Global Strategist Portfolio

* The Blended Index performance is a performance linked benchmark of the old and new benchmark of the Portfolio, the old represented by 60% MSCI All-Country World Index, 30% Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Bond Index, 5% S&P GSCI Light Energy Index and 5% BofA Merrill Lynch US Dollar 1-Month LIBID Average Index from inception through May 31, 2017 and the new Blended Index which consists of 60% MSCI All-Country World Index and 40% Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Bond Index for periods thereafter.

Class C shares include deferred sales charge of 1.00% which declines to zero after first year.

Where the net expense ratio is lower than the gross expense ratio, certain fees have been waived and/ or expenses reimbursed. These waivers and/or reimbursements will continue for at least one year from the date of the applicable fund’s current prospectus (unless otherwise noted in the applicable prospectus) or until such time as the fund's Board of Trustees acts to discontinue all or a portion of such waivers and/or reimbursements. Absent such waivers and/or reimbursements, returns would have been lower. Expenses are based on the fund's current prospectus.

Class IS shares, are being offered only to eligible investors who must meet a minimum initial investment of $10,000,000 or be a defined contribution, defined benefit or other employer sponsored employee benefit plan, whether or not qualified under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"), in each case subject to the discretion of the Portfolio's investment advisor.

The Fund has suspended offering Class L shares of the Portfolio to all investors. 

Growth of Investment illustration is based on an initial investment of $10,000 made since fund inception, assumes reinvestment of dividends and capital gains and application of fees, but does not include sales charges. Performance would have been lower if sales charges had been included. Results are hypothetical.

Subject to change daily. Fund information, Portfolio Composition and Characteristics are provided for informational purposes only, and should not be deemed as a recommendation to buy or sell any security or securities in the region presented.  

Returns are net of fees and assume the reinvestment of all dividends and income. Returns for less than one year are cumulative (not annualized). Performance of other share classes will vary.

Please keep in mind that double-digit returns are highly unusual and cannot be sustained. Investors should also be aware that these returns were primarily achieved during favorable market conditions. 

This material is a general communication, which is not impartial and all information provided has been prepared solely for informational and educational purposes and does not constitute an offer or a recommendation to buy or sell any particular security or to adopt any specific investment strategy. The information herein has not been based on a consideration of any individual investor circumstances and is not investment advice, nor should it be construed in any way as tax, accounting, legal or regulatory advice. To that end, investors should seek independent legal and financial advice, including advice as to tax consequences, before making any investment decision.

PORTFOLIO CHARACTERISTICS DEFINITIONS
SEC yield is a measure of the income generated by the portfolio's underlying asset over the trailing 30 days,relative to the asset base of the portfolio itself. The SEC 30-Day yield - Subsidized (Sub.) reflects current fee waivers in effect. Absent such fee waivers, the yield would have been lower. The SEC 30-Day yield - Unsubsidized (Unsub.) does not reflect the fee waivers currently in effect.

RISK/RETURN DEFINITIONS

Excess Return or the value added (positive or negative) is the portfolio's return relative to the benchmark. Tracking error is the amount by which the performance of the portfolio differs from that of the benchmark. Information ratio is the portfolio’s alpha or excess return per unit of risk, as measured by tracking error, versus the portfolio’s benchmark.

