Fund Evaluator:
Morgan Stanley Instl Ultr-Shrt Inc Instl (MUIIX)
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Fund Details
Morgan Stanley Instl Ultr-Shrt Inc Instl Overview
Morgan Stanley Instl Ultr-Shrt Inc Instl (MUIIX) is an actively managed Taxable Bond Ultrashort Bond fund. Morgan Stanley launched the fund in 2016.
The investment seeks current income with capital preservation while maintaining liquidity. The fund invests primarily in liquid, high quality U.S. dollar-denominated money market instruments of U.S. and foreign financial issuers and non-financial issuers. It also invests in obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government and its agencies and instrumentalities. The fund's money market investments may include commercial paper, corporate debt obligations, debt obligations (including certificates of deposit and promissory notes) of U.S. banks or foreign banks, or of U.S. branches or subsidiaries of foreign banks, etc.
About Morgan Stanley Instl Ultr-Shrt Inc Instl (MUIIX)
There are 3 members of the management team with an average tenure of 9.67 years: Jonas Kolk (2016), Michael Cha (2016), David Schoenfeld (2018). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.
The fund has 2 primary benchmarks: Bloomberg US Universal TR USD index with a weighting of 100% and ICE BofA US 3M Trsy Bill TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Morgan Stanley Instl Ultr-Shrt Inc Instl has 234 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 9.9% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.
Morgan Stanley Instl Ultr-Shrt Inc Instl is part of the Fixed Income global asset class and is within the Taxable Bond fund group. Morgan Stanley Instl Ultr-Shrt Inc Instl has 5.9% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 0.0%. There is 0.0% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 13.7% (7.9% domestic bond, 5.9% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Morgan Stanley Instl Ultr-Shrt Inc Instl has 86.3% of the portfolio in cash.
Assets Under Management
The fund has $842 million in total assets, which is below the $950 million average for the Ultrashort Bond 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.
MUIIX 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 Instl Ultr-Shrt Inc Instl expense ratio is below average compared to funds in the Ultrashort Bond category. Morgan Stanley Instl Ultr-Shrt Inc Instl has an expense ratio of 0.30%, which is 33% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a B. 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. A portfolio turnover rate cannot be currently calculated for Morgan Stanley Instl Ultr-Shrt Inc Instl. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 77% for the Ultrashort Bond category.
Recently, in the month of July 2026, Morgan Stanley Instl Ultr-Shrt Inc Instl returned 0.3%, which earned it a grade of B, as the Ultrashort Bond category had an average return of 0.3%. 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 Instl Ultr-Shrt Inc Instl has a trailing yield of 3.96%, which is below the 4.21% category average. The fund normally distributes its income monthly and its capital gains 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 Instl Ultr-Shrt Inc Instl Grades
Year to date, the fund has returned 2.1%, 0.1 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of B. The fund has returned 4.0% over the past year (grade of D), 4.8% over the past three years (grade of D) and 3.8% per year over the past five years (grade of B) and 2.6% per year over the past 10 years (grade of D).
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MUIIX Trailing NAV Total Returns Data as of 7/31/26
| Last Month |
Last Quarter |
Ann'l. 1Yr |
Ann'l. 3Yr |
Ann'l. 5Yr |
Ann'l. 10Yr |
|
| MUIIX Return (NAV) | 0.3% | 0.9% | 4.0% | 4.8% | 3.8% | 2.6% |
| MUIIX Grade | B | D | D | D | B | D |
| +/- Category | 0.0% | -0.1% | -0.1% | -0.4% | 0.2% | -0.1% |
| Ultrashort Bond Avg | 0.3% | 0.9% | 4.1% | 5.2% | 3.6% | 2.7% |
| MUIIX Tax Cost Ratio | na | na | 1.6% | 1.9% | 1.5% | 1.0% |
MUIIX Annual NAV Total ReturnsData as of 7/31/26
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
| MUIIX Return (NAV) | 2.1% | 4.4% | 5.4% | 5.5% | 1.7% | 0.1% | 0.4% | 2.5% | 2.1% | 1.3% | na |
| MUIIX Grade | B | F | D | D | A | C | F | D | A | D | na |
| +/- Category | 0.1% | -0.4% | -0.4% | -0.4% | 1.9% | -0.0% | -1.1% | -0.5% | 0.4% | -0.3% | na |
| Ultrashort Bond Avg | 2.1% | 4.9% | 5.9% | 5.9% | -0.2% | 0.1% | 1.5% | 3.1% | 1.7% | 1.6% | 1.5% |
| Risk Measures | |
| Standard Deviation: | 0.3% |
| Total Risk Index: | 0.02 - Low |
| Category Risk Index: | 0.53 - Low |
| Category Risk Grade: | A (12% Rank) |
| Beta: | 0.02 |
| R-Squared: | 22% |
| Leveraged Fund: | No |
| Inverse Fund: | No |
| Portfolio Characteristics | |
| Equity Investment Style: | na |
| Bond Investment Style: | High Quality Limited Sensitivity |
| Yield: | 4.0% |
| Dividend Distribution: | Monthly |
| Cap Gains Distribution: | Annually |
| Total Assets: | $11016 Mil |
| Fund Total Assets: | $ 842 Mil |
| Share Class Type: | Inst |
| Portfolio Turnover: | na |
Management Team
| Number of Managers: 3 | |||
| Longest Tenure: 10.3 years | |||
| Average Tenure: 9.7 years | |||
| Managers (Year): Kolk Jonas (2016), Cha Michael (2016), Schoenfeld David (2018) | |||
Portfolio Composition (as of 6/30/26)
| # of Holdings: | 234 |
| % in Top 10 Holdings: | 9.9% |
| Fund is Non-Diversified: | No |
| % in Foreign Issues: | 5.9% |
Portfolio Allocation |
|
| Domestic Stock: | 0.0% |
| Foreign Stock: | 0.0% |
| Preferred Stock: | 0.0% |
| Domestic Bond: | 7.9% |
| Foreign Bond: | 5.9% |
| Convertible Bond: | 0.0% |
| Other: | 0.0% |
| Cash: | 86.3% |
Purchase Information
| Fund Family: | Morgan Stanley |
| Phone Number: | 888-378-1630 |
| Website: | www.morganstanley.com/im |
| Status: | Open |
| Inception Date: | April 28, 2016 |
| Min. Initial Purchase: | $5,000,000 |
| Min. Initial IRA Purchase: | $ 0 |
| True No-Load: | Yes |
| Front Load Maximum: | 0.00% |
| Deferred Charge Maximum: | 0.00% |
| Redemption Charge Maximum: | 0.00% |
| 12b-1 Fee: | 0.05% |
Expenses and Fees | |
| Expense Ratio (%): | 0.30% ( Rating : Below Avg ) |
| Category Average Expense Ratio (%): | 0.45% |
| Share Class: | Morgan Stanley Instl Ultr-Shrt Inc IR |
| Min. Subsequent Purchase: | $ 0 |
| Min. Subsequent IRA Purchase: | $ 0 |
