to
impose. In certain instances, a CES Manager may delegate some
of their duties to a sub-adviser.
We reasonably expect to provide services as a “fiduciary” (as that
term is defined in Section 3(21) (A) of the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”) and/or
Section 4975 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended
(the “Code”)), with respect to “Retirement Accounts.” For
purposes of this Brochure (including the Exhibit), the term
“Retirement Account” will be used to cover (i) “employee benefit
plans” (as defined under Section 3(3) of ERISA), which include
pension, defined contribution, profit-sharing and welfare plans
sponsored by private employers, as well as similar arrangements
sponsored by governmental or other public employers which
arrangements are generally not subject to ERISA; (ii) individual
retirement accounts “IRAs” (as described in Section 4975 of the
Code); and (iii) Coverdell Educational Savings Accounts
(“CESAs”).
PWM Manager Assessment Program (CLOSED)
Effective December 15, 2023, the PWM Manager Assessment
Program was closed; existing clients of the Program will be
moved to CES.
Unless you have selected an external custodian, your account
assets are generally custodied at MSWM, except that certain
“sweep” assets held in the Bank Deposit Program are custodied
with Morgan Stanley Bank, NA or Morgan Stanley Private Bank,
NA (together the Morgan Stanley Sweep Banks”) or certain third-
party Program Banks. Please see Item 4.C Services, Fees and
Compensation -- Additional Fees – Cash Sweeps below, for more
information.
Investment Management Services Program
The Investment Management Services (“IMS”) program was
created to accommodate clients who want to maintain a
relationship with an investment Manager of their choice that is not
covered by GIMA and thus not included in the due diligence
process that GIMA employs for investment Managers and funds
in other investment advisory programs offered by MSWM.
A. General Description of Programs and
Services
This section provides a general description of the services covered
in this Brochure: the Consulting and Evaluation Services
program, the Investment Management Services program and the
Private Wealth Management Manager Assessment program.
The decision to participate in IMS and the review and selection of
the Manager(s) is your responsibility, regardless of whether or
not your relationship with the investment Manager predates your
relationship with MSWM and/or your current Financial Advisor.
MSWM will not assist in recommending or soliciting any
Manager you select to engage in the IMS program.
In addition, you, and not MSWM, will be responsible for the
initial and ongoing evaluation and monitoring of the Managers
selected by you for the IMS program.
A list of approved mutual funds will be made available to all IMS
Managers.
Account Opening
A Manager (“Manager” or “Investment Manager” participating in
these programs may offer one or more investment strategies
(“Strategy”) for selection by you. Generally, Strategies that
Managers may use in the programs described in this Brochure will
include as part of their portfolio, common stock or fixed income
securities but may also include American Depositary Receipts,
mutual funds, exchange traded funds (“ETFs”), master limited
partnerships (“MLPs”), foreign securities, options (including
uncovered options) and other security types. Please review the
ADV Brochure for the Manager you select for additional details
on that Manager’s portfolio.
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removed from our records, which may result in the securities
being included in the billable market value or performance
calculation of your account.
You must enter into the MSWM Single Advisory Contract (the
“Single Advisory Contract”) to open accounts in programs
described in this Brochure. The Single Advisory Contract
governs the terms of your existing and future investment advisory
accounts and relationships with MSWM. You may also be
required to execute a client agreement as well as other account
opening documentation, as applicable.
You may also request reasonable restrictions on the management
of your account, such as that certain specified securities or certain
categories of securities not be purchased for your account. Please
contact the manager to determine what types of investment
restrictions you may request for your account.
We will not have any obligation to manage your account in
accordance with any investment guidelines, policy statements or
other documents unless we specifically agree to do so, in writing.
In addition, you will also execute separate agreements with your
selected Managers. You will pay separate fees to MSWM and
the Managers. You delegate investment discretion directly to the
Managers, while MSWM provides consulting, custody, brokerage
performance reporting and administrative services. Certain clients
may also elect, subject to our approval, not to receive all the
services available from MSWM. You may open multiple
accounts, each managed by one Manager according to a specific
investment style.
Trading and Execution Services
You authorize the Manager to effect securities transactions for the
account through MSWM or another broker-dealer, subject to legal
requirements of “best execution,” your needs, and, if applicable,
the requirements of ERISA and the rules and regulations
thereunder. Upon instruction from the Manager, MSWM will
execute transactions for the purchase or sale of securities and
other investments in a client’s account for the programs described
in this Brochure.
execution
speed,
Step Out Trades We refer to trades on which we are not the
executing broker as “step out trades.” Your Manager has the
authority to effect transactions through broker-dealers other than
MSWM when the Manager reasonably believes that such other
broker-dealer may execute such transactions at a price, including
any mark-ups, mark-downs and/or other fees and charges, that are
more favorable to the account than would be the case if transacted
through MSWM. Moreover, even if the price is not more
favorable, the Manager may consider all relevant factors,
including
efficiency,
capabilities,
confidentiality, familiarity with potential purchasers or sellers, or
any other relevant matters. There are certain Managers
(including, but not limited to, Managers offering municipal,
corporate, and convertible fixed income strategies) that have
historically directed most, if not all, their trades to outside broker-
dealers. Before selecting a Manager for any program described in
this Brochure, you should carefully review all material related to
that Manager, including any disclosure on whether the Manager
uses broker-dealers other than MSWM to effect any trades and
any additional trading costs (brokerage commissions or other
charges) associated with executing trades at such other broker-
dealers.
Ineligible Securities and Investment Restrictions
Morgan Stanley reserves the right to determine which assets are
eligible for investment in the Program and, accordingly, may at
any time and without notice to you, decline to include any security
in your accounts (“Ineligible Security”).
for any reason
Additionally, Morgan Stanley may restrict a security and deem
such security ineligible if it becomes subject to any type of
sanctions or trading restrictions imposed by a specific country or
regulatory authority (“Sanctioned Security”). If you are holding a
Sanctioned Security, you may face additional limitations,
including the inability to trade on it or transfer it. Morgan
Stanley retains discretion over enforcement and compliance with
applicable sanctions-related regulations and laws. If we determine
that a security in your account is an Ineligible Security or
Sanctioned Security: (a) Morgan Stanley will not provide advice
on, make recommendations with respect to, or manage, as
applicable, and therefore does not act as a fiduciary with respect
to such security; (b) such security will not be included in the
billable market value of your account and, as a result, your Fee
may change; (c) such security will not be included in the
performance calculation of your account, and (d) you may not
receive trade confirmations for transactions you make with regard
to such security. If we determine that a security that was
previously determined to be an Ineligible Security or Sanctioned
Security is now eligible, (a) we will provide investment advice on
it, make recommendations with respect to, or manage, as
applicable, and therefore act as a fiduciary with respect to such
security (b) such security will be included in the billable market
value of your account and as a result, your fee may change, (c)
such security will be included in the performance calculation of
your account, and (d) you may receive trade confirmations for
transactions you make with regard to such security.
at
this
Fees paid to MSWM only cover transactions effected through us.
Therefore, if your Manager trades with another firm, you may be
assessed other trading related costs (mark-ups, mark-downs
and/or other fees and charges) by the other broker-dealer. Those
costs are in addition to your program fees and will be included in
the net price of the security. Such costs will not be reflected as
a separate charge on your trade confirmations or account
statements. Step-out information is provided by the respective
Managers
link:
www.morganstanley.com/wealth/investmentsolutions/pdfs/adv/s
otresponse.pdf. For information about costs incurred, please see
“Additional Fees” in Item 4.C below for details, or contact your
FA.
We may automatically apply restrictions on equity securities of
companies with which we believe you are an affiliate under the
federal securities laws. If you hold these securities in your
account, they will be characterized as ineligible securities and
subject to the terms described above. In addition, the restriction
will prevent additional shares of these equity securities from being
purchased in your account. Such equity securities may be
liquidated, at your direction, after they have been appropriately
cleared. Such restrictions may cause your account’s composition
and performance to deviate from the model or investment strategy
in which your account is invested. Any applicable restrictions will
be removed, without notice to you, when the affiliation has been
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Notwithstanding the above, for the programs described in this
Brochure we may instruct a Manager not to initiate trades through
certain MSWM affiliated broker-dealers.
performance is linked as well as a description of the risks of
investing in the ETN and any of the non-traditional or complex
investment strategies that the ETN follows or seeks to replicate.
Risks Relating to Money Market Funds. An investment in a
money market fund is neither insured nor guaranteed by the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) or any other
government agency.
Trade Confirmations, Account Statements and
Performance Reviews
Where MSWM is the custodian for your account, we will provide
you with written confirmation of securities transactions, and
account statements at least quarterly. You can waive the receipt
of trade confirmations after the completion of each trade in favor
of alternative methods of communication where available. Even
if you have done so, we may deliver trade confirmations after the
completion of each trade. You may also receive mutual fund
prospectuses, where appropriate.
We will provide periodic reviews of your account. These reviews
show how your account investments have performed, either on an
absolute basis or on a relative basis compared to recognized
indices (such as Standard & Poor’s indices). You can access
these reports through MSWM’s online account services site
(“Morgan Stanley Online”). To access these reports in Morgan
Stanley Online, please go to:
https://www.morganstanleyclientserv.com, log on, and select
“Accounts.” If, however, you would like to receive these reports
by mail, please call 1-888-454-3965.
Risks
You could lose money in money market funds. Although many
money market funds classified as government funds (i.e., money
market funds that invest 99.5% of total assets in cash and/or
securities backed by the U.S government) and retail funds (i.e.,
money market funds open to natural person investors only) seek
to maintain a stable $1.00 per share, they cannot guarantee they
will do so. The price of other money market funds will fluctuate
and when you sell shares, they could be worth more or less than
originally paid. Money market funds may, and in certain
circumstances will, impose a fee upon the redemption of fund
shares. Please review your money market fund’s prospectus to
learn more about the use of redemption or liquidity fees. In
addition, if a money market fund that seeks to maintain a stable
$1.00 per share experiences negative yields, it also has the
option of converting its stable share price to a floating share
price, or to cancel a portion of its shares (which is sometimes
referred to as a “reverse distribution mechanism” or “RDM”).
Investors in money market funds that cancel shares will lose
money and may experience tax consequences. Moreover, in
some circumstances, money market funds may cease operations
when the value of a fund drops below $1.00 per share. In that
event, the fund’s holdings will likely be liquidated and
distributed to the fund’s shareholders. This liquidation process
can be prolonged and last for months. During this time, these
funds would not be available to you to support purchases,
withdrawals and, if applicable, check writing or ATM debits from
your account.
All trading in your account is at your risk. The value of the assets
held in an account is subject to a variety of factors, such as the
liquidity and volatility of the securities markets and certain other
risks which may include, but not necessarily be limited to, those
described below. Investment performance of any kind is not
guaranteed, and MSWM’s, a Financial Advisor’s or a Manager’s
past performance does not predict future performance.
In
addition, certain investment strategies that Managers may use in
the Programs described in this Brochure have specific risks,
certain of which are discussed below. You should consult with
your Financial Advisor regarding the specific risks associated
with the investments in your account. Please review any
investment Manager’s ADV Brochure for a description of the
material risks associated with any Strategy you may have
selected.
Risks Relating to Master Limited Partnerships. Master
Limited Partnerships (“MLPs”) are limited partnerships or
limited liability companies whose interests (limited partnership
or limited liability company units) are generally traded on
securities exchanges like shares of common stock. Investments
in MLPs entail different risks, including tax risks, than is the
case for other types of investments.
Currently, most MLPs operate in the energy, natural resources, or
real estate sectors. Investments in such MLP interests are subject
to the risks generally applicable to companies in these sectors
(including commodity pricing risk, supply and demand risk,
depletion risk and exploration risk). Depending on the ownership
vehicle, MLP interests are subject to varying tax treatment. Please
see “Tax and Legal Considerations” below and any applicable
mutual fund or ETF prospectus, for more information. You may
obtain a mutual fund or ETF prospectus by asking your Financial
Advisor.
Risks Relating to ETFs. There may be a lack of liquidity in certain
ETFs which can lead to a large difference between the bid-ask
prices (increasing the cost to you when you buy or sell the ETF).
A lack of liquidity can cause an ETF to trade at a large premium
or discount to its net asset value. Additionally, an ETF may
suspend issuing new shares and this could result in an adverse
difference between the ETF’s publicly available share price and
the actual value of its underlying investment holdings. At times
when underlying holdings are traded less frequently, or not at all,
an ETF’s returns also may diverge from the benchmark it is
designed to track.
Risks Relating to Exchange Traded Notes. Risks of investing in
exchange traded notes (“ETNs”) include, among others, index or
benchmark complexity, price volatility, market risk associated
with the index or benchmark, uncertain principal repayment
based on the issuing financial institution and potential illiquidity.
Please ask your Financial Advisor for the ETN prospectus for a
description of the specific index or benchmark to which its
Risks Relating to Investment in a Concentrated Number of
Securities or to Investment in Only One Industry Sector (or in
Only a Few Sectors). When strategies invest in a concentrated
number of securities, a decline in the value of these securities
would cause your overall account value to decline to a greater
degree than that of a less concentrated portfolio. Strategies that
invest a large percentage of assets in only one industry sector (or
in only a few sectors) are more vulnerable to price fluctuation than
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strategies that diversify among a broad range of sectors. Industry
concentration is a particular risk for MLP strategies, as many
MLPs are issued by companies engaged in the energy and natural
resources business.
to as “liquid alternatives.” These funds often have higher costs
and expenses, with certain of these funds charging fees that
fluctuate with their performance. Please refer to the applicable
mutual fund or ETF’s prospectus for additional information on
expenses and descriptions of the specific non-traditional and
complex strategies utilized by such fund. Alternative investment
strategies are not appropriate for all investors.
investments. Because of
While mutual funds and ETFs may at
times utilize
nontraditional investment options and strategies, they have
different investment characteristics than unregistered privately
offered alternative
regulatory
limitations, mutual funds and ETFs that seek alternative-like
investment exposure must utilize a more limited spectrum of
investments. As a result, investment returns and portfolio
characteristics of alternative mutual funds and ETFs may
materially vary from those of privately offered alternative
investments pursuing similar investment objectives. They are
also more likely to have relatively higher correlation with
traditional market returns than privately offered alternative
investments.
Risks Relating to Mutual Funds and ETFs that Primarily Invest
in Master Limited Partnerships. In addition to the risks outlined
above relating to Master Limited Partnerships, mutual funds and
ETFs that primarily invest in MLPs generally accrue deferred tax
liability (“MLP Fund”). An investment in a MLP Fund does not
offer the same beneficial partnership tax treatment as a direct
investment in an MLP. The fund’s deferred tax liability (if any) is
reflected each day in the fund’s net asset value (“NAV”). The
deferred tax liability estimate could vary dramatically from the
MLP Fund’s actual tax liability or benefit. Upon the sale of an
MLP security, the MLP Fund may be liable for previously deferred
taxes. As a result, the determination of the MLP Fund’s actual tax
liability could result in increases or decreases in the MLP Fund’s
NAV per share, which could be material. Additionally, the fund’s
total annual operating expenses may be significantly higher than
those of funds that do not primarily invest in Master Limited
Partnerships. Please ask your Financial Advisor for the fund
prospectus for additional information.
