Morgan Stanley Investment Management, the asset-management arm of Morgan Stanley, continues to settle in after its 2021 acquisition of Eaton Vance. Moreover, the impact of recent leadership changes obscures a clear strategic vision. The firm retains its Average Parent rating.
The merger of MSIM and Eaton Vance has been slow, but those teams are now fully integrated. In 2024, upheaval among the top ranks across the board meant new leadership at MSIM in addition to top-level changes at Calvert, Parametric, and the firm's fixed-income platform.
This bond group, which features an integrated mix of legacy Morgan Stanley and Eaton Vance teams, has bright spots in credit strategies but is only average in other fixed-income sectors. Counterpoint Global's growth strategies are historically among MSIM's largest, yet concentrated risks result in higher volatility. Eaton Vance's boutiques, such as Atlanta Capital, a quality growth shop, help create a more diversified lineup, while MSIM continues to leverage Calvert's highly regarded responsible investing platform with new Calvert-branded strategies in the US and Europe. Parametric remains a leader with its direct-indexing solutions in this rapidly growing area, and the firm touts a broad alternatives platform. However, MSIM isn't aggressively expanding its product base and is judiciously launching new actively managed exchange-traded funds that leverage the firm’s core competencies, such as fixed-income and tax-managed mandates.
Note: This share class' Parent Pillar rating is analyst-driven, as its Branding Name, Morgan Stanley (Branding Name ID: BN000009H1), is covered by Morningstar Manager Research.
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