Fund Evaluator:

Morgan Stanley Inst Global Franchise C Overview

Morgan Stanley Inst Global Franchise C (MSGFX) is an actively managed International Equity Global Large-Stock Blend fund. Morgan Stanley launched the fund in 2015.

The investment seeks long-term capital appreciation. Under normal market conditions, the fund invests in securities of issuers from at least three different countries, which may include the United States. The Adviser and/or Sub-Adviser seek to invest in high quality companies they believe have strong business franchises, strong cash flows, modest capital requirements, strong balance sheets, capable management, and that typically return cash to shareholders. The fund is non-diversified.

About Morgan Stanley Inst Global Franchise C (MSGFX)

There are 6 members of the management team with an average tenure of 8.90 years: Bruno Paulson (2009), Alex Gabriele (2017), Richard Perrott (2017), Isabelle Mast (2025), Anton Kryachok (2025), William Lock (2009). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 1 primary benchmark: MSCI World NR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Morgan Stanley Inst Global Franchise C has 35 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 45.1% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a nondiversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

Morgan Stanley Inst Global Franchise C is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the International Equity fund group. Morgan Stanley Inst Global Franchise C has 21.4% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 77.3%. There is 21.4% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Morgan Stanley Inst Global Franchise C has 1.4% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $27 million in total assets, which is below the $1 billion average for the Global Large-Stock Blend category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

MSGFX Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The Morgan Stanley Inst Global Franchise C expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Global Large-Stock Blend category. Morgan Stanley Inst Global Franchise C has an expense ratio of 1.95%, which is 86% higher than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a F. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. Morgan Stanley Inst Global Franchise C has a portfolio turnover rate of 35%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 43% for the Global Large-Stock Blend category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, Morgan Stanley Inst Global Franchise C returned 6.1%, which earned it a grade of A, as the Global Large-Stock Blend category had an average return of 0.8%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all funds in that category.

Morgan Stanley Inst Global Franchise C has a trailing yield of 0.00%, which is below the 0.95% category average. The fund normally distributes its income semi-annually and its capital gains semi-annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

Morgan Stanley Inst Global Franchise C Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned -6.4%, 16.1 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of F. The fund has returned -11.5% over the past year (grade of F), 1.0% over the past three years (grade of F) and 0.4% per year over the past five years (grade of F) and 6.9% per year over the past 10 years (grade of F).

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