MLP Fund Dividends and Distributions. A portion of
distributions from MLP Funds to investors typically will consist of
return of capital and not of current income for U.S. federal income
tax purposes. The portion of any distribution treated as return of
capital will not be subject to tax currently but will result in a
corresponding reduction in the investor’s tax basis in the MLP
Fund’s shares. Such a reduction in tax basis will result in larger
taxable gains and/or lower tax losses on a subsequent sale of the
MLP Fund Shares.
Non-traditional investment options and strategies are often
employed by a portfolio Manager to further a mutual fund’s or
ETFs investment objective and to help offset market risks.
However, these features are complex, making it more difficult to
understand the mutual fund’s or ETF’s essential characteristics
and risks, and how it will perform in different market
environments and over various periods of time. They can also
expose the mutual fund or ETF to increased volatility and
unanticipated risks particularly when used
in complex
combinations and/or accompanied by the use of borrowing
or “leverage”. Examples of non-traditional and complex
investment options and strategies include the following. The
below list is not exhaustive.
MLP Fund Non-Diversification and Industry Concentration.
MLP Funds are typically non-diversified. Therefore, MLP
Funds can be more susceptible to losses due to adverse
developments affecting any single issuer held in their portfolios.
In addition, many MLP Funds’ investments are concentrated in
the energy infrastructure industry with an emphasis on securities
issued by publicly traded MLPs, which may increase volatility.
Derivatives. A risk of a Strategy’s use of derivatives is that the
fluctuations in their values may not correlate perfectly with the
overall securities markets. Derivatives are also subject to
counterparty risk, which is the risk that the other party in the
transaction will not fulfill its contractual obligation. In addition,
some derivatives are more sensitive to interest rate changes and
market price fluctuations than other securities. The possible lack
of a liquid secondary market for derivatives and the resulting
inability of a fund to sell or otherwise close a derivatives position
could expose the fund to losses and could make derivatives more
difficult for the fund to value accurately.
MLP Fund Liquidity. Certain MLP securities may trade less
frequently than those of larger companies due to their smaller
capitalizations. Additionally, it can be more difficult for MLP
Funds to buy and sell significant amounts of such securities
without an unfavorable impact on prevailing market prices. A
MLP Fund’s investment in securities that are less actively traded
over time experience decreased trading volume may restrict its
ability to take advantage of other market opportunities or to
dispose of securities at favorable prices. Contact your Financial
Advisor for the fund prospectus for additional information.
When a Manager invests in a derivative for speculative purposes,
the Strategy will be fully exposed to the risks of loss of that
derivative, which could sometimes be greater than the derivative’s
cost. A Strategy could also suffer losses related to its
derivative’s positions as a result of unanticipated market
movements, which losses are potentially unlimited. Commonly
used derivative instruments and techniques and the risks
associated therewith, include:
Risks Relating to Mutual Funds and ETFs that Pursue
Complex or Alternative Investment Strategies or Returns.
These mutual funds and ETFs can employ non-traditional or
complex investment strategies and/or derivatives (all of which
are described in greater detail below) for both hedging and more
speculative purposes such as short selling, leverage, derivatives,
and options, which can increase volatility and the risk of
investment loss. Certain of these funds are sometimes referred
Futures Contracts. The prices of futures are affected by many
factors, including changes in overall market movements,
speculation, real or perceived inflationary trends, index volatility,
changes in interest rates or currency exchange rates and political
events. This can result in lower total returns, and the potential loss
can exceed the initial investment.
7
as market risk and are subject to issuer or counterparty risk
because the Strategy is relying on the creditworthiness of such
issuer or counterparty and has no rights with respect to the issuer
of the underlying investment. (See Risks Relating to Structured
Investments)
Options. Like futures, prices of options can be highly volatile, and
they are impacted by many of the same factors. Using options can
lower total returns. The potential loss of investing or trading in
options, in general, is substantial, and the potential loss of
investing or trading in uncovered call options is unlimited.
Short Selling. Short selling is a form of investment leverage and
the amount of the potential loss is theoretically unlimited. Short
selling is subject to other risks including the risk that the third party
to the short sale may fail to honor its contract terms, causing a loss
to the Strategy. To the extent an investment strategy involves
stocks that are difficult to borrow, this may result in higher short
selling fees. Short positions may also be subject to unique tax
treatment.
An investor selling uncovered call options is in an extremely
risky position and may incur large losses if the value of the
underlying instrument increases above the exercise price. As
with selling uncovered calls, the risk of selling uncovered put
options is substantial. The seller of an uncovered put option
bears a risk of loss if the value of the underlying instrument
declines below the exercise price.
loans are on demand
Investing or trading in uncovered options is therefore appropriate
only for the knowledgeable investor who understands the risks,
has the financial capacity and willingness to incur potentially
substantial losses, and has sufficient liquid assets to meet
applicable margin requirements. In this regard, if the value of
the underlying instrument moves against an uncovered option
writer’s options position, the investor’s broker may request
significant additional margin payments. If an investor does not
make such margin payments, the broker may liquidate stock,
options, or other positions in the investor’s accounts, with little
or no prior notice in accordance with the investor’s margin
agreement. For combination writing, where the investor sells both
a put and a call on the same underlying instrument, the potential
risk is unlimited.
Margin. When you invest using margin, you borrow money to
invest in the applicable securities. There are fees associated
with margin loans, which include, but are not limited to, interest
on the financed assets. Use of margin generally permits
greater account leverage, and greater leverage may create
greater losses in the event of adverse market movements.
Margin
loans and maintenance
requirements may be increased at any time and, potentially,
without notice. In the event of a margin call, you may have to
deposit additional collateral on short notice to cover market
losses. If you are not able to provide additional collateral, it
could lead to the closure of positions in your account to satisfy
the margin loan obligation. The risk of margin call may be
higher when the investment strategy is used to diversify
concentrated stock positions due to the risk of stock price
decline, especially in deteriorating market environments.
Options investing, like other forms of investing, involves tax
considerations that can significantly affect the profit and loss of
buying and selling options. Investors should consult with their
own tax advisors.
Before investing or trading in options, an investor should read
and understand the Morgan Stanley Options New Account Form
and Client Agreement (including the “Special Statement for
Uncovered Option Writers” contained in that Agreement, and a
current copy of the “Characteristics and Risks of Standardized
Options” Disclosure Document, which are both available from a
Morgan Stanley Financial Advisor or Private Wealth Advisor).
Liquidity and Counterparty Risk. Certain investments may be
difficult to purchase or sell due to thinly traded markets or other
factors such as a relatively large position size. In addition,
transactions occurring outside of exchange clearing houses
increase the risk that the direct counterparties will not perform
their obligations under the transaction and losses will be
sustained. Illiquid securities can reduce the returns of the fund
because it may be unable to sell the illiquid securities or unwind
derivative positions at favorable prices. Returns can also be
adversely impacted where the Strategy has an obligation to
purchase illiquid securities. Moreover, less liquid securities are
more susceptible than other securities to market value declines.
Managers will have greater liquidity risks to the extent their
principal investment strategies involve foreign (non-U.S.)
securities, derivatives, or securities with substantial market
and/or credit risk.
Swaps. Most swap contracts are purchased over-the-counter
(“OTC”). OTC swaps are generally subject to credit risk and/or the
risk of default or non-performance by the counterparty. Swaps can
result in losses if interest rate or foreign currency exchange rates
or credit quality changes are not correctly anticipated by a
counterparty or if the reference index, security, or investments do
not perform as expected.
lead
Total Return Swaps (“TRS”) involve the risk that the party with
whom the fund has entered into the swap will default on its
obligation to pay the fund and the risk that the fund will not be able
to meet its obligations to pay the other party to the agreement. The
income tax treatment of such swap agreements is unsettled and
can be subject to future legislation, regulation or administrative
pronouncements issued by the IRS.
Structured Investments. A Strategy that invests in structured
investments bears the risks of the underlying investment as well
Risks Relating
to Over-The-Counter and Low-Priced
Securities. Certain over-the-counter (“OTC”) and low-priced
securities (“LPS”)(also referred to as penny stocks, expert
market securities, or “pink sheet” stocks), have certain special
characteristics and risks. For example, there may be lower
liquidity in certain OTC and LPS securities, which can increase
to price swings. Moreover, reliable
volatility and
information regarding issuers of certain OTC and LPS securities
may not be available, making it less likely that quoted prices are
based on full and complete information about the issuer. This
lack of reliable information may also make certain OTC and
LPS securities more susceptible to fraud and manipulation. In
8
the event an issuer of an OTC or LPS security fails to report
required information, such securities could become restricted to
“expert” markets, which may prevent selling the security. If this
happens, the value of security may be significantly negatively
affected or eliminated entirely.
the issuer or the bank but are subject to the letter of credit
provider honoring its obligations. However, repayment of
principal and payment of interest ultimately is dependent upon
the issuer. For other risks relating to the particular Strategy you
hold in your account, please see your investment Manager’s
ADV Brochure.
Because OTC and LPS securities may be traded on different
market systems and with different rules, they may be more
susceptible to regulatory trading halts and other trading
restrictions, whether imposed by MSWM, our affiliates, and/or
applicable regulatory authorities; and such restrictions may be
imposed without notice.
Risks Relating to Differing Classes of Securities. Different
classes of securities offer different rights to a securities holder
as creditor if the issuer files for bankruptcy or reorganization.
For example, bondholders’ rights generally are more favorable
than shareholders’ rights in a bankruptcy or reorganization.
Risks Relating to Mutual Funds that Invest in Floating Rate
Loans. Certain mutual funds invest in floating rate loans.
Floating rate funds fluctuate in value and are subject to market
risk. More information on the investment risks can be found
below and in the fund’s prospectus.
Credit/Default Risk. Floating loan rate values can fall if a
company’s credit rating declines or it defaults on its loan
repayment obligations. Since most floating rate loans are made
to corporations with below-investment grade credit ratings, they
are subject to a greater risk of default on interest and principal
payments than higher-quality investments.
Risks Relating to Continent Convertible Bonds (“CoCos”).
CoCos are issued primarily by non-U.S. financial companies and
have complex features and unique risk considerations that
differentiate them from traditional convertible, preferred or debt
securities. Depending upon the terms of the particular issue, upon
the occurrence of certain triggering events the securities can be
mandatorily converted into common equity of the issuer (at either
a predetermined fixed rate or variable rate), or the principal of the
securities can be temporarily or permanently written down. As a
result, investors may lose all or part of their principal investment.
The triggering events will be described in the offering documents
for each particular issue. However, they generally include the
issuer failing to maintain a minimum capital ratio—a subjective
determination by a regulator—that triggers the conversion or the
write-down; and/or there can be other circumstances adverse to
the issuer. In addition, market value will be affected by many
unpredictable factors, including but not limited to the market
value of the issuer’s common equity, the issuer’s creditworthiness
and capital ratios, any indication that the securities are trending
toward a trigger event, supply and demand for the securities, and
events that affect the issuer or the financial markets generally.
There may be no active secondary market for the securities, and
there is no guarantee that one will develop. Payment of interest or
dividends may be at the sole discretion of the issuer, including
prior to the occurrence of any trigger event. In most cases, the
issuer is under no obligation to accrue or pay skipped payments
(i.e., payments may be noncumulative). Thus, the dividend or
interest payments may be deferred or cancelled at the issuer’s
discretion or upon the occurrence of certain events. The issuer
may have the right to substitute or vary the terms of the securities
in certain instances. The issuer may have the right, but not the
obligation, to redeem all or part of the securities in its sole
discretion upon the occurrence of certain events.
Interest Rate Risk. For floating rate loans, interest rates and
income are variable, and their prices are less sensitive to interest
rate changes than fixed income bonds. However, in falling
interest rate environments floating rate loans can underperform
bonds since floating rate loans adjust to pay less income making
them less desirable to investors than bonds that pay a fixed rate.
Liquidity Risk. Floating rate loans are generally subject to
restrictions on resale and may trade infrequently in the
secondary market. Illiquid loans may reduce the returns of the
fund because it may be unable to sell the loans at favorable
prices. Moreover, less liquid holdings are more susceptible than
other securities to market value declines.
Risks Relating to Digital Assets. Certain Exchange Traded
Products (“ETPs”) available in the Program may hold underlying
positions in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, or other
digital assets (“Digital Assets”). The risks related to an
investment in Digital Assets are significant. Digital Assets are
highly speculative and have been in existence for only a short
period of time, and historical prices have been extremely volatile.
An investor could lose their entire investment.
In addition to extreme volatility and the speculative nature of
Digital Assets, an investor should be aware of additional risks and
considerations, which include but are not limited to the following:
Fluctuation of NAV. Because the prices of floating-rate loans
can change, the share price of mutual funds that invest in the
loans will fluctuate with market conditions.
Due to the new and evolving nature of digital currencies, the
regulatory landscape is uncertain, and the value of Digital Assets
may be negatively impacted by future legal and regulatory
developments.
to generate unrelated business
taxable
Many significant aspects of the tax treatment of Digital Assets are
uncertain. Moreover, ETPs containing Digital Assets are not
intended
income”
(“UBTI”); however, as tax treatment of Digital Assets evolves,
this may change.
Risks Relating to Variable Rate Demand Notes (VRDNs).
VRDNs are subject to a variety of risks, including but not
limited to: (1) Renewal Risk: The risk of the inability to obtain
an appropriate liquidity bank facility at an acceptable price to
replace a facility upon termination or expiration of the contract
period; (2) Liquidity Risk: The risk that in the event of a failed
remarketing, the bank that has agreed to provide the letter of
credit fails to honor its obligation to support the VRDNs; and (3)
Default Risk: VRDNs typically are not secured by the assets of
9
Any performance data relating to Digital Asset products may not
be verifiable as pricing models are not uniform.
probability of the Digital Asset’s futures curve experiencing super
contango may be elevated due their highly volatile nature.
to Structured
in service due
Certain Digital Asset exchanges have experienced failures or
interruptions
to fraud, security breaches,
operational problems or business failure, and similar events could
impact the value of your investment, regardless of whether the
fund or product relies on such an impacted exchange. Further,
certain Digital Asset exchanges are not regulated to the same
extent as other securities exchanges, which increases the chance
that transactions conducted on such exchanges are subject to
market manipulation. Both factors can impact your investment
product’s ability to transact in a Digital Asset and/or materially
decrease its price, thereby decreasing the value of your
investment, regardless of whether your product relies on an
impacted exchange.
Risks Relating
Investments. Structured
investments typically combine a debt security or certificate of
deposit (CD) with exposure to other underlying asset classes
(such as equities, commodities, currencies, or interest rates) to
create a way for investors to express a market view (bullish,
bearish, or market neutral), complement an investment objective
(for example, capital appreciation, income, aggressive income,
or speculation), hedge an existing position or gain exposure to a
variety of underlying asset classes. A structured note is typically a
debt security issued by a financial institution; its return is linked to
the performance of an underlying asset or assets, such as equity
indexes, a single equity, a basket of equities, interest rates,
commodities or foreign currencies. Structured notes comprise
both a debt component and a performance-based derivative
component linked to the underlying asset class(es).
Digital Assets could be permanently lost, stolen, destroyed or
become inaccessible by virtue of, among other things, the loss or
theft of the private keys necessary to access a product’s Digital
Asset.
