Morgan Stanley innovation was recognized with year-end laurels at the mtn-i global awards recently, taking one of 10 Deals of the Year and earning three honors for exceptional performance.

The deal, Radar Logic Residential Property Index-linked notes due 2011 issued in August last year, were the first structured notes with a payoff linked to U.S. residential real estate, offering investors the ability to obtain direct exposure to U.S. real estate without the costs associated with purchasing individual property. The Global Wealth Management Group exclusively distributed the notes.

For its work amid tough conditions, the Firm was also honored for its "Institutional Performance" in three areas:

U.S. Structured Notes Leadership for overall performance in providing new ideas and secondary liquidity to the U.S. structured notes market

Inflation Innovation for structuring innovative ways for investors to protect against rising inflation by utilizing different asset classes

Retail Distribution for building a retail platform in the UK without in-house distribution

The editors in making the awards cited, among other factors, Morgan Stanley's "series of new and remodelled products across as many as six asset classes, enabling domestic investors [in the UK] to diversify exposures while exploiting the new market realities of rising inflation and sluggish economic performance."

Indeed, as the editors noted, inside a tumultuous market in the fourth quarter, "Morgan Stanley responded by lanuching a website to publish prices for its own paper, derived from the secondary market performance of its public deals. This brought transparency to both new issues and buy-back spreads. Furthermore, trading desks began posting levels for other dealers' structured notes at a time when several providers withdrew from the market."

mtn-i covers the US$3.5tn global medium-term and structured note market. The news provider last year recognized the Firm's commodities platform with its Landmark Deal of the Year award.