Morgan Stanley IM: ESG Update

This annual update from the Global Opportunity team discusses our approach at a global level incorporating our HELP & ACT framework to integrate ESG within the investment process, the carbon intensity of the portfolios, company engagement examples, participation in collaborative initiatives and Morgan Stanley Investment Management policies.

The Global Opportunity team’s investment process integrates analysis of sustainability with respect to disruptive change, financial strength and environmental and social externalities and governance (also referred to as ESG). We view ESG as a component of quality and consider the valuation, sustainability and fundamental risks inherent in every portfolio position.

Our HELP & ACT framework employs a holistic approach to ESG integration within our company quality assessment by analyzing potential impacts to humanity’s health, environment, liberty and productivity and corporate governance measures to ensure agency, culture and trust. HELP & ACT is designed to reduce complexity of analysis by distilling a multitude of potential ESG criteria to the material factors that may condition a company’s ability to sustain competitive advantage over the long-term. These material ESG factors are integrated within the investment process on a non-binding basis.

^DEFINITIONS

^{"ESG" investment: Environmental Social and Governance based investment is an investment approach which takes explicit account of the environmental, social and corporate governance aspects of all proposed investments.}

^{RISK CONSIDERATIONS}

^{There is no assurance that a portfolio will achieve its investment objective. Portfolios are subject to market risk, which is the possibility that the market values of securities owned by the portfolio will decline and that the value of portfolio shares may therefore be less than what you paid for them. Market values can change daily due to economic and other events (e.g. natural disasters, health crises, terrorism, conflicts and social unrest) that affect markets, countries, companies or governments. It is difficult to predict the timing, duration, and potential adverse effects (e.g. portfolio liquidity) of events. Accordingly, you can lose money investing in this portfolio. Please be aware that this portfolio may be subject to certain additional risks. In general, equities securities’ values also fluctuate in response to activities specific to a company. Investments in foreign markets entail special risks such as currency, political, economic, market and liquidity risks. The risks of investing in emerging market countries are greater than risks associated with investments in foreign developed countries. Privately placed and restricted securities may be subject to resale restrictions as well as a lack of publicly available information, which will increase their illiquidity and could adversely affect the ability to value and sell them (liquidity risk). Derivative instruments may disproportionately increase losses and have a significant impact on performance. They also may be subject to counterparty, liquidity, valuation, correlation and market risks. To the extent that the Strategy invests in a limited number of issuers (focused investing), the Strategy will be more susceptible to negative events affecting those issuers and a decline in the value of a particular instrument may cause the Strategy’s overall value to decline to a greater degree than if the Strategy were invested more widely. ESG Strategies that incorporate impact investing and/or Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors could result in relative investment performance deviating from other strategies or broad market benchmarks, depending on whether such sectors or investments are in or out of favor in the market. As a result, there is no assurance ESG strategies could result in more favorable investment performance.}

^{The views and opinions are those of the author as of the date of publication and are subject to change at any time due to market or economic conditions and may not necessarily come to pass. The views expressed do not reflect the opinions of all investment personnel at Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM) and its subsidiaries and affiliates (collectively the Firm”), and may not be reflected in all the strategies and products that the Firm offers.}

^{This material is for the benefit of persons whom the Firm reasonably believes it is permitted to communicate to and should not be forwarded to any other person without the consent of the Firm. It is not addressed to any other person and may not be used by them for any purpose whatsoever. It expresses no views as to the suitability of the investments described herein to the individual circumstances of any recipient or otherwise. It is the responsibility of every person reading this material to fully observe the laws of any relevant country, including obtaining any governmental or other consent which may be required or observing any other formality which needs to be observed in that country.}

^{This material is a general communication, which is not impartial, is for informational and educational purposes only, not a recommendation to purchase or sell specific securities, or to adopt any particular investment strategy. Information does not address financial objectives, situation or specific needs of individual investors.}

^{Any charts and graphs provided are for illustrative purposes only. Any performance quoted represents past performance. Past performance does not guarantee future results. All investments involve risks, including the possible loss of principal.}

^{Prior to making any investment decision, investors should carefully review the strategy’s relevant offering document. For the complete content and important disclosures, refer to the article's PDF.}

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