Digital Assets are not legal tender, and are not backed by any
government, corporation or other identified body, other than with
respect to certain cryptocurrencies that certain governments are or
may be developing now or in the future. Digital Assets held in
digital wallets are not FDIC insured. Certain of the spot
cryptocurrency ETPs are not registered investment companies
under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and therefore are not
subject to the same regulatory requirements as mutual funds or
traditional exchange traded funds. Shareholders do not have the
same regulatory protections associated with registered investment
companies Please see the prospectus of each product/fund
before making an investment decision.
Investing in structured investments is typically more expensive
than other investment options offered in your account. In
addition to the applicable fees described under “Fees” below,
the original issue price of the structured investment includes
costs associated with issuing, structuring, and hedging the
securities, which are borne by you. In addition, with respect to
the debt component of the structured investment, the rate the
issuer of a structured investment is willing to pay is likely to be
lower than the rate implied by its secondary market credit
spreads. The inclusion of such costs in the original issue price
and the lower rate the issuer is willing to pay make the economic
terms of structured investments less favorable to you than they
otherwise would be and result in an estimated value on the
pricing date that is less than the original issue price.
Investment products with exposure to Digital Assets have traded
at prices that are materially lower (or higher) than the net asset
value of the product’s underlying shares, which means that the
market price of a product’s shares may be lower (or higher) than
the value of the corresponding amount of Digital Assets that the
share purports to represent. This risk is separate and distinct
from the risk that the value of the relevant Digital Assets may
decrease.
Certain investment strategies offered by Managers may contain
structured investments that are affiliated with MSWM. MSWM
and our affiliates will receive more aggregate compensation
when your account is invested in an affiliated Investment
Product. Thus, MSWM and your Financial Advisor have a
conflict of interest when recommending affiliated Investment
Products. Please see Item 6B, Other Conflicts, Affiliated
Investment Products.
Due to the anonymity Digital Assets offer, they have known use
in illegal activity, including drug dealing, money laundering,
human trafficking, sanction evasion and other forms of illegal
commerce. Abuses could impact legitimate consumers and
speculators; for instance, law enforcement agencies could shut
down or restrict the use of platforms and exchanges, limiting or
shutting off entirely the ability to use or trade Digital Asset
products.
An ETP, which has direct exposure to a Digital Asset, is different
from a mutual fund or ETF that primarily invests in Digital Asset
futures. Funds that invest in Digital Asset futures do not directly
invest in cryptocurrency but instead seek to purchase futures
contracts that speculate as to the future price of certain Digital
Asset.
ETPs that track Digital Asset futures contracts may be subject to
contango, which occurs when a given Digital Asset’s spot price is
lower than the price of the Digital Asset’s futures price. Rolling
contracts when futures prices are in contango involves selling
lower priced futures and buying higher priced futures further from
expiration; super contango occurs when the spot price of a given
Digital Assets is trading dramatically below its futures price. The
Structured investments are complex and involve risks not
associated with an investment in ordinary debt securities.
Structured investments have a wide variety of structures and
may be linked to a wide variety of underliers, each of which will
have its own unique set of risks and considerations. For example,
some underliers are highly volatile and have a significantly
higher probability of steep losses or may be more complex than
others. All payouts will depend on the structure and will also be
contingent on the performance of the underlier. The terms may
limit the maximum payment at maturity or the extent to which
the return reflects the performance of the underlier. Depending
on the terms, a structured investment may result in a loss of
some or all of your principal. Even if you receive the principal
amount at maturity, the return on your investment may be less
than the amount that would be paid on an ordinary debt security.
Unlike ordinary debt securities, structured investments usually
do not pay interest. For structured investments that do pay
interest, any payment of interest is typically dependent on the
performance of the underlier and, as a result, you may receive
no interest for the entire term of the investment.
10
the account’s composition and performance may vary
significantly from that of client accounts for which similar tax
harvesting services have not been selected.
Investing in a structured investment is not equivalent to
investing in the underlier or its components All payments on
structured investments are dependent on the issuer’s (and the
guarantor’s, if applicable) ability to pay all amounts due.
Other Tax and Legal Considerations. In the programs described
in this Brochure, replacing a Manager may result in sales of
securities and subject you to additional income tax obligations.
Consult your independent tax or legal advisor with respect to the
services described in this Brochure, as MSWM and its affiliates
do not provide tax or legal advice.
There may be little or no secondary market for a particular
structured investment. Generally, the prices, if any, at which
dealers may be willing to purchase structured investments in
secondary market transactions will likely be significantly lower
than the original issue price, because secondary market prices will
exclude the issuing, selling, structuring and hedging-related costs
that are included in the original issue price and borne by you and
because such prices will reflect the issuer’s secondary market
credit spreads and the bid-offer spread that any dealer would
charge, as well as other factors. The secondary market price may
be influenced by a variety of unpredictable factors, including but
not limited to: (i) changes in the value of the underlier, (ii)
volatility of the underlier, (iii) the dividend rate on the underlier,
if any, (iv) changes in interest rates, (v) any actual or anticipated
changes in the issuer’s (and the guarantor’s, if applicable) credit
ratings or credit spreads and (vi) the time remaining to maturity.
Generally, the longer the time remaining to maturity, the more the
market price will be affected by these factors.
Some Managers may include Master Limited Partnerships
(MLPs) in their portfolios. Investment in MLPs entails different
risks, including tax risks, than is the case for other types of
investments. Investors in MLPs hold “units” of the MLP (as
opposed to a share of corporate stock) and are technically partners
in the MLP. Holders of MLP units are also exposed to the risk
that they will be required to repay amounts to the MLP that are
wrongfully distributed to them. Almost all MLPs have chosen to
qualify for partnership tax treatment. Partnerships do not pay
U.S. federal income tax at the partnership level. Rather, each
partner of a partnership, in computing its U.S. federal income tax
liability, must include its allocable share of the partnership’s
income, gains, losses, deductions, expenses and credits. A
change in current tax law, or a change in the business of a given
MLP, could result in an MLP being treated as a corporation for
U.S. federal income tax purposes, which would result in such
MLP being required to pay U.S. federal income tax on its taxable
income. The classification of an MLP as a corporation for U.S.
federal income tax purposes would have the effect of reducing the
amount of cash available for distribution by the MLP and could
cause any such distributions received by the investor to be taxed
as dividend income. If you have any questions about the tax
aspects of investing in an MLP, please discuss with your tax
advisor.
The issuer of a structured investment and its affiliates may play a
variety of roles in connection with the structured investment,
including acting as calculation agent, hedging the issuer’s
obligations under the structured investment, and publishing
research reports with respect to movements in the underlier.
Certain determinations made by such affiliates may require them
to exercise discretion and make subjective judgments and may
cause the economic interests of the issuer to diverge from your
economic interests. In acting in any of these capacities, the issuer
and its affiliates are not obliged to take your interests into account.
You should consult with your investment, legal, tax, accounting,
and other advisers in connection with any investment. For more
information on the common risks and conflicts of interest related
to Structured Investments, log in to Morgan Stanley Online and go
to
www.morganstanley.com/structuredproductsrisksandconflicts.
Investors in MLP portfolios will receive a Schedule K-1 for each
MLP in the portfolio, so they will likely receive numerous
Schedule K-1s. Investors will need to file each Schedule K-1
with their federal tax return. Also, investors in MLP portfolios
may be required to file state income tax returns in states where the
MLPs in the portfolio operate. Since some Schedule K-1s may
not be provided until after the due date for the federal or state tax
return, investors in MLP portfolios may need to obtain an
extension for filing their federal or state tax returns. Please
discuss with your tax advisor how an investment in MLPs will
affect your tax return.
Tax and Legal Considerations
Tax laws impacting MLPs may change, and this could impact any
tax benefits that may be available through investment in an MLP
portfolio.
Tax Harvesting. Certain Managers may be able to accommodate
tax harvesting at a client’s election.
There is no guarantee that harvesting requests received late in a
calendar year will be completed before year-end or that harvesting
will achieve any particular tax result. Tax harvesting may
adversely impact investment performance. Neither MSWM,
your Manager nor any MSWM affiliate provide any tax advice
nor make any guarantee that tax harvesting will be successful.
You will consult with your own tax advisor regarding tax
harvesting or any other tax issues.
For the reasons outlined below, where an otherwise tax-exempt
account (such as a Retirement Account, charitable organization,
or other tax exempt or deferred account) is invested in a pass-
through entity (such as an MLP), the income from such entity may
be subject to taxation, and additional tax filings may be required.
Further, the tax advantages associated with these investments are
generally not realized when held in a tax-deferred or tax-exempt
account. Please consult your own tax advisor and consider any
potential tax liability that may result from such an investment in
an otherwise tax-exempt account.
Such tax harvesting may entail decisions which deviate from a
Manager’s overall investment Strategy. As a result: (i) the account
may not receive the benefits, including gains and avoided losses,
of certain recommended purchases and sales of securities; and (ii)
Earnings generated inside most qualified retirement plans,
including defined benefit pension plans, defined contribution
plans and individual retirement accounts, are generally exempt
11
differences may apply. For instance, the UBTI of most other tax-
exempt organizations is taxable at corporate rates, unless the
organization is one that would be taxed as a trust if it were not tax-
exempt in which case its UBTI is taxable at trust rates. Also, the
passive activity loss limitation rules do not apply to all tax-exempt
organizations. Tax-exempt investors should consult their tax and
legal advisors regarding the federal, state, and local income tax
implications of their investments.
Principal Trading and Related Fees
We will not effect transactions between your accounts and our
own accounts (which is referred to as “principal trading”) without
your informed consent, except as permitted by applicable law,
rule, or regulation.
from federal income taxes; however, certain investments made by
Retirement Accounts may generate taxable income referred to as
“unrelated business taxable income” (“UBTI”) that is subject to
taxation at trust rates. Generally, passive types of income (when
not financed with debt) such as dividends, interest, annuities,
royalties, most rents from real property, and gains from the sale,
exchange, or other disposition of property (other than inventory
or property held for sale in the ordinary course of a trade or
business) do not generate UBTI. Active income associated with
operating a trade or business, however, may constitute UBTI to
an otherwise tax-exempt investor such as a Retirement Account.
In addition, UBTI may also be received as part of an investor’s
allocable share of active income generated by a pass-through
entity, such as partnerships (including limited partnerships and
MLPs), certain trusts, subchapter S corporations, and limited
liability companies that are treated as disregarded entities,
partnerships, or subchapter S corporations for federal income tax
purposes.
If more than $1,000 of unrelated trade or business gross income
is generated in a tax year, the Retirement Account’s custodian, or
fiduciary (on behalf of the Retirement Account) must file an
Exempt Organization Business Income Tax Return, Form 990-T.
With respect to an individual investing through an IRA, in
calculating the threshold amount and the Retirement Account’s
UBTI for the year, each IRA is generally treated as a separate
taxpayer, even if the same individual is the holder of multiple
IRAs.
Proxies and Related Materials
For the programs described in this Brochure you may (i) authorize
the Manager to receive the proxy-related materials, annual
reports, and other issuer-related materials for securities in the
account and (ii) delegate to the Manager the proxy voting rights
for these securities (and, thereby, authorize the Manager to further
delegate these proxy voting rights to, or otherwise use services
provided by, a third-party proxy voting or advisory service). If
you do so and you are a Retirement Account subject to the
provisions of ERISA, you hereby designate the Manager as a
“named fiduciary” (within the meaning of ERISA) with the
authority to appoint and delegate a third-party proxy voting
service satisfactory to the Manager as “investment Manager”
(within the meaning of ERISA) for the limited purpose of voting
proxies with respect to issuers of securities held in the account.
Notwithstanding the above, you are responsible for taking action
on any legal actions or administrative proceedings, including class
actions and bankruptcies, affecting securities in your account and
we will forward you related materials we receive. You can revoke
your authorization and delegation later by giving us written notice
in accordance with your Account Agreement.
Alternatively, you may expressly reserve the right for you (or
another person you specify to us, not including MSWM) to
receive the issuer-related materials and exercise the proxy voting
rights for securities in your account.
The passive activity loss limitation rules also apply for purposes
of calculating a Retirement Account’s UBTI, potentially limiting
the amount of losses that can be used to offset the Retirement
Account’s income from an unrelated trade or business each year.
It should be noted that these rules are applied to publicly traded
partnerships, such as MLPs, on an entity-by-entity basis, meaning
that the passive activity losses generated by one MLP generally
can only be used to offset the passive activity income (including
unrelated traded or business income) from the same MLP. The
passive activity losses generated by one MLP generally cannot be
used to offset income from another MLP (or any other source).
The disallowed losses are suspended and carried forwarded to be
used in future years to offset income generated by that same MLP.
However, once the Retirement Account disposes of its entire
interest in the MLP to an unrelated party, the suspended losses can
generally be used to offset any unrelated trade or business income
generated inside the Retirement Account (including recapture
income generated on the sale of the MLP interest, as well as
income generated by other MLPs).
Please note that MSWM does not accept proxy voting authority
in the Programs listed in this Brochure or provide advice or take
action with respect to legal proceedings (including bankruptcies)
relating to the securities in your account, except to the extent
required by law.
Custody
is required
Where MSWM acts as custodian. Unless you instruct us
otherwise, MSWM will maintain custody of all cash, securities
and other assets in the account and the section titled “Cash
Sweep” in Item 4.C below will apply to you. MSWM will
liquidate any fractional share positions of equity securities,
closed-end funds or ETFs created in your account. The provisions
of the Single Advisory Contract regarding MSWM converting
shares of open-end mutual funds in a client’s account to an
advisory share class will apply to your account.
In calculating the tax, trust tax rates are applied to the Retirement
Account’s UBTI (i.e., unrelated trade or business gross income
less any applicable deductions, including the $1,000 specific
deduction). In addition to the passive loss limitation rules noted
above, other limitations may apply to the Retirement Account’s
potential tax deductions. In order to file Form 990-T, the
Retirement Account
to obtain an Employer
Identification Number (“EIN”) because the plan (and not the plan
owner or fiduciary) owes the tax. State and local income taxes
may also apply. Accordingly, Retirement Accounts (and their
fiduciaries) should consult their tax and legal advisors regarding
the federal, state, and local income tax implications of their
investments.
Similar rules apply to other tax-exempt organizations (e.g.,
charitable and religious organizations), except that certain
Where MSWM does not act as custodian. You have the option
to retain a custodian other than MSWM. Your designated
outside custodian (“ External Custodian”) will maintain custody
of the cash, securities, and other investments in your account and
12
MSWM will not be liable for (i) any failure on your part to fulfill
any of your obligations under your Account Agreement, including
any misrepresentation or omission with respect to arrangements
you must make with, and information and instructions you must
provide to, the External Custodian; (ii) any failure of the External
Custodian to follow your or our instructions, including with
respect to fee payments, any delivery or receipt securities or
payment for securities required; and (iii) any failure of the
External Custodian to fulfill its obligations, including timely
provision of any information that the External Custodian is
required to provide to us.
will receive and credit to your account all interest, dividends, and
other distributions received on the assets in the account. Since
your assets are not held in custody at MSWM, they will not be
included under MSWM’s Securities
Investor Protection
Corporation (“SIPC”) coverage. The rights and authority of
MSWM with respect to such assets, including as to transfers of
assets held with the External Custodian, will be limited to those
set forth in the Account Agreement, regardless of any separate
agreements or arrangements you may have or enter into with your
External Custodian. MSWM disclaims any broader rights that
may be contained in your separate agreement with your External
Custodian.
