MS INVF Global Brands ZX

Analyst Report
Morningstar's Take
|13/02/2024

by Drew Carter
We have qualitatively reviewed Morgan Stanley Institutional Global Franchise and reaffirmed its Process and People ratings. The team lost an experienced manager in August 2023, but 10 well-qualified managers and five analysts remain, keeping this team solid. Past-year trades have been consistent with its process, and underperformance, while disappointing, is typical here when U.S. stocks—especially mega-caps—outperform. The following text is from Nov. 18, 2022.

Lead manager William Lock is seasoned and skilled and has been key to his team’s success. He has built an experienced and growing team, having added two comanagers, including an ESG leader, in 2021. Lock has empowered his team by delegating project oversight and sharing decision-making across his nine comanagers. Lock, in his fourth decade as a manager, has steered this strategy since mid-June 2009, Bronze-rated Morgan Stanley Institutional International Equity MSIQX since 1999, and Morgan Stanley Institutional Global Sustain MGQIX since 2013. Still, by making his team stronger, he’s artfully made himself less necessary, thus lowering risk for investors.

The investment approach seeks long-term compounding stocks. Lock and team target firms with durable growth potential, preferring high unleveraged returns on capital, high gross margins often based on recurring revenues, predictable cash flow, modest balance-sheet leverage, and capital-light business models. The team screens the global universe, then researches whether a prospective firm has an entrenched, intangible advantage—most notably pricing power and repeating revenue—that prevents competition from eroding its high returns. From there, the team seeks company managements willing to balance reinvestment into franchises and brands with stable dividend payments. Finally, valuation plays an important role as the team avoids fast-growing firms that command excessive price multiples.

The result is a concentrated portfolio of about 30 stocks packed mostly into a few of sectors. Consumer staples, long a portfolio stalwart, has ebbed over time, making way for more technology and healthcare names, such as Microsoft MSFT and healthcare instruments and consumables maker Danaher DHR. Still, together the three sectors claim more than 83% of assets.

Lock's conviction in sturdy firms has offered investors downside protection. The strategy has caught just 70% of market declines but enjoyed 88% of its gains, driving its long-term success. Sell discipline can be soft at times, but over Lock’s tenure the strategy has handily beat its benchmark, especially on a risk-adjusted basis.
 
Morningstar Medalist Rating™A strong choice for multinational stocks.
To find out how Morningstar rates a fund click here.
Morningstar Pillars
PeopleAbove Average
ParentAverage
ProcessAbove Average
 
Morningstar Medalist RatingMorningstar assigns the Medalist Rating to funds that are qualitatively and quantitatively assessed through manager research and algorithmic processes. The assessment turns on three key “pillars” – People, Process, and Parent – that yield an estimate of how well a fund will perform before fees but after adjusting for risk.
Permissions/Reprints   E-mail Morningstar     
A fim de prover consistência para todos os relatórios fornecidos por diferentes Asset Managers, os data points calculados apresentados são gerados usando uma metodologia de cálculo proprietária da Morningstar, que pode ser conferida com mais detalhes em(https://www.morningstar.com/research/signature)
© Copyright 2024 Morningstar, Inc. Todos os direitos reservados.

Termos de Uso        Política Privacidade        Cookie Settings        Divulgações