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International Equity Markets Provide Unique Opportunities and Diversification
The U.S. represents just 4% of the global population and contributes 26% of GDP, yet accounts for approximately two-thirds of the MSCI All Country World Index by market cap. U.S. market cap thus far exceeds its economic contribution. Even if some disparity is warranted due to innovation, rule of law and other characteristics, the magnitude of the dislocation may prove a starting disadvantage to managers who overlook international markets.

U.S. market cap is disproportionately high compared to its population and economic contribution

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Source: U.N. Population Division, MSCI, IMF. Chart above compares USA as a percentage of the world's population, GDP and MSCI All Country World Index. Data as of December 31, 2025.

Global Opportunity strategies seek to invest in highly unique companies that have no counterparts in the U.S., including consumer, financial and industrial businesses across Asia, Europe and Latin America. International equities typically present more opportunities to find potential mispricing, where these companies may trade at significantly discounted valuations.

From an asset allocation perspective, international equities offer diversification away from highly concentrated U.S. markets, driven by technology-oriented industries led by the Magnificent 7. The top-ten largest securities constitute one-fourth of total global market cap, and while high concentration does not necessarily indicate unsustainable dynamics on its own, it does increase stock specific risk. If they only focus on the U.S., investors bypass the nearly 80% of companies within the global index of nearly 2,000 names that are international—where we continue to uncover exciting investment opportunities.

Nearly 2,000 names in the MSCI ACWI Index outside the US provide opportunity to find highly unique companies for bottom-up investors

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Source: FactSet, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, data as of December 31, 2025. US stocks and international stocks as shares of the MSCI All Country World Index.

Global Opportunity Has a Strong Track Record in International Investing
We manage the Global Opportunity strategy and International Advantage strategy, both of which invest with a quality emphasis and price discipline. The team employs a bottom-up stock selection process that seeks companies with sustainable competitive advantages, strong growth prospects and financial strength, with the aim to ultimately outperform over the cycle. The strategies’ conviction-based concentration has resulted in a highly differentiated portfolio with high active share and low portfolio turnover, which has proven performance over time.

Global Opportunity

The Global Opportunity team creates high-conviction, concentrated portfolios of undervalued, high-quality businesses with strategies available on a global, regional and customizable basis.

The Authors

Risk Considerations:
There is no assurance that a Portfolio will achieve its investment objective. Market values can change daily, including the possibility of declining below what you paid for them, 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 these Portfolios. Please be aware that these Portfolios 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. To the extent that the Portfolio invests in a limited number of issuers (focused investing), the Portfolio will be more susceptible to negative events affecting those issuers and a decline in the value of a particular instrument may cause the Portfolio’s overall value to decline to a greater degree than if the Fund were invested more widely. 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. 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). There is no assurance strategies that incorporate ESG factors will result in more favorable investment performance. China risk Investments in China involve risk of a total loss due to government action or inaction. Additionally, the Chinese economy is export-driven and highly reliant on trade. Adverse changes to the economic conditions of its primary trading partners, such as the United States, Japan and South Korea, would adversely impact the Chinese economy and the Fund’s investments. Moreover, a slowdown in other significant economies of the world, such as the United States, the European Union and certain Asian countries, may adversely affect economic growth in China. An economic downturn in China would adversely impact the Portfolio’s investments. Risks of Investing through Stock Connect. Any investments in A-shares listed and traded through Stock Connect, or on such other stock exchanges in China which participate in Stock Connect is subject to a number of restrictions that may affect the Portfolio's investments and returns. Moreover, Stock Connect A shares generally may not be sold, purchased or otherwise transferred other than through Stock Connect in accordance with applicable rules. The Stock Connect program may be subject to further interpretation and guidance. There can be no assurance as to the program’s continued existence or whether future developments regarding the program may restrict or adversely affect the Portfolio's investments or returns. Active Management Risk. The Adviser has considerable leeway in deciding which investments to buy, hold or sell, and which trading strategies to use. Such decisions will affect performance. To the extent the Portfolio invests a substantial portion of its assets in the information technology sector, the Portfolio may be particularly impacted by events that adversely affect the sector, and may fluctuate more than that of a portfolio that does not invest significantly in companies in the technology sector. To the extent the Portfolio invests a substantial portion of its assets in the consumer discretionary sector, the Portfolio may be particularly susceptible to the risks associated with companies operating in such sector.

There is no guarantee that any investment strategy will work under all market conditions, and each investor should evaluate their ability to invest in long-term, especially during periods of downturn in the market.

A separately managed account may not be appropriate for all investors. Separate accounts managed according to the particular strategy may include securities that may not necessarily track the performance of a particular index. Please consider the investment objectives, risks and fees of the Strategy carefully before investing. A minimum asset level is required.
For important information about the investment managers, please refer to Form ADV Part 2.

The views and opinions and/or analysis expressed are those of the author or the investment team as of the date of preparation of this material and are subject to change at any time without notice due to market or economic conditions and may not necessarily come to pass. Furthermore, the views will not be updated or otherwise revised to reflect information that subsequently becomes available or circumstances existing, or changes occurring, after the date of publication. 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.

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The MSCI All Country World ex USA Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index designed to measure the equity market performance of developed and emerging markets, excluding the U.S. The term “free float” represents the portion of shares outstanding that are deemed to be available for purchase in the public equity markets by investors. The performance of the Index is listed in U.S. dollars and assumes reinvestment of net dividends.

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