Fees. You agree to authorize and instruct your External Custodian
in writing to deduct the MSWM Fee, as defined below, from your
account, either monthly or quarterly, upon receipt of an invoice
from us (if applicable). See the section titled “Fees” below for
details. Your External Custodian will advise you of your cash
sweep options and the section titled “Cash Sweeps” in Item 4.C
below will not apply to you.
By signing the your Account Agreements, you have also
acknowledged to us that (i) you are authorized to retain the
External Custodian; (ii) you have instructed and authorized your
External Custodian in writing to receive and follow instructions
from us with respect to the purchase and sale of securities in your
account and the payment of the MSWM Fee, (iii) that you have
authorized and instructed the External Custodian to provide us
promptly with any information regarding the account that we
require to perform our obligations, including pricing information
for the securities in the account, and (iv) you have arranged with
the custodian to provide you and us with account statements at
least quarterly, identifying the amount of funds and of each
security in the account at the end of the reporting period and
setting forth all transactions in the account during that period.
In general, in computing the MSWM Fee (as defined in Item 4.A
Fees), we shall rely on information received from your External
Custodian with respect to the value of assets in the account. If any
information to be provided by the External Custodian is
unavailable or believed to be unreliable, we will value assets in a
manner we determine in good faith to reflect fair market value.
External Custodians may assess fees for custody, trade execution,
and brokerage services, including where the Custodian is a
Morgan Stanley affiliate.
Liquidations and share class conversions. MSWM will not
liquidate any fractional share positions of equity securities,
closed-end funds or ETFs created in your account.
Termination. Upon termination of your Account Agreement with
MSWM, you will instruct the Designated Custodian with respect
to the securities and funds held in your account. If you instruct the
Designated Custodian or Manager to liquidate any securities in
the account, you may be subject to taxation on all or part of the
proceeds of such liquidation. You understand that, upon
termination, it is your responsibility to monitor the assets held in
your account and that we will no longer have any further
obligation to act or give advice with respect to those assets.
Account Statements. You should arrange with your External
Custodian to provide you and us with account statements at least
monthly, identifying the amount of funds and of each security in
your account at the end of the reporting period and setting forth
all transactions in your account during that period. You or your
designee must notify MSWM promptly of any other changes in
the account.
For trades executed through MSWM, we will provide you with
copies of individual confirmations of transactions. We may also
provide additional periodic reports.
Fees
You shall pay an asset-based fee to MSWM (“MSWM Fee”),
which covers MSWM’s investment advisory services, custody of
securities, trade execution with or through MSWM, reporting as
well as compensation to any Financial Advisor. This is a wrap
fee. The maximum annual asset-based MSWM Fee is 2.0%.
However, the Manager fees are separate from and in addition to
the MSWM Fee. Each Manager charges you a separate fee for its
services. We do not pay the Manager any part of the fee or other
compensation you pay to us. Where a CES Manager uses a
Strategy that employs uncovered options, there will be a different
fee arrangement between the client and MSWM. Alternatively, in
some cases, CES clients may negotiate an annual fixed dollar
amount, paid quarterly. Please contact your Financial Advisor
for details.
MSWM shall have no responsibility or liability with respect to the
transmittal or safekeeping of such cash, securities, or other asset
of the account, or the acts or omissions of the External Custodian
or others with respect thereto. You will direct the External
Custodian to furnish to MSWM from time to time such reports
concerning assets, receipts, and disbursements with respect to the
You may
account as MSWM shall reasonably request.
designate a replacement custodian upon written notice to us.
See Item 4.C, Additional Fees - Funds in Advisory Programs –
Affiliated Funds for more information regarding fee adjustments
for Retirement Accounts holding affiliated funds.
MSWM does not assume any responsibility for the accuracy of
any reports or other information furnished or made available by
you, the External Custodian or any other person or entity
(including access to online systems). The External Custodian
will be liable to you pursuant to the terms of the custodian
agreement and any other agreement that relates to the External
Custodian’s services to you.
Additions and Withdrawals; Refund on Account Termination.
You may make additions into the account at any time, subject to
our right to terminate the account. Additions may be in cash,
mutual funds, ETFs, stocks, or bonds, provided that we reserve
the right to decline to accept particular securities into the account
or impose a waiting period before certain securities may be
deposited. We may accept other types of securities for deposit at
13
on a pro-rata basis. MSWM will retain the portion thereof
constituting the MSWM Fee and pay the remaining portion to the
Managers, to cover their respective fees.
our discretion. You understand that if mutual funds or ETFs are
transferred or journaled into the account, you will not recover the
front-end sales charges previously paid and/or may be subject to
a contingent deferred sales charge or a redemption or other fee
based on the length of time that you have held those securities.
We may require you to provide up to six (6) business days prior
oral or written notice to your Financial Advisor of withdrawal of
assets from the account, subject to the usual and customary
securities settlement procedures.
Breakpoints. Fee rates may be expressed as a fixed rate applying
to all assets in the account, or as a schedule of rates applying to
different asset levels, or “breakpoints.” When the fee is expressed
as a schedule of rates corresponding to different breakpoints,
discounts, if any, are negotiated separately for each breakpoint. As
the value of account assets reaches the various breakpoints, the
incremental assets above each threshold are charged the applicable
rates. The effective fee rate for the account as a whole is then a
weighted average of the scheduled rates and may change when the
asset levels in the account change.
No MSWM Fee adjustment will be made during any billing period
for withdrawals or deposits, nor will an adjustment be made
during any billing period for appreciation or depreciation in the
value of Account assets during that period.
Valuation of Account Assets. In computing the value of assets in
the account, securities (other than mutual funds or ETFs) traded
on any national securities exchange or national market system
shall be valued as of the valuation date at the closing price and/or
mean bid and ask prices of the last recorded transaction on the
principal market on which they are traded. Account assets
invested in funds registered as open-end mutual funds will be
valued based on the fund’s net asset value calculated as of the
close of business on the valuation date, per the terms of the
applicable fund prospectus. We will value any other securities or
investments in the account in a manner we determine in good faith
to reflect fair market value. Any such valuation should not be
considered a guarantee of any kind whatsoever with respect to the
value of the assets in the account.
Accounts Related for Billing Purposes. When two or more
investment advisory accounts are related together for billing
purposes (“Billing Relationship”), you can benefit from existing
breakpoints. For example, if you have two accounts in the Billing
Relationship, the fees on Account #1 are calculated by applying
your total assets (i.e., ajussets in Account #1 + assets in Account
#2) to the Account #1 breakpoints. Because this amount is greater
than the amount of assets solely in Account #1, you may have a
greater proportion of assets subject to lower fee rates, which in turn
lowers the average fee rate for Account #1. This average fee rate
is then multiplied by the actual amount of assets in Account #1 to
determine the dollar fee for Account #1. Likewise, the total assets
are applied to the Account #2 breakpoints to determine the average
fee rate for Account #2, which is then multiplied by the actual
amount of assets in Account #2 to determine the dollar fee for
Account #2.
In valuing assets, we use information provided by recognized
independent quotation and valuation services. We believe this
information to be reliable but do not verify the accuracy of the
information provided by these services. If any information
provided by these services is unavailable or is believed to be
unreliable, we will value assets in a manner we determine in good
faith to reflect fair market value. In addition, for certain
securities, including collateralized loan obligations, we may rely
upon our affiliate, MS&Co. to provide a valuation.
Only certain accounts can be included in a Billing Relationship,
based on applicable rules and regulations and MSWM’s policies
and procedures. Even where accounts are eligible to be related
under these policies and procedures, they will only be included in
a Billing Relationship if this is specifically agreed between you and
your Financial Advisor. For more information about which of
your accounts are grouped in a particular Billing Relationship,
please contact your Financial Advisor.
Changes to Fees. You agree and acknowledge that MSWM
reserves the right to change the MSWM Fee that you have agreed
to with your Financial Advisor upon notice to you.
to
the requirements of ERISA
in assessing
Fees are Negotiable. The MSWM Fee is negotiable based on
factors such as the type and size of the account and the range of
services we provide. The MSWM Fee for your account may be (i)
higher or lower than the fees that we would charge the account if
you had purchased the services covered by the MSWM Fee
separately; (ii) higher or lower than the fees that we charge other
clients, depending on, among other things, the extent of services
provided to those clients and the cost of such services; and (iii)
higher or lower than the cost of similar services offered through
other financial firms.
ERISA Fee Disclosure for Qualified Retirement Accounts. In
accordance with Department of Labor regulations under Section
408(b)(2) of ERISA, MSWM is required to provide certain
information regarding our services and compensation to assist
fiduciaries and plan sponsors of those retirement plans that are
subject
the
reasonableness of their plan’s contracts or arrangements with us,
including the reasonableness of our compensation.
This
information (the services we provide as well as the fees) is
provided to you at the outset of your relationship with us and is
set forth in this Brochure and in the Account Agreement with us
(including the fee table and other exhibits), and then at least
annually to the extent that there are changes to any investment-
related disclosures for services provided as a fiduciary under
ERISA.
When Fees are Payable. Generally, the initial MSWM Fee is due
in full on the date you open your account at MSWM and is based
on the market value of assets in the account on or about that date.
The initial MSWM Fee payment generally covers the period from
the opening date through (at your or your Financial Advisor’s
election) the last day of the applicable billing period and is
prorated accordingly. Thereafter, the MSWM Fee is paid
monthly in advance based on the account’s market value on the
last business day of the previous billing month and is due
promptly.
Other. A portion of the MSWM Fee will be paid to your Financial
Advisor. See “Compensation to Financial Advisors” in Item 4.D
below for more information.
You may terminate participation in the programs described in this
Brochure at any time by giving oral or written notice to MSWM.
If participation in any of the programs described in this Brochure
is terminated, any advisory fees paid in advance will be refunded
14
• MSWM account establishment or maintenance fees for
IRAs and Versatile Investment Plans (“VIP”), which are
described in the respective IRA and VIP account and fee
documentation (which may change from time to time);
account closing/transfer costs;
•
processing fees;
•
•
any pass-through or other fees associated with investments
in American Depositary Receipts (ADRs); and/or
•
foreign custody
fees, exchange
certain other costs or charges (including, fees that may be
imposed by third parties, odd-lot differentials, transfer
taxes,
fees, and
supplemental transaction fees as well as regulatory fees
and other fees or taxes required that may be imposed
pursuant to law
B. Comparing Costs
Program fees vary across different programs. You may be able to
obtain similar services separately for a lower fee from MSWM or
elsewhere. Several factors determine whether it would cost more
or less to participate in a program rather than to purchase the
services separately (including the size of your account, the types
of investments, whether the investments involve costs in addition
to the program fee, and the amount of trading in the account). In
addition, you could be able to obtain certain services or gain
access to particular securities for a lower fee in one program as
opposed to another. Purchases of mutual funds in your advisory
account will be made in the advisory share class (if available),
which generally has a lower cost than mutual fund share classes
available in brokerage accounts. However, in an advisory account,
in exchange for the advisory service you receive, you will pay an
asset-based fee which you would not pay in a brokerage account.
Therefore, the total fees you incur on your mutual fund
investments in an advisory account may be higher or lower than
the costs you incur if such mutual fund investment is held in one
of the available share classes in a brokerage account. For more
information about advisory share classes, please refer to the
paragraph below titled “Mutual Fund Share Classes”.You should
consider these and other differences when deciding whether to
invest in an investment advisory or a brokerage account and, if
applicable, which advisory programs best suit your individual
needs. For more information about the differences between
brokerage and advisory accounts, please refer to our Form CRS
(Client Relationship Summary) at www.morganstanley.com/adv
as well as the document entitled “Understanding your Brokerage
and Investment Advisory Relationships” which is available at:
http- relationshipwithms/pdfs/understandingyourrelationship.pdf.
C. Additional Fees
Funds in Advisory Programs
Investing in strategies that invest in mutual funds, closed-end
funds and ETFs (collectively referred to as “Funds”) is more
expensive than other investment options offered in your advisory
account. In addition to our MSWM Fee and your Manager’s
advisory fee, you pay the fees and expenses of the Funds in which
your account is invested. Fund fees and expenses are charged
directly to the pool of assets the Fund invests in and are reflected
in each Fund’s net asset value. These fees and expenses are an
additional cost to you that is imbedded in the price of the Fund
and, therefore, are not included in the MSWM Fee or reflected in
your account statements. Each Fund’s expense ratio (the total
amount of fees and expenses charged by the Fund) is stated in its
prospectus. The expense ratio generally reflects the costs incurred
by shareholders during the Fund’s most recent fiscal reporting
period. Current and future expenses may differ from those stated
in the prospectus.
The MSWM Fee does not cover:
•
the costs of investment management fees and other
expenses charged by mutual funds and ETFs (see below
for more details);
You do not pay any sales charges for purchases of Funds in your
advisory account. However, some mutual funds may charge, and
not waive, a redemption fee on certain transaction activity in
accordance with the policies described in the applicable
prospectus.
•
MSWM shall not be responsible for any misstatement or
omission, or for any loss attributable to such misstatement or
omission, contained in any Fund prospectus, fact sheet or any
other disclosure document provided to us for distribution to
clients.
In addition to the MSWM Fee, MSWM also receives the
following fees and payments in connection with your investment
in a Fund:
“mark-ups,” “mark-downs,” and dealer spreads, if any,
(A) that MSWM or its affiliates, including MS&Co.,
receive when acting as principal in certain transactions
where permitted by law, rule, or regulation or (B) that
other broker- dealers receive when acting as principal in
certain transactions effected through MSWM and/or its
affiliates acting as agent, which is typically the case for
dealer market transactions (e.g., fixed income, over-the-
counter equity, and foreign exchange (“FX”) conversions
in connection with purchases or sales of FX-denominated
securities and with payments of principal and interest
dividends on such securities);
• Underwriting, investment banking, and other fees where
MS&Co. is a member of an underwriting syndicate
•
fees or other charges that you may incur in instances
where a transaction is effected through a third-party
broker-dealer and not through us or our affiliates. Such
fees or other charges will be included in the price of the
security and not reflected as a separate charge on your
trade confirmations or account statements;
Expense Payments and Fees for Data Analytics. MSWM
provides Fund families with opportunities to sponsor meetings
and conferences and grants them access to our branch offices and
Financial Advisors for educational, marketing, and other
promotional efforts. Some Fund representatives work closely with
our branch offices and Financial Advisors to develop business
strategies and support promotional events for clients and
prospective clients, and educational activities. Some Fund
families or their affiliates reimburse MSWM for certain expenses
incurred in connection with these promotional efforts, client
seminars, and/or training programs. Fund families independently
decide if and what they will spend on these activities, with some
15
to the aggregate values of our overall Fund-share sales, client
holdings of the Fund or to offset the revenue-sharing,
administrative service fees, expense reimbursement and data
analytics fees described above. Financial Advisors and their
Branch Managers receive no additional compensation as a result
of these payments received by Morgan Stanley.