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, equity securities’ values also fluctuate in response to activities specific to a company. Investments in foreign markets entail special risks such as currency, political, economic, and market risks. The risks of investing in emerging market countries are greater than risks associated with investments in foreign developed countries. Fixed-income securities are subject to the ability of an issuer to make timely principal and interest payments ( credit risk), changes in interest rates ( interest-rate risk), the creditworthiness of the issuer and general market  liquidity ( market risk). In a rising interest-rate environment, bond prices may fall and may result in periods of volatility and increased portfolio redemptions. In a declining interest-rate environment, the portfolio may generate less income. Longer-term securities may be more sensitive to interest rate changes. High yield securities (“junk bonds”) are lower rated securities that may have a higher degree of credit and liquidity risk. Mortgage- and asset-backed securities (MBS  and ABS)  are sensitive to early prepayment risk and a higher risk of default and may be hard to value and difficult to sell (liquidity risk). They are also subject to credit, market and interest rate risks. Certain U.S. government securities purchased by the Portfolio, such as those issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. It is possible that these issuers will not have the funds to meet their payment obligations in the future. Real estate investment trusts are subject to risks similar to those associated with the direct ownership of real estate and they are sensitive to such factors as management skills and changes in tax laws. Derivative instruments can be illiquid, may disproportionately increase losses and may have a potentially large negative impact on the Portfolio’s performance. Illiquid securities may be more difficult to sell and value than publicly traded securities (liquidity risk). By investing in investment company securities, the portfolio is subject to the underlying risks of that investment company's portfolio securities. In addition to the Portfolio's fees and   expenses, the Portfolio generally would bear its share of the investment company's fees and expenses. Subsidiary and tax risk the Portfolio may seek to gain exposure to the commodity markets through investments in the Subsidiary or commodity index-linked structured notes. The Subsidiary is not registered under the 1940 Act and is not subject to all the investor protections of the 1940 Act. Historically, the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") has issued private letter rulings in which the IRS specifically concluded that income and gains from investments in commodity index-linked structured notes or a wholly-owned foreign subsidiary that invests in commodity-linked instruments are "qualifying income" for purposes of compliance with Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"). The Portfolio has not received such a private letter ruling, and is not able to rely on private letter rulings issued to other taxpayers. If the Portfolio failed to qualify as a regulated investment company, it would be subject to federal and state income tax on all of its taxable income at regular corporate tax rates with no deduction for any distributions paid to shareholders, which would significantly adversely affect the returns to, and could cause substantial losses for, Portfolio shareholders.

Morningstar 
Rankings:  The percentile rankings are based on the average annual total returns for the periods stated and do not include any sales charges, but do include reinvestment of dividends and capital gains and Rule 12b-1 fees. The highest (or most favorable) percentile rank is 1 and the lowest (or least favorable) percentile rank is 100. The top-performing fund in a category will always receive a rank of 1. Ratings: The Morningstar Rating™ for funds, or "star rating", is calculated for managed products (including mutual funds, variable annuity and variable life subaccounts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, and separate accounts) with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product's monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of products in each product category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a managed product is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The weights are: 100% three-year rating for 36-59 months of total returns, 60% five-year rating/40% three-year rating for 60-119 months of total returns, and 50% 10-year rating/30% five-year rating/20% three-year rating for 120 or more months of total returns. While the 10-year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10-year period, the most recent three-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods.   Source: Morningstar. Morningstar counts each share class as a separate fund for purposes of its ranking and ratings calculations. Morningstar compares mutual funds within a universe of funds with similar investment objectives, including dividend reinvestment. Morningstar rankings and ratings may vary for other share classes © 2016 Morningstar.  All Rights Reserved.  The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely.  Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

© 2020 Morningstar. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
The Bank of America/ Merrill Lynch US Dollar 1-Month LIBID Average Index tracks the performance of a basket of synthetic assets paying LIBID to a stated maturity. The index purchases a new instrument each day, priced at par, having exactly its stated maturity and with a coupon equal to that day’s fixing rate. All issues are held to maturity. Each day the index is comprised of a basket of securities. The index is not marked to market. The returns represent the accrued income generated by the equally weighted average of all the coupons in the basket for a given day. The MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI) measures the equity market performance of developed and emerging markets. The Bank of America/Merrill Lynch U.S. Dollar 1-Month LIBID Average Index tracks the performance of a basket of synthetic assets paying LIBID to a stated maturity. The Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Index provides a broad-based measure of the global investment grade fixed-rate debt markets. Total Returns shown is unhedged USD. The S&P GSCI Light Energy Index provides investment performance in the energy commodity market.

The indices are unmanaged and do not include any expenses, fees or sales charges. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.

The composition of the Customized MSIM Global Allocation Index, the secondary benchmark index of the Global Strategist Portfolio, has been changed from 60% MSCI All Country World Index, 30% Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Bond Index, 5% S&P GSCI Light Energy Index and 5% Bank of America/Merrill Lynch U.S. Dollar 1-Month LIBID Average Index to 60% MSCI All Country World Index and 40% Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Bond Index, effective May 31, 2017.

Please consider the investment objective, risks, charges and expenses of the fund carefully before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information about the fund. To obtain a prospectus, download one at morganstanley.com/im or call 1-800-548-7786. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing.

Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM) is the asset management division of Morgan Stanley