Fund families agreeing to make substantial annual dollar amount
expense reimbursement commitments. Fund families also invite
our Financial Advisors to attend Fund family-sponsored events.
Expense payments may include meeting or conference facility
rental fees and hotel, meal, and travel charges. For more
information regarding the payments MSWM receives from Fund
families, please refer to the brochures titled “Mutual Fund
Features, Share Classes and Compensation” and “ETF Revenue
Sharing, Expense Payments and Data Analytics” (together, the
“Mutual Fund and ETF Brochures”), which can be found at
https://www.morganstanley.com/disclosures. The Mutual Fund
and ETF Brochures are also available from your Financial
Advisor on request.
In addition, we generally seek to be reimbursed for the associated
operational and/or technology costs of adding an/or maintaining
Funds on our platform. These flat fees are paid by Fund
sponsors or other affiliates (and not the Funds). Financial
Advisors and their Branch Managers do not receive compensation
for recommending Funds that have reimbursed Morgan Stanley
for our costs.
Fund family representatives are allowed to occasionally give
nominal gifts to Financial Advisors, and to occasionally entertain
Financial Advisors (subject to an aggregate entertainment limit of
$1,000 per employee per Fund family per year). MSWM’s non-
cash compensation policies set conditions for each of these types
of payments, and do not permit any gifts or entertainment
conditioned on achieving any sales target.
MSWM also provides Fund families with the opportunity to
purchase data analytics regarding Fund sales. The amount of the
fee depends on the level of data. We also offer sponsors of
passively-managed ETFs a separate transactional data fee.
Additional fees apply for those Fund families that elect to
purchase supplemental data analytics regarding other financial
product sales at MSWM. For more information regarding these
payments, as well as others, please refer to the Mutual Fund and
ETF Brochures described above.
Affiliated Funds. Certain Funds are sponsored or managed by, or
receive other services from, MSWM and its affiliates, which
include, but are not limited to, Morgan Stanley Investment
Management, Eaton Vance, Boston Management and Research,
Calvert Research and Management, Atlanta Capital Management
Company and Parametric Portfolio Associates. MSWM or the
affiliated sponsor (or other service provider) receives investment
management fees and/or other fees from these Funds. Unless
otherwise noted, MSWM or its affiliates retain these various fees
which are not rebated to you. Therefore, MSWM has a conflict
of interest in that it has an incentive to recommend MSWM
proprietary and/or affiliated Funds. In order to mitigate this
receive additional
conflict, Financial Advisors do not
compensation for recommending proprietary and/or affiliated
funds. Additionally, affiliated Funds and sponsors are subject to
the same economic arrangements with MSWM as those that
MSWM has with third-party Funds.
To the extent that such affiliated Funds are offered to and
purchased by Retirement Accounts, the MSWM Fee on any such
Retirement Account will be reduced or adjusted by the amount of
the Fund’s management fee, shareholder servicing fee and
distribution fee that we, or our affiliates, may receive in
connection with such Retirement Account’s investment in such
affiliated fund. If your account is a Retirement Account invested
in an investment strategy managed by an affiliate, including but
not limited to Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Eaton
Vance and its investment affiliates, MSWM shall offset or adjust
any advisory fee such affiliated Manager receives or a portion of
the MSWM Fee will be waived.
Conflicts of Interest regarding the Above-Described Expense
Payments and Fees for Data Analytics. The above-described
payments and fees are retained by MSWM and not refunded to
you. Therefore, these payments and fees present a conflict of
interest for MSWM and our Financial Advisors as they are an
incentive for us to promote and recommend those Funds from
sponsors that make these payments rather than other eligible
investments that do not make these or similar payments. This in
turn could lead Morgan Stanley and/or our Financial Advisors to
focus on those Fund families that provide significant sales
expense payments and/or purchase data analytics. In order to
mitigate these conflicts, Financial Advisors do not receive
additional compensation as a result of the data analytics fees
received by Morgan Stanley.
Mutual Fund Share Classes. Mutual funds typically offer
different ways to buy fund shares. Some mutual funds offer only
one share class while most funds offer multiple share classes.
Each share class represents an investment in the same mutual fund
portfolio but assesses different fees and expenses. Many mutual
funds have developed specialized share classes designed for
advisory programs (“Advisory Share Classes”). In general,
Advisory Share Classes are not subject to either sales loads or
ongoing marketing, distribution and/or service fees (often referred
to as “12b-1 fees”), although some will assess fees for record
keeping and related administrative services, as disclosed in the
applicable prospectus.
typically utilizes Advisory Share Classes
Other Compensation
Morgan Stanley or its affiliates receive, from certain Funds,
compensation in the form of commissions and other fees for
providing traditional brokerage services, including related
research and advisory support, and for purchases and sales of
securities in Fund portfolios. We and/or our affiliates also
receive other compensation for certain Funds for financial
services performed for the benefit of such Funds, including but
not limited to providing stand-by liquidity facilities. Providing
these services may give rise to a conflict of interest for Morgan
Stanley or its affiliates to place their interests ahead of those of
the Funds by, for example, increasing fees or curtailing services,
particularly in times of market stress.
Morgan Stanley prohibits linking the determination of the
amount of brokerage commissions and/or fees charged to a Fund
MSWM
that
compensate MSWM for providing such recordkeeping and related
administrative services to its advisory clients. If you wish to
purchase other types of Advisory Share Classes, such as those that
do not compensate intermediaries for record keeping and
16
It is important to note that free credit balances and allocations to
cash, including assets invested in sweep vehicle investments, are
included in the calculation of the fee for your account, as
described above.
administrative services, which generally carry lower overall costs
and would thereby increase your investment return, you will need
to do so directly with the mutual fund or through an account at
another financial intermediary.
If your account is a Retirement Account, you should read Exhibit
B to this Brochure, entitled “Affiliated Money Market Funds Fee
Disclosure Statement and Float Disclosure Statement”.
Please note, we may offer non-Advisory Share Classes of mutual
funds (i.e., those that are subject to 12b-1 fees) if, for example, a
fund does not offer an Advisory Share Class that is equivalent to
those offered here. In such instance, MSWM will rebate directly
to the client holding such funds any such 12b-1 fees that we
receive. Once we make an Advisory Share Class available for a
particular mutual fund, you can only purchase the Advisory Share
Class of that fund in an advisory account.
MSWM, acting as your custodian, will effect sweep transactions
only to the extent permitted by law and if you meet the eligibility
criteria. Under certain circumstances (as described in the Bank
Deposit Program Disclosure) eligible deposits in BDP may be
sent to non-affiliated Program Banks (; this additional feature may
provide enhanced FDIC coverage to you as well as funding value
benefits to the Morgan Stanley Sweep Banks. For eligibility
criteria applicable to this additional feature and BDP generally,
please refer to the Bank Deposit Program Disclosure Statement
which is available at: http://www.morganstanley.com/wealth-
investmentstrategies/pdf/BDP_disclosure.pdf
If you hold non-Advisory Share Classes of mutual funds in your
advisory account or seek to transfer non-Advisory Share Classes
of mutual funds into your advisory account, MSWM (without
notice to you) will generally convert those shares to Advisory
Share Classes to the extent they are available. This will typically
result in your shares being converted into a share class that has a
lower expense ratio, although exceptions are possible. Subject
to limited exceptions, any fees that you pay while holding non-
Advisory Share Classes (e.g., sales loads, 12b-1 fees, etc.) will not
be offset, rebated or refunded to you when your non-Advisory
Share Class is converted into an Advisory Share Class.
On termination of your advisory account for any reason, or the
transfer of mutual fund shares out of your advisory account into a
brokerage account at MSWM, we will convert any Advisory
Share Classes of funds into a share class that is available in non-
advisory accounts or we may redeem these fund shares altogether.
Non-Advisory Share Classes generally have higher operating
expenses than the corresponding Advisory Share Class, which
will increase the cost of investing and negatively impact
investment performance. For a taxable account, there will be tax
consequences associated with a redemption.
For more information, please refer to the Mutual Fund and ETF
Brochures described above.
Cash Sweeps
Conflicts of Interest Regarding Sweep Investments
BDP is your sweep, you should be aware that the Morgan Stanley
Sweep Banks, which are affiliates of MSWM, will pay MSWM
an annual account-based flat fee for the services performed by
MSWM with respect to BDP. MSWM and the Morgan Stanley
Sweep Banks will review such fee annually and, if applicable,
mutually agree upon any changes to the fee to reflect any changes
in costs incurred by MSWM. The fee received by MSWM may
affect the interest rate paid by the Morgan Stanley Sweep Banks
on your Deposit Accounts. Your Financial Advisor will not
receive a portion of these fees or credits. In addition, MSWM
will not receive cash compensation or credits in connection with
the BDP for assets in the Deposit Accounts for Retirement
Accounts. Also, the Morgan Stanley Sweep Banks have the
opportunity to earn income on the BDP assets through lending
activity, and that income is usually significantly greater than the
fees MSWM earns on affiliated Money Market Funds. Thus,
MSWM, in its capacity as custodian, has a conflict of interest in
connection with BDP being the default sweep, rather than an
eligible Money Market Fund.
In
Generally, some portion of your account will be held in cash. If
MSWM acts as custodian for your account, it will effect
transactions of free credit balances in your account into interest-
bearing deposit accounts (“Deposit Accounts”) established under
the Bank Deposit Program (“BDP”). For most clients, BDP will
be the designated cash sweep. The interest rates for BDP in your
account will be tiered based upon the value of the BDP balances
across your brokerage and advisory accounts. The BDP assets in
your advisory accounts receive separate interest rates from
deposits in your brokerage accounts and are set forth in:
https://www.morganstanley.com/wealth-general/ratemonitor
.
Generally, the rate you will earn on BDP will be lower than the
rate on other available cash alternatives.
limited
circumstances, such as for clients ineligible for BDP, MSWM
may sweep some or all of your cash into money market mutual
funds (each a “Money Market Fund”). These Money Market
Funds are managed by MSIM or another MSWM affiliate.
Pathway Funds are not included as an investment in the Cash
Sweep.
In addition, MSWM and the Morgan Stanley Sweep Banks and
their affiliates receive other financial benefits in connection with
the BDP. Through the BDP, each Morgan Stanley Sweep Bank
will receive a stable, cost-effective source of funding. Each
Morgan Stanley Sweep Bank intends to use deposits in the
Deposit Accounts at the Morgan Stanley Sweep Banks to fund
current and new businesses, including lending activities and
investments. The profitability on such loans and investments is
generally measured by the difference, or “spread,” between the
interest rate paid on the Deposit Accounts at the Morgan Stanley
Sweep Banks and other costs of maintaining the Deposit
Accounts, and the interest rate and other income earned by the
Morgan Stanley Sweep Banks on those loans and investments
made with the funds in the Deposit Accounts. The cost of funds
for the Morgan Stanley Sweep Banks of deposits through the
sweep program in ordinary market conditions is lower than their
cost of funds through some other sources, and the Morgan Stanley
Sweep Banks also receive regulatory capital and liquidity benefits
17
from using the sweep program as a source of funds as compared
to some other funding sources. The income that a Morgan
Stanley Sweep Bank will have the opportunity to earn through its
lending and investing activities in ordinary market conditions is
greater than the fees earned by us and our affiliates from
managing and distributing the Money Market Funds which may
be available to you as a sweep investment.
We have a conflict of interest as we have an incentive to only offer
affiliated Money Market Funds in the Cash Sweep program, as
MSIM (or another MSWM affiliate) will receive compensation
for managing the Money Market Fund. We also have a conflict
of interest as we offer affiliated funds and share classes that pay
us more compensation than other funds and share classes. You
should understand these costs because they decrease the return on
your investment. In addition, we receive additional payments
from Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc. in the event a
Money Market Fund waives certain fees in a manner that reduces
the compensation that we would otherwise receive. We either
rebate to clients or do not receive compensation on sweep Money
Market Fund positions held in our fee-based advisory account
programs.
Unless your account is a Retirement Account, the Fee will not be
reduced by the amount of the Money Market Fund’s applicable
fees. For additional information about the Money Market Fund
and applicable fees, you should refer to each Money Market
Fund’s prospectus.
Compensation to Financial Advisors
Morgan Stanley has added Program Banks to the BDP in order to
maximize the funding value of the deposits in BDP for the
Morgan Stanley Sweep Banks. On any given day, you may have
deposits that are sent to a Program Bank depending on the funding
value considerations of the Morgan Stanley Sweep Banks and the
capacity of the depository networks that allocate deposits to the
Program Banks. In addition to the benefits to the Morgan Stanley
Sweep Banks, you may also benefit from having deposits sent to
the Program Banks by receiving FDIC insurance on deposit
amounts that would otherwise be uninsured. .In return for
receiving deposits through BDP, the Program Banks provide other
deposits to the Morgan Stanley Sweep Banks. This reciprocal
deposit relationship provides a low-cost source of funding, and
capital and liquidity benefits to both the Program Banks and the
Morgan Stanley Sweep Banks. The Program Banks pay a fee to a
Program Administrator in connection with the reciprocal deposits,
but the cost of that fee is not borne directly by Morgan Stanley
clients.
D.
We allocate to your Financial Advisor, on an ongoing basis, part
of the MSWM Fee you pay to us in connection with your
account. The Financial Advisor may
receive different
compensation depending on which program you invest in, the
asset class within a program that you select (e.g., equity vs. fixed
income), and the rate and amount of your fee.
The amount we allocate to your Financial Advisor may be more,
or in some instances as described below, less, than if you
participate in other MSWM investment advisory programs, or if
you pay separately for investment advice, brokerage, and other
services.
The Morgan Stanley Sweep Banks have discretion in setting the
interest rates paid on deposits received through BDP, and are
under no legal or regulatory requirement to maximize those
interest rates. The Morgan Stanley Sweep Banks and the
Program Banks can and sometimes do pay higher interest rates on
some deposits they receive directly than they pay on deposits
received through BDP. This discretion in setting interest rates
creates a conflict of interest for the Morgan Stanley Sweep Banks.
The lower the amount of interest paid to customers, the greater is
the “spread” earned by the Morgan Stanley Sweep Banks on
deposits through the Program, as explained above. By contrast,
money market funds (including Morgan Stanley affiliated money
market funds) have a fiduciary duty to seek to maximize their
yield to investors, consistent with their disclosed investment and
risk-management policies and regulatory constraints.
If your cash sweeps to a Money Market Fund, then the account,
as well as other shareholders of the Money Market Fund, will bear
a proportionate share of the other expenses of the Money Market
Fund in which the account’s assets are invested.
The rate of compensation we pay Financial Advisors with respect
to program account fees may be higher than the rate we pay
Financial Advisors on trades executed in transaction-based
brokerage accounts. In such instance, your Financial Advisor
has a financial incentive to recommend one of the programs in
this Brochure (or asset classes within a program) instead of other
MSWM programs or services. Beginning July 1, 2022, the portion
of the fee allocated to your Financial Advisor will decrease if your
account remains in the IMS program for 24 months or longer.
As such, your Financial Advisor may have a financial incentive to
recommend a different program on the MSWM platform,
including programs that offer the portfolio management services
of affiliated and non-affiliated Managers which are reviewed,
selected and approved by MSWM. Such policy will not apply
to IMS program accounts held by institutional clients and/or
where MSWM does not act as the custodian.
Your Financial Advisor may negotiate a fee that is less than the
MSWM maximum fee rate stated above. The amount of the fee
you pay is a factor we use in calculating the compensation we pay
your Financial Advisor. Therefore, Financial Advisors have a
financial incentive not to reduce fees. If your fee rate is below a
certain threshold, we give your Financial Advisor credit for less
than the total amount of your fee in calculating his or her
compensation.
Therefore, Financial Advisors also have a
financial incentive not to reduce fees below such threshold.
If your cash sweeps to a Money Market Fund, you understand that
MSIM (or another MSWM affiliate) will receive compensation,
including management fees and other fees, for managing the
Money Market Fund. In addition, we receive compensation from
such Money Market Funds at rates that are set by the funds’
prospectuses and currently range, depending on the program in
which you invest, from 0.10% per year ($10 per $10,000 of assets)
to 0.25% per year ($25 per $10,000 of assets) of the total Money
Market Fund assets held by our clients. Please review your Money
Market Fund’s prospectus to learn more about the compensation
we receive from such funds.
18
Item 5: Account Requirements and
Types of Clients
Account Minimums. The minimum account sizes are set by each
Manager and generally range from $50,000 to $5 million or
higher.
include personnel depth,
All new CES accounts with fixed income strategies will have at
least a $1 million minimum account size.
As part of its diligence and review process, GIMA obtains certain
information and documentation from a Manager, which may
include a Request for Information (RFI), sample portfolios, asset
allocation histories, its Form ADV (the form that investment
managers use to register with the SEC), past performance
information and marketing literature. Additional factors for
consideration may
turnover and
experience,
investment process, business and organization
characteristics, and investment performance. GIMA personnel
may also interview the Manager and its key personnel and
examine its operations.
Following this review process, GIMA will determine whether an
Investment Product should be placed on the Approved List or the
Focus List based upon its conviction in the Manager and the
Strategy and whether they meet the criteria for the applicable List.
Types of Clients.
Our clients include individuals, trusts,
banking or thrift institutions, pension and profit sharing plans,
plan participants, other pooled investment vehicles (e.g., hedge
funds), charitable organizations, corporations, other businesses,
state or municipal government entities, investment clubs and other
entities.
Item 6: Portfolio Manager Selection
and Evaluation
staffing, operational
include
issues, and
Thereafter, GIMA periodically reviews Investment Products on
the Approved List and Focus List to determine whether they
continue to meet the appropriate standards. GIMA considers a
investment
broad range of factors (which may
performance,
financial
condition). Among other things, GIMA personnel may interview
each Manager periodically to discuss these matters.
A. Selection and Review of Portfolio
Managers for the Programs
CES Program
Changes in Status from Focus List to Approved List. GIMA may
determine that an Investment Product no longer meets the criteria
for the Focus List but meets the criteria for the Approved List. If
so, MSWM generally notifies clients regarding such status
changes on a quarterly basis within their client statements.
Selection and Review of Managers and Strategies
Item 4.A above describes the basis on which we recommend
particular Managers or Strategies to particular clients. This Item
6.A describes more generally how we select, review, approve and
terminate Managers or Strategies (collectively, as used in this
Item 6.A, “Investment Products”) which are available in this
Program and covered by GIMA.
Changes in Status to Not Approved. GIMA may determine that
an Investment Product no longer meets the criteria for either the
Focus List or Approved List and change its status to “Not
Approved”. At such time, the Investment Product will no longer
be recommended and will be terminated from the Program within
a reasonable amount of time. We may terminate Investment
Products from the Program for other reasons as well (i.e., the
Investment Product has a low level of assets under management
in the Program, the Investment Product has limited capacity for
further investment, or the Investment Product is not complying
with our policies and procedures).
We notify affected clients of these downgrades. You cannot retain
Not Approved Investment Products in your CES account and must
select a replacement from the Approved List or Focus List, and
that is available in the program, if you wish to retain the program’s
benefits with respect to the affected assets.
Focus List and Approved List Review Process. Morgan Stanley’s
Global Investment Manager Analysis group (“GIMA”) evaluates
the Investment Products to be offered in the Program. GIMA may
delegate some of its functions to an affiliate or third party.
Investment Products may only participate in the Program if they
are on GIMA’s Focus List or Approved List, as discussed below.
The Focus List status indicates GIMA's high confidence level in
the overall quality of the investment option and its ability to
outperform applicable benchmarks or peers, as applicable, over a
full market cycle while the Approved List includes Investment
Products that meet an acceptable due diligence standard based
upon GIMA's evaluation. You may obtain a copy of the Focus
and/or Approved List from your Financial Advisor. Only some of
the Investment Products approved by GIMA may be available in
the Program.
When an Investment Product is terminated, GIMA generally
recommends a replacement Investment Product. In selecting the
replacement Investment Product, GIMA generally looks for an
Investment Product in the same asset class and with similar
attributes and holdings to the terminated Investment Product.
In addition to requiring Investment Products to be on the Focus
List or Approved List, we look at other factors in determining
which Investment Products we offer in the Program, including:
•
program needs (such as whether we have a sufficient
number of Investment Products available in an asset class);
In some circumstances when a Manager or Strategy is terminated,
you may be able to transfer the assets into another advisory
program or into a brokerage account subject to that program or
account’s applicable guidelines. Ask your Financial Advisor
about these options.
client demand; and
•
Termination of Investment Products for Drop in Coverage.
the Manager’s minimum account size.
•
19
As indicated above in this Item 6.A, we may terminate Investment
Products from the Program due to a GIMA downgrade to “Not
Approved,” or for various other reasons. A termination for
reasons other than a GIMA downgrade to “Not Approved” will be
referred to in this Brochure as a “Drop in Coverage”.
Other Relationships with Managers
Some Managers approved for use in programs in this Brochure
may have business relationships with us or our affiliates. For
example, a Manager may use MS&Co. or an affiliate as its broker
or may be an investment banking client of MS&Co. or an affiliate.
GIMA does not consider the existence or lack of a business
relationship in determining whether to approve or maintain a
Manager.
Once we have decided to institute a Drop in Coverage for an
Investment Product, we will generally not permit new investment
in such Investment Product. However, for a period of time, we
will permit clients to remain invested in that Investment Product
and, in certain circumstances, to add new assets to that Investment
Product. This is to allow impacted clients time and flexibility to
work with their Financial Advisor to select a replacement
Investment Product.
B. Conflicts of Interest
MSWM has various conflicts of interests relating to the Program.
We address these conflicts by disclosing them to you in this
Brochure.
During this period, GIMA will continue to evaluate the impacted
Investment Product. If GIMA downgrades the Investment Product
to “Not Approved,” we will terminate the Investment Product at
that time (rather than allowing current clients to utilize it for the
remainder of the period).
Advisory vs. Brokerage Accounts. MSWM and your Financial
Advisor may earn more compensation if you invest in a program
described in this Brochure than if you open a brokerage account
to buy individual securities (although, in a brokerage account, you
would not receive all the benefits of the programs described in the
Brochure).
In such instance, your Financial Advisor and
MSWM a financial incentive to recommend one of these
programs described in this Brochure. We address this conflict
of interest by disclosing it to you and by reviewing your account
at account-opening to ensure that it is appropriate for you in light
of matters such as your investment objectives and financial
circumstances.
Watch Policy. GIMA has a “Watch” policy for Investment
Products on the Focus List and Approved List. Watch status
indicates that, in reviewing an Investment Product, GIMA has
identified specific areas of the Manager’s business that (a) merit
further evaluation by GIMA and (b) may, but are not certain to,
result in the Investment Product becoming “Not Approved.”
Putting an Investment Product on Watch does not signify an actual
change in GIMA opinion nor is it a guarantee that GIMA will
downgrade the Investment Product. The duration of a Watch
status depends on how long GIMA needs to evaluate the
Investment Product and for the respective Manager to address any
areas of concern.
Payments from Managers. Managers may also sponsor their
own educational conferences and pay expenses of Financial
Advisors attending these events. MSWM’s policies require that
the training or educational portion of these conferences comprises
substantially the entire event. Managers may sponsor educational
meetings or seminars in which clients as well as Financial
Advisors are invited to participate.
Other Changes. If you request any change to the account, and
subsequent account statements or other communications indicate
that the requested change has not been implemented, you must
promptly notify your Financial Advisor.
Managers are allowed to occasionally give nominal gifts to
Financial Advisors, and to occasionally entertain Financial
Advisors, subject to a limit of $1,000 per employee per year.
MSWM’s non-cash compensation policies set conditions for each
of these types of payments, and do not permit any gifts or
entertainment conditioned on achieving a sales target.
If you request that any security(ies) be transferred out of an
account, MSWM may suspend trading in the account until the
transfer is complete (which may take several days). During this
time, Fees (as defined below in this Item 4) will continue to
accrue.
We address conflicts of interest by ensuring that any payments
described in this “Payments from Managers” section do not relate
to any particular transactions or investment made by MSWM
clients with Managers. Fund Managers or subadvisors
participating in programs described in this Brochure are not
required to make any of these types of payments. The payments
described in this section comply with FINRA rules relating to
such activities. Please see the discussion under “Funds in
Advisory Programs” in Item 4.C for more information.
Different Advice. MSWM and its affiliates may give different
advice, take different action, receive more or less compensation,
or hold or deal in different securities for any other party, client, or
account (including their own accounts or those of their affiliates)
from the advice given, actions taken, compensation received, or
securities held or dealt for your account.
IMS Program
As indicated above in Item 4.A, IMS accommodates clients who
want to maintain a relationship with a Manager of their choice that
is not covered by GIMA and thus not included in the due diligence
process that GIMA employs for Managers in other investment
advisory programs offered by MSWM. However, some mutual
funds available to be invested in through Managers in the IMS
program are evaluated by GIMA and included on either the Focus
or Approved List. In the event GIMA downgrades any mutual
fund offered in the IMS program, it will be removed from the
eligible universe available to the Managers if there are no holders
of that downgraded fund. If there are active holders, MSWM will
inform the Manager that the mutual fund was downgraded. The
Manager has discretion to remain invested in the mutual fund or
to invest in another mutual fund available on either the Focus list
or Approved list. This decision will be made at the sole
discretion of the Manager.
Trading or Issuing Securities in, or Linked to Securities in,
Client Accounts. MSWM and its affiliates may provide bids and
20
offers, and may act as a principal market maker, in respect of the
same securities held in client accounts. MSWM, its affiliates and
employees, the Managers in its programs and their affiliates and
employees, may hold a position (long or short) in the same
securities held in client accounts. MSWM and its affiliates are
regular issuers of traded financial instruments linked to securities
that may be purchased in client accounts. From time to time, the
trading of MSWM, a Manager or their affiliates – both for their
proprietary accounts and for client accounts – may be detrimental
to securities held by a client and thus create a conflict of interest
between those trades and the investment advisory services that
MSWM or a Sub-Manager provides to you.
Options Flow Preferencing. When MSWM processes an options
order for your account, the order may be routed to options
exchanges with an indication that our affiliate MS&Co. has a
“preference” on the options order. A “preference” gives MS&Co.
the ability to begin an auction among market makers in order to
receive bids or offers for a transaction, however such “preference”
will only result in an order executed with MS&Co. if its price is
equal to or better than the best price quoted on the relevant
exchange. By “preferencing” itself, MS&Co. may generate larger
trading volumes than if it were not “preferenced”, and that may
result in MS&Co. receiving certain benefits. Both MSWM and
MS&Co. continue to have an obligation to obtain best execution
terms for client transactions under prevailing circumstances, and
consistent with applicable law.
Trade Allocations. Your Manager may aggregate the securities to
buy or sell for more than one client to obtain favorable execution
to the extent permitted by law. The Manager is then responsible
for allocating the trade in a manner that is equitable and consistent
with its fiduciary duty to its clients (which could include, e.g., pro
rata allocation, random allocation, or rotation allocation). For
block trade orders executed by MSWM, the price to each client is
the average price for the aggregate order.
Research Reports. MS&Co. does business with companies
covered by its research groups. Furthermore, MS&Co. and its
affiliates and client accounts, may hold a trading position (long or
short) in, the securities of companies subject to such research. In
such instance, MS&Co. has a conflict of interest that could affect
the objectivity of its research reports.
Certain Trading Systems. MSWM may effect trades or securities
lending transactions on behalf of client accounts through
exchanges, electronic communication networks or other
alternative trading systems (“Trading Systems”), including
Trading Systems with respect to which MSWM or its affiliates
may have a non-controlling direct or indirect ownership interest,
or right to appoint a board member or observer. If MSWM
directly or indirectly effects client trades or transactions through
Trading Systems in which MSWM or its affiliates have an
ownership interest, MSWM or its affiliates may receive an
indirect economic benefit based on their ownership interest. In
addition, subject at all times to its obligations to obtain best
execution for its customers’ orders, it is contemplated that
MSWM will route certain customer order flow to its affiliates.
Services Provided to Other Clients. MSWM and its affiliates and
Managers and their affiliates provide a variety of services
(including research, brokerage, asset management, trading,
lending, and investment banking services) for each other and for
various clients, including issuers of securities that may be
recommended for purchase or sale by clients or are otherwise held
in client accounts, and Managers in the programs described in this
Brochure. MSWM and its affiliates and Managers and their
affiliates receive compensation and fees in connection with these
services. MSWM believes that the nature and range of clients to
which such services are rendered is such that it would be
inadvisable to exclude categorically all of these companies from
an account. Accordingly, it is likely that securities in an account
will include some of the securities of companies for which
MSWM and its affiliates, and Managers, and their affiliates
perform investment banking or other services.
Currently, MSWM and/or its affiliates own equity interests (or
interests convertible into equity) of 5% or more in certain Trading
Systems or their parent companies, including
MEMEX
Holdings LLC; OTCDeriv Limited; EOS Precious Metals
Limited; CreditDeriv Limited; FXGLOBALCLEAR; Dubai
Mercantile Exchange; Japan Securities Depository Center Inc.;
Yensai.com Co., Ltd; and Octaura Holdings LLC.
Restrictions on Securities Transactions. There may be periods
during which MSWM or Managers are not permitted to initiate or
recommend certain types of transactions in the securities of
issuers for which MSWM or one of its affiliates is performing
broker-dealer or investment banking services or has confidential
or material non-public information. Furthermore, in certain
investment advisory programs, MSWM may be compelled to
forgo trading in, or providing advice regarding, Morgan Stanley
securities, and in certain related securities. These restrictions can
adversely impact your account performance.
The Trading Systems on which MSWM trades or effects
securities lending transactions for client accounts and in which
MSWM or its affiliates own interests may change from time to
time. You can contact your Financial Advisor for an up-to-date
list of Trading Systems in which MSWM or its affiliates own
interests and on which MSWM and/or MS&Co. trade for client
accounts.
MSWM, the Managers and their affiliates may also develop
analyses and/or evaluations of securities sold in a program
described in this Brochure, as well as buy and sell interests in
securities on behalf of their proprietary or client accounts. These
analyses, evaluations and purchase and sale activities are
proprietary and confidential, and MSWM will not disclose them
to clients. MSWM may not be able to act, in respect of clients’
account, on any such information, analyses or evaluations.
Certain Trading Systems offer cash credits for orders that provide
liquidity to their books and charge explicit fees for orders that
extract liquidity from their books. From time to time, the amount
of credits that MSWM and/or MS&Co. receive from one or more
Trading System may exceed the amount that is charged. Under
these limited circumstances, such payments would constitute
payment for order flow.
MSWM, Managers and their affiliates are not obligated to effect
any transaction that they believe would violate federal or state
law, or the regulations of any regulatory or self-regulatory body.
Certain Trading Systems through which MSWM and/or MS&Co.
may directly or indirectly effect client trades execute transactions
21
Program and earn investment management fees for providing
investment advisory services to such funds or strategies (or earn
other fees for providing other services). As a result, we have a
potential conflict of interest in recommending these funds or
strategies over others.
on a “blind” basis, so that a party to a transaction does not know
the identity of the counterparty to the transaction. It is possible
that an order for a client account that is executed through such a
Trading System could be automatically matched with a
counterparty that is (i) another investment advisory or brokerage
client of MSWM or one of its affiliates or (ii) MSWM or one of
its affiliates acting for its own proprietary accounts.
Affiliated Sweep Investments. MSWM has a conflict of interest
in selecting or recommending BDP or Money Market Funds as
the Sweep Investment.
See Item 4.C above for more
information.
in Underwriting Syndicate; MSWM
MSWM Affiliate
Distribution of Securities; Other Relationships with Security
Issuers.
If an affiliate of MSWM is a member of the
underwriting syndicate from which a security allocated to your
account is purchased, we or our affiliates could directly or
indirectly benefit from such purchase. Moreover, depending on
the type of security, the structure of the offering, and the demand
for the offering, any benefit we or our affiliates obtain could be
independent of demand from MSWM client accounts.
Investments in Sweep Investments or Mutual Funds. As
described in Item 4.C above, with respect to non-Retirement
Account clients, MSWM or
its affiliates earn greater
compensation from mutual funds than from separate accounts.
At times, a Manager may believe that it is in a client’s interest to
maintain assets in cash, particularly for defensive purposes in
volatile markets. The above-described Bank Deposit Program
revenue and fees for Money Market Funds for accounts of non-
Retirement Account clients and other payments create a conflict
of interest to the extent that the additional payments influence
MSWM to recommend or select a Strategy, model, Manager, or
investment style that favors cash balances.
If MSWM participates in the distribution of new issue securities
that are purchased for a client’s account, MSWM will receive a
fee, to be paid by the issuing corporation to the underwriters of
the securities and ultimately to MSWM, which will be deemed
additional compensation to us, if received by us.
Please note that the Financial Advisor does not receive any of the
Bank Deposit Program revenue or fees from Money Market funds
as described herein.
Affiliated Managers. From time to time, we may offer Managers
in the CES program that are affiliated with us. Although some
investment Managers and/or some investment strategies may be
available in more than one program, each program may offer
investment Managers and other features that are not available in
other MSWM programs. The Client understands that we and our
affiliates will receive more aggregate fees when the Client selects
a Manager affiliated with us than if the Client selects a Manager
that is not affiliated with us. Thus, MSWM and its Financial
Advisors have a conflict of interest as they have a financial
incentive to recommend affiliated Managers to the Client.
Client may choose only unaffiliated Managers if it so desires.
Similarly, if a Manager is not affiliated with us but we have an
ownership share in the Manager, we and our Financial Advisors
have a conflict of interest as we have a financial incentive to
recommend that Manager to the Client because, as an owner, we
benefit from the Manager’s profits.
Nonpublic Information. In the course of investment banking or
other activities, MSWM, the Managers, and each of their
respective affiliates and Agents may from time to time acquire
confidential or material nonpublic information that may prevent
them, for a period of time, from purchasing or selling particular
securities for the account. You acknowledge and agree that
MSWM, the Managers, and each of their respective affiliates and
Agents will not be free to divulge or to act upon this information
with respect to their advisory or brokerage activities, including
their activities with regard to the account. This may adversely
impact the investment performance of the account.
MSWM and/or its affiliates have a variety of relationships with,
and provide a variety of services to, issuers of securities
recommended for client accounts, including investment banking,
corporate advisory and services, underwriting, consulting, and
brokerage relationships. As a result of these relationships with an
issuer, MSWM or its affiliates may directly or indirectly benefit
from a client’s purchase or sale of a security of the issuer. For
example, MSWM or its affiliates may provide hedging services
for compensation to issuers of structured investments (such as
structured notes) recommended for client accounts. In such a case,
MSWM or its affiliates could benefit if a client account purchased
such an instrument, or sold such an instrument to another
purchaser in lieu of selling or redeeming the instrument back to
the issuer, as such transactions could result in the issuer of the
instrument continuing to pay MSWM or its affiliates fees or other
compensation for the hedging services related to such instrument.
Similarly, if the hedging service with respect to such an
instrument is not profitable for MSWM or its affiliates, MSWM
or its affiliates may benefit if MSWM’s client accounts holding
such instruments sold or redeemed them back to the issuer. We
address these conflicts by disclosing them to you in this Brochure.
Also, in the event of corporate actions with respect to securities
held in client accounts, to the extent such corporate actions result
in exchanges, tender offers, or similar transactions, MSWM
and/or its affiliates may participate in and/or advise on such
transactions and receive compensation. The interest of MSWM’s
affiliates in these corporate actions may conflict with the interest
of MSWM clients. In addition, where an affiliate of MSWM is
representing or advising the issuer in a transaction, the interest of
the issuer may conflict with client interests and create a potential
conflict of interest for MSWM. MSWM also provides various
services to issuers, their affiliates, and insiders, including but not
limited to, stock plan services and financial education for which
MSWM receives compensation.
MSWM Affiliate as Investment Advisor or Service Provider.
Affiliates of MSWM may serve as the investment advisor or other
service provider for certain funds or strategies offered in the
Benefits to Financial Advisors.
Client understands that
MSWM or Financial Advisors or employees of MSWM affiliates
may receive a financial benefit from any Manager in the form of
compensation for trade executions for the accounts of the
Manager or accounts that are managed by such Manager or
22
through referrals of brokerage or investment advisory accounts to
MSWM or to the Financial Advisor or employees of MSWM
affiliates by such Manager. These Managers may include a
Manager recommended to clients by the Financial Advisor or
employees of MSWM affiliates in any of the Consulting Group
programs.
Other Investment Products Available. Client understands that
Managers may offer to the public other investment products such
as mutual funds with similar investment styles and holdings as
those investment products offered through the Consulting Group
programs. Such products may be offered at differing fees and
charges that may be higher or lower than the fees imposed by
MSWM under a Consulting Group program.
Other Business with Certain Firms. Certain
investment
management firms (which may include Managers) do other
business with MSWM or its affiliates.
• On June 8, 2016, the SEC entered into a settlement order with
MSWM (“June 2016 Order”) settling an administrative
action. In this matter, the SEC found that MSWM willfully
violated Rule 30(a) of Regulation S-P (17 C. F. R. §
248.30(a)) (the “Safeguards Rule”). In particular, the SEC
found that, prior to December 2014, although MSWM had
adopted written policies and procedures relating to the
protection of customer records and information, those
policies and procedures were not reasonably designed to
safeguard its customers’ personally identifiable information
as required by the Safeguards Rule and therefore failed to
prevent a MSWM employee, who was subsequently
terminated,
from misappropriating customer account
information. In determining to accept the offer resulting in
the June 2016 Order, the SEC considered the remedial efforts
promptly undertaken by MSWM and MSWM’s cooperation
afforded to the SEC Staff. MSWM consented, without
admitting or denying the findings, to a censure, to cease and
desist from committing or causing future violations, and to
pay a civil penalty of $1,000,000.
(“January 2017 Order”)
Block Trades. Managers may direct some block trades to
MSWM for execution, which blocks may include trades for other
clients of MSWM and/or Manager. Although MSWM executes
these block trades at no commission, MSWM may obtain a benefit
from executing these block trades, as a result of the increased
trading volume attributable to these blocks.
Item 7: Client Information Provided to
to 2016, MS&Co. and MSWM,
Portfolio Managers
Your Financial Advisor has access to the information you provide
to - account opening (the “Client
at - and subsequent
Information”), including, but not limited to, your name, address,
contact information, transaction detail, information regarding
your investment objectives, financial information, risk tolerance,
and any reasonable restrictions you may impose on management
of your account. This includes information in the client profile and
investment questionnaire you complete (or your Financial
Advisor completes for you) as part of the account opening
process.
At account opening, or subsequently as necessary to service your
relationship, Morgan Stanley may provide your Sub-Manager
with certain Client Information.
future violations,
• On January 13, 2017, the SEC entered into a settlement order
settling an
with MSWM
administrative action. The SEC found that from 2009
through 2015, MSWM inadvertently charged advisory fees in
excess of what had been disclosed to, and agreed to by, its
legacy clients of Citigroup Global Markets Inc., a
predecessor to MSWM, and, from 2002 to 2009 and from
2009
respectively,
inadvertently charged fees in excess of what was disclosed to
and agreed to by their clients. The SEC also found that
MSWM failed to comply with requirements regarding annual
surprise custody examinations for the years 2011 and 2012,
did not maintain certain client contracts, and failed to adopt
and implement written compliance policies and procedures
reasonably designed to prevent violations of the Investment
Advisers Act of 1940 (the “Advisers Act”). The SEC found
that, in relation to the foregoing, MSWM willfully violated
certain sections of the Advisers Act. In determining to
accept the offer resulting in the January 2017 Order, the SEC
considered the remedial efforts promptly undertaken by
MSWM. MSWM consented, without admitting or denying
the findings, to a censure, to cease and desist from
committing or causing
to certain
undertakings related to fee billing, books and records and
client notices and to pay a civil penalty of $13,000,000.
Your selection of a Sub-Manager is deemed to be your consent to
us to provide Client Information to such Sub-Manager. You can
revoke that consent at any time by terminating the account.
Item 8: Client Contact with Portfolio
Managers
(“SIETFs”), without
You have a direct contractual relationship with the Manager, and
therefore may contact the Manager. We do not restrict you from
contacting and consulting with your portfolio Manager.
Item 9: Additional Information
Disciplinary Information
This section contains information on certain legal and disciplinary
events.
• On February 14, 2017, the SEC entered into a settlement
order with MSWM settling an administrative action. The
SEC found that from March 2010 through July 2015, MSWM
solicited approximately 600 non-discretionary advisory
accounts to purchase one or more of eight Single Inverse
Exchange Traded Funds
fully
complying with its internal written compliance policies and
procedures related to these SIETFs, which among other
things required that clients execute a disclosure notice,
describing the SIETF’s features and risks, prior to purchasing
them, for MSWM to maintain the notice, and for subsequent
related reviews to be performed. The SEC found that,
despite being aware of deficiencies with its compliance and
documentation of the policy requirements, MSWM did not
conduct a comprehensive analysis to identify and correct past
failures where the disclosure notices may not have been
23
obtained and to prevent future violations from occurring.
The SEC found that, in relation to the foregoing, MSWM
willfully violated section 206(4) of the Investment Advisers
Act of 1940 and Rule 206(4)-7 thereunder.
MSWM
admitted to certain facts and consented to a censure, to cease
and desist from committing or causing future violations, and
to pay a civil penalty of $8,000,000.
transaction-based charges in violation of MSWM’s affiliate
trading policies without detection by MSWM. The SEC
noted in the order that it considered certain remedial acts
undertaken by MSWM in determining to accept the order,
including MSWM enhancing its disclosures to clients,
implementing training of financial advisors, enhancing
relevant policies and procedures, and refunding clients’
transaction-based charges paid to Morgan Stanley affiliates.
The SEC found that MSWM willfully violated certain
sections of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, specifically
Sections 206(2) and 206(4) and Rule 206(4)-7 thereunder.
MSWM consented, without admitting or denying the findings
and without adjudication of any issue of law or fact, to a
censure; to cease and desist from committing or causing
future violations; and to pay a civil penalty of $5,000,000.
• On June 29, 2018, the SEC entered into a settlement order
with MSWM settling an administrative action which relates
to misappropriation of client funds in four related accounts
by a single former MSWM financial advisor (“FA”). The
SEC found that MSWM failed to adopt and implement
policies and procedures or systems reasonably designed to
prevent personnel from misappropriating assets in client
accounts. The SEC specifically found that, over the course
of eleven months, the FA initiated unauthorized transactions
in the four related client accounts in order to misappropriate
client funds. The SEC found that while MSWM policies
provided for certain reviews prior to issuing disbursements,
such reviews were not reasonably designed to prevent FAs
from misappropriating client funds. Upon being informed
of the issue by representatives of the FA’s affected clients,
MSWM promptly conducted an internal investigation,
terminated the FA, and reported the fraud to law enforcement
agencies. MSWM also fully repaid the affected clients,
made significant enhancements to its policies, procedures and
systems (“Enhanced MSWM Policies”) and hired additional
fraud operations personnel. The SEC found that MSWM
willfully violated section 206(4) of the Advisers Act and Rule
206(4)-7 thereunder. The SEC also found that MSWM
failed to supervise the FA pursuant to its obligations under
Section 203(e) (6) of the Advisers Act. MSWM consented,
without admitting or denying the findings, to a censure; to
cease and desist from committing or causing future
violations; to certain undertakings, including certifications
related to the implementation and adequacy of the Enhanced
MSWM Policies and to pay a civil penalty of $3,600,000.
inaccurate
information
indicating
• On December 9, 2024, the SEC entered into a settlement
order with MSWM settling an administrative action, which
relates to misappropriation of client funds in brokerage and
advisory accounts by four former MSWM financial advisors
(the “FAs”). The SEC found that MSWM failed to adopt
and implement policies and procedures reasonably designed
to prevent personnel from misusing and misappropriating
funds in client accounts and that MSWM’s inadequate
policies and procedures and systems to implement them led
to its failure reasonably to supervise the four FAs, who
misappropriated funds from client and customer accounts
while employed at MSWM. Specifically, the SEC found
that MSWM failed to adopt and implement policies and
procedures reasonably designed to prevent and detect
unauthorized externally-initiated ACH payments and
unauthorized cash wires. Upon being informed of the
potential unauthorized activity in the customer accounts of
two of the FAs, MSWM promptly investigated the matters,
terminated the FAs, reported the fraud to law enforcement
agencies, and fully repaid the affected clients. MSWM also
conducted a retroactive review of payment instructions for
externally-initiated ACH payment instructions, which led to
the identification of misconduct by the other two FAs.
MSWM accordingly terminated the other two FAs and
reported the misconduct to SEC staff. On its own initiative,
MSWM instituted new written procedures to address the
conduct at issue and retained an independent compliance
consultant to perform a review and assessment. The SEC
found that MSWM willfully violated section 206(4) of the
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (“Advisers Act”) and Rule
206(4)-7 thereunder. The SEC also found that MSWM
failed to supervise the FAs within the meaning of Section
203(e)(6) of the Advisers Act and/or Section 15(b)(4)(E) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. MSWM consented,
without admitting or denying the findings, to a censure; to
cease and desist from committing or causing future
violations; to certain undertakings, including the retention of
an Independent Compliance Consultant to review MSWM’s
policies, procedures and controls related to the conduct in the
Order and to pay a civil penalty of $15,000,000.
MSWM’s Form ADV Part 1 contains further information about
its disciplinary history and is available on request from your
Financial Advisor.
Other Financial Industry Activities and Affiliations
• On May 12, 2020, the SEC entered into a settlement order
with MSWM settling an administrative action which relates
to certain information provided in marketing and client
communications to retail advisory clients in MSWM’s wrap
fee programs with third-party Managers and MSWM’s
policies and procedures related to trades not executed at
MSWM. In the applicable wrap fee programs, the third-
party Manager has the discretion to place orders for trade
execution on clients’ behalf at a broker-dealer other than
Morgan Stanley. MSWM permits Managers to “trade
away” from MSWM in this manner in order to seek best
execution for trades. The SEC found that, from at least
through June 2017, MSWM provided
October 2012
incomplete and
that
MSWM executed most client trades and that, while additional
transaction-based costs were possible, clients did not actually
incur them in the ordinary course. The SEC found that this
information was misleading for certain retail clients because
some wrap Managers directed most, and sometimes all, client
trades to third-party broker-dealers for execution, which
resulted in certain clients paying transaction-based charges
that were not visible to them. The SEC also found that, on
occasion, wrap Managers directed trades to MSWM-
incurred
affiliated broker-dealers
in which
clients
24
Morgan Stanley (“Morgan Stanley Parent”) is a financial holding
company under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956. Morgan
Stanley Parent is a corporation whose shares are publicly held and
traded on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”). MSWM is a
wholly owned indirect subsidiary of Morgan Stanley Parent.
Activities of Morgan Stanley Parent. Morgan Stanley Parent is a
global firm engaging, through its various subsidiaries, in a wide
range of financial services including:
companies. Morgan Stanley Distribution Inc. serves as distributor
for the open- end investment companies and has entered into
selected dealer agreements with MSWM and affiliates. Morgan
Stanley Distribution Inc. also may enter into selected dealer
agreements with other dealers. Under many of these agreements,
MSWM and affiliates, and other selected dealers, are
compensated for sale of fund shares to clients on a brokerage
basis, and for shareholder servicing (including pursuant to plans
of distribution adopted by the investment companies pursuant to
Rule 12b-l under the Investment Company Act of 1940).
•
trading, merger,
securities underwriting, distribution,
acquisition, restructuring, real estate, project finance and
other corporate finance advisory activities
• merchant banking and other principal investment activities
•
•
•
Related persons of MSWM act as a general partner, administrative
agent or special limited partner of a limited partnership or
managing member or special member of a limited liability
company to which such related persons serve as adviser or sub-
adviser and in which clients have been solicited in a brokerage or
advisory capacity to invest. In some cases, the general partner of
a limited partnership is entitled to receive an incentive allocation
from a partnership.
•
brokerage and research services
asset management
trading of foreign exchange, commodities, and structured
financial products and
global custody, securities clearance services, and securities
lending.
See Item 4.C above for a description of cash sweep investments
managed or held by related persons of MSWM.
Broker-Dealer Registration. As well as being a registered
investment advisor, MSWM is registered as a broker-dealer.
See Item 6.B above for a description of various conflicts of
interest.
Restrictions on Executing Trades. As MSWM is affiliated with
MS&Co. and its affiliates, the following restrictions apply when
executing client trades:
Market Transition Away from LIBOR. The following applies to
holders of products directly or indirectly linked to the London
Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) or the Secured Overnight
Financing Rate (“SOFR”) and investors that are considering
purchasing such products. Depending on your current holdings
and investment plans, this information may or may not be
applicable to you.
• MSWM and MS&Co. generally do not act as principal in
executing trades for MSWM investment advisory clients,
except as permitted by applicable laws, rules, and regulations.
• Regulatory restrictions may limit your ability to purchase,
hold or sell equity and debt issued by Morgan Stanley Parent
and its affiliates in some investment advisory programs.
• Certain regulatory requirements may limit MSWM’s ability
to execute transactions through alternative execution services
(e.g., electronic communication networks and crossing
networks) owned by MSWM, MS&Co. or their affiliates.
LIBOR had been a widely used interest rate benchmark in bond,
loan, and derivative contracts, as well as consumer lending
instruments such as mortgages. However, as a result of concerns
with the integrity of LIBOR and how it is determined, LIBOR will
cease to be published and will be replaced by alternative reference
rates.
restrictions may adversely
impact your account
These
performance.
See Item 6.B above for conflicts arising from our affiliation with
MS&Co. and its affiliates.
Specifically, overnight and one-, three-, six- and 12-month USD
LIBOR will no longer be published after June 30, 2023. However,
regulators have indicated that the time until then is to be used only
for managing existing LIBOR-based products. All settings for
GBP, EUR, JPY and CHF LIBOR, and one-week and two-month
settings for USD LIBOR, are no longer being published, although
synthetic versions of GBP and JPY LIBOR rates will be published
for a period of time. The committee convened by the U.S. Federal
Reserve Board and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the
Alternative Reference Rates Committee (ARRC), has selected
SOFR as the recommended alternative benchmark rate to USD
LIBOR.
Related Investment Advisers and Other Service Providers.
MSWM has affiliates (including MSIM, Morgan Stanley
Investment Management Limited and Consulting Group Advisory
Services LLC as well as EVM and its affiliates) that are
investment advisers to mutual funds in various investment
advisory programs. If you invest your assets in an affiliated
mutual fund, MSWM and its affiliates earn more money than if
you invest in an unaffiliated mutual fund. Generally, for
Retirement Accounts, MSWM rebates or offsets fees so that
MSWM complies with IRS and Department of Labor rules and
regulations.
The market transition away from LIBOR to alternative rates is
complex and could have a range of impacts on financial products
and transactions directly or indirectly linked to LIBOR. For
example, the fallback provisions in your LIBOR-based products,
or the absence thereof, could have an adverse effect on the value
of such products as well as your
investment strategy.
Documentation governing existing LIBOR-based products may
contain “fallback provisions”, which provide for how the
applicable interest rate will be calculated if LIBOR ceases or is
MSIM and certain EVM investment affiliates serves in various
advisory, management, and administrative capacities to open-
ended and closed-end investment companies and other portfolios
(some of which are listed on the NYSE). Morgan Stanley Services
Company Inc., its wholly owned subsidiary, provides limited
investment
transfer agency services
to certain open-end
25
• The requirement for certain Access Persons, because of their
potential access to non-public information, to obtain their
supervisors’ prior written approval or provide pre-trade
notification before executing certain securities transactions
for their personal securities accounts;
otherwise unavailable. Fallback provisions can materially differ
across products and even within a given asset class. Furthermore,
such provisions may not contemplate alternative reference rates
such as SOFR (in particular in older documentation) and/or may
result in increased uncertainty and change the economics of the
product when LIBOR ceases. Clients utilizing hedging strategies
may also face basis risk due to inconsistent fallback provisions in
their various investments. Recently, federal legislation was signed
into law that will provide for a SOFR-based rate plus a spread to
replace LIBOR for those contracts without effective fallback
provisions.
• Additional restrictions on personal securities transaction
activities applicable to certain Access Persons (including
Financial Advisors and other MSWM employees who act as
investment advisory
in MSWM
portfolio Managers
programs);
• Requirements for certain Access Persons to provide initial
and annual reports of holdings in their securities accounts,
along with quarterly transaction information in those
accounts; and
• Additional requirements for pre-clearance of other activities
including, but not limited to, Outside Business Activities,
Gifts and Entertainment, and U.S. Political Contributions and
Political Solicitation Activity.
With respect to an investment in SOFR-linked products and
products that will fallback to SOFR, you should understand the
terms of the particular product and the related risks. The
composition and characteristics of SOFR are not the same as
LIBOR and, as a result, SOFR may not perform in the same way
as LIBOR would have. Further, the SOFR-linked products that
have been issued to date apply different market conventions to
calculate interest and therefore these products have different risks
and considerations.
You can obtain a copy of the Code from your Financial Advisor.
See Item 6.B above, for a description of Conflicts of Interest.
Affiliates of MSWM participate on central bank committees that
have been selecting alternative rates and developing transition
plans for trading these new rates. In addition, MSWM and its
affiliates may have interests with respect to LIBOR- and SOFR-
linked products that conflict with yours as an investor. As with
any investment, make sure you understand the terms of any
LIBOR- and SOFR-based products you hold and the terms of
those that you are considering purchasing. Other products and
services offered by or through MSWM or its affiliates, such as
loans and mortgage products, may have different terms and
conditions and may be affected by the potential replacement of
LIBOR differently than LIBOR-based securities.
Trade Errors Whether made by MSWM, by agents acting on our
behalf, or by or on behalf of an Executing Sub-Manager, trade
errors do occur from time to time. MSWM maintains policies and
procedures to ensure timely detection, reporting, and resolution of
trade errors involving client accounts. In general, once a trade
error has been identified, we take prompt, corrective action,
returning the client’s account to the economic position it would
be in absent the error. Once the trade error is resolved with
respect to the client’s account, the handling of any resulting gain
or loss can vary depending on the circumstances and the specific
type of error; typically, however, any net gain or loss is either
booked to the relevant error account or, in certain situations
resulting in a net gain, donated to the Morgan Stanley Foundation.
Reviewing Accounts At account opening, we confirm that the
account type, program, and investment strategy are appropriate
for you.
This is a developing situation and the above information is subject
to change. For more information on the potential replacement of
LIBOR, the recommended alternative rate, SOFR, and certain
considerations relating to LIBOR- and SOFR-linked products,
please see www.morganstanley.com/wm/LIBOR. Please also
contact a member of your Morgan Stanley team for information,
including if you have questions about whether you hold LIBOR-
based products.
Your Financial Advisor is then responsible for monitoring your
account on an ongoing basis. MSWM also monitors your accounts
on a periodic basis (e.g., identifying and reviewing accounts with
a high cash balance and inactive accounts).
See Item 4.A above for a discussion of account statements and
periodic reviews provided for your account.
Client Referrals and Other Compensation See “Payments from
Investment Managers” and “Payments from Mutual Funds” in
Item 6.B above.
Code of Ethics The MSWM US Investment Advisory Code of
Ethics (“Code”) applies to MSWM’s employees, supervisors,
officers, and directors engaged
in offering or providing
investment advisory products and/or services (collectively, the
“Access Persons”). In essence, the Code prohibits Access Persons
from engaging in securities transactions or activities that involve
a material conflict of interest, possible diversion of a corporate
opportunity, or the appearance of impropriety. Access Persons
must always place the interests of MSWM’s clients above their
own and must never use knowledge of client transactions acquired
in the course of their work to their own advantage. Supervisors
are required to use reasonable supervision to detect and prevent
any violations of the Code by the individuals, branches, and
departments that they supervise.
MSWM may compensate affiliates and unaffiliated third parties
for client referrals in accordance with Rule 206(4)-1 of the
Advisers Act. If you open an account in an investment advisory
program, the compensation paid to any such entity will typically
consist of an ongoing cash payment stated as a percentage of
MSWM’s advisory fee or a one-time flat fee, but may include cash
payments determined in other ways.
(including pre-approval
The Code generally operates to protect against conflicts of interest
either by subjecting activities of an Access Person to specified
limitations
requirements) or by
prohibiting certain activities. Key provisions of the Code include:
Financial Information We are not required to include a balance
sheet in this Brochure because we do not require or solicit
26
prepayment of more than $1,200 in fees per client, six months or
more in advance.
We do not have any financial conditions that are reasonably likely
to impair our ability to meet our contractual commitments to
clients.
MSWM and its predecessors have not been the subject of a
bankruptcy petition during the past 10 years
27
Exhibit: Affiliated Money Market Funds Fee Disclosure Statement and Float Disclosure Statement
Sweep Vehicles in Retirement Accounts
Retirement Accounts generally effect sweep transactions of free credit balances into Deposit Accounts established under the Bank
Deposit Program.
The table below describes the fees and expenses charged to assets invested in shares of the Money Market Funds in which the
account invests (expressed as a percentage of each fund’s average daily net assets for the stated fiscal year). Note that:
• The rate of Advisory Fee and Distribution and Service Fees (including 12b-1 fees) (whether in basis points or dollars) cannot be
increased without first obtaining shareholder approval.
• Expenses designated as “Other Expenses” include all expenses not otherwise disclosed in the table that were deducted from each
fund’s assets or charged to all shareholder accounts in the stated fiscal year (and may change from year to year).
These fees and expenses are generally paid to MSIM, MSWM, and/orits affiliates for services performed. The aggregate amount
of these fees is stated in the tables below. The amounts of expenses deducted from a fund’s assets are shown in each fund’s statement
of operations in its annual report.
Morgan Stanley Investment Management (and/or its affiliates) may, from time to time, waive part or all of its advisory fee or assume
or reimburse some of a fund’s operating expenses. (This may be for a limited duration.) Such actions are noted in the fund’s
prospectus and/or statement of additional information. The table below shows the Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses (before
management fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements) and the Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waivers and/or
Expense Reimbursements.
MSWM reasonably expects to provide services as a fiduciary (as that term is defined under ERISA or the Code) with respect to
Retirement Accounts. MSWM believes that investing in shares of the funds for sweep purposes is appropriate for Retirement
Accounts because using professionally managed Money Market Funds allows you to access cash on an immediate basis, while
providing a rate of return on your cash positions pending investment. As is typical of such arrangements, we use only affiliated
money funds for this purpose.
further described
in
the Bank Deposit Program Disclosure Statement
MSWM also believes that investing a Retirement Account’s assets in the Deposit Accounts is appropriate. Terms of the Bank
Deposit Program are
(available at:
http://www.morganstanley.com/wealth-investmentstrategies/pdf/BDP_disclosure.pdf )
The fund expense information below reflects the most recent information available to us as of December 31, 2024, and is subject
to change. Please refer to the funds’ current prospectuses, statements of additional information and annual reports for more
Fund
Advisory
Fee
Distribution
and Service
Fees
Shareholder
Service Fee
Other
Expenses
Total
Annual
Fund
Operating
Expenses
Total Annual Fund
Operating Expenses
After Fee Waivers
and/or Expense
Reimbursements
MSILF Government
Securities-
Participant Share
Class
0.15%
0.25%
0.25%
0.08%
0.73%
0.45%
MS U.S. Government
Money Market Trust
0.15%
N/A
0.10%
0.11%
0.36%
0.36%
information.
28
Interest Earned on Float
If MSWM is the custodian of your account, MSWM retains as compensation, for providing services, the account’s proportionate
share of any interest earned on cash balances held by MSWM (or an affiliate) with respect to assets awaiting investment including:
• New deposits to the account (including interest and dividends) and
• Uninvested assets held by the account caused by an instruction to the custodian to buy and sell securities (which may, after the
period described below, be automatically swept into a sweep vehicle).
This interest is generally at the prevailing Federal Funds interest rate.
Generally, with respect to such assets awaiting investment:
• when the custodian receives the assets on a day on which the NYSE is open (“Business Day”) and before the NYSE closes, the
custodian earns interest through the end of the following Business Day and
• when the custodian receives the assets on a Business Day but after the NYSE closes, or on a day which is not a Business Day, the
custodian earns interest through the end of the second following Business Day.
29