Morgan
Stanley
Pathway Funds
Pathway Funds
Ultra-Short Term Fixed
Income Fund | Ticker: TSDUX
January 1, 2022
Summary Prospectus
Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund’s
prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. The Fund’s prospectus, dated January 1, 2022, and Statement of Additional Information, dated January 1, 2022, are incorporated by reference into the summary prospectus,
making them legally part of the summary prospectus. You can find the Fund’s prospectus and other information about the Fund online at www.morganstanley.com/wealth-investmentsolutions/cgcm. You can also get this information at no cost by
calling 1-800-869-3326 or by sending an e-mail request to client.field.services@morganstanley.com.
Investment objective
Total return, consistent with preservation of capital.
Fund fees and expenses
This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you
buy and hold shares of the Fund.
Annual Advisory Program
Fees
(fees paid directly from your investment in the applicable Morgan
Stanley-sponsored investment advisory program)
| Maximum annual fees in the Consulting Group Advisor, Select UMA or Portfolio Management investment advisory programs (as a percentage of prior quarter-end net assets)* | 2.00% |
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment in the Fund)
| Management Fees* | 0.50% |
| Distribution (12b-1) Fees | None |
| Other Expenses(1) | 0.17% |
| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses | 0.67% |
| Waiver* | (0.05)% |
| Net Annual Fund Operating Expenses*(1) | 0.62% |
* CGAS (defined herein) has
contractually agreed to waive fees and reimburse expenses in order to keep the Fund’s management fees from exceeding the total amount of sub-advisory fees paid by CGAS plus 0.20% based on average net assets. This contractual waiver will only
apply if the Fund’s total management fees exceed the total amount of sub-advisory fees paid by CGAS plus 0.20% and will not affect the Fund’s total management fees if they are less than such amount. This fee waiver and/or reimbursement
will continue for at least one year from the date of this prospectus or until such time as the Board of Trustees acts to discontinue all or a portion of such waiver and/or reimbursement when they deem such action is appropriate.
(1) Includes interest expense which represents less than 0.005%.
Examples
These examples are intended to help you compare the cost of
investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The examples assume that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated. The examples also assume that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the
Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. The effect of the Fund’s contractual fee waiver is only reflected in the first year of the example. The figures are calculated based upon total annual Fund operating expenses and a maximum
annual fee of 2.00% for the applicable Morgan Stanley-sponsored investment advisory program through which you invest. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
| AFTER
1 YEAR |
AFTER
3 YEARS |
AFTER
5 YEARS |
AFTER
10 YEARS |
| $265 | $825 | $1,411 | $2,999 |
Portfolio turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it
buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transactions costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not
reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the above examples, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 55% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal investment strategies
The Fund will invest, under normal market conditions, at least
80% of its net assets (plus the amount of any borrowing for investment purposes) in fixed income instruments with maturities of less than or equal to two years.
Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests primarily in
investment-grade securities and will seek to maintain an average portfolio duration of two years or less. The Fund seeks to outperform the FTSE 3-Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index over a full market cycle, while maintaining overall risk similar to the
index. The Fund will invest in government and corporate debt securities, mortgage- and asset-backed securities, money market instruments, collateralized loan obligations (“CLOs”), and derivatives, including futures contracts, forward
contracts (such as currency and cross-currency forwards), options and swaps (such as interest rate swaps and credit default swaps). The Fund may invest up to 20% of net assets in securities rated below investment grade. It may also invest up to 30%
of its total assets in securities denominated in foreign currencies and may invest beyond this limit in U.S. dollar-denominated securities of foreign issuers. Under normal market conditions, the Fund will seek to limit its foreign currency exposure
to 20% of its total assets. The Fund may also lend portfolio securities to earn additional income. Any income realized through securities lending may help fund performance.
The Fund may invest up to 20% of its total assets in
non-investment grade securities (sometimes called “high yield securities” or “junk bonds”) rated CCC- or higher by Moody’s, or equivalently rated by S&P or Fitch, or, if unrated, determined by the Sub-adviser (as
defined below) to be of comparable credit quality.
The
Fund’s average portfolio duration, as calculated by the Sub-adviser is normally less than two years. Duration is an approximate measure of the sensitivity of the market value of the Fund’s holdings to changes in interest rates. The
longer a security’s duration, the more sensitive it will be to changes in interest rates. In addition, the dollar-weighted average portfolio maturity of the Fund, under normal circumstances, is expected not to exceed three years. Maturity
means the date on which the principal amount of a debt security is due and payable. Individual investments may be of any maturity.
The Fund may purchase or sell securities on a when-issued,
delayed delivery, or forward commitment basis and may engage in short sales. The Fund may seek to obtain market
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exposure to the securities in which it primarily invests by entering into a
series of purchase and sales contracts or by using other investment techniques (such as buy-backs or dollar rolls).
The Fund’s investment objective is not fundamental and
may be changed by the Board of Trustees without shareholder approval.
Principal risks of investing in the Fund
Loss of money is a risk of investing in the Fund.
The Fund’s principal risks include:
| • | Interest Rate Risk, the risk that fixed income securities will decline in value because of an increase in interest rates; a fund with a longer average portfolio duration will be more sensitive to changes in interest rates than a fund with a shorter average portfolio duration. |
| • | Call Risk, the risk that an issuer may exercise its right to redeem a fixed income security earlier than expected (a call). Issuers may call outstanding securities prior to their maturity for a number of reasons (e.g., declining interest rates, changes in credit spreads and improvements in the issuer’s credit quality). If an issuer calls a security that the Fund has invested in, the Fund may not recoup the full amount of its initial investment and may be forced to reinvest in lower-yielding securities, securities with greater credit risks or securities with other, less favorable features. |
| • | Credit Risk, the risk that the Fund could lose money if the issuer or guarantor of a fixed income security, or the counterparty to a derivative contract, is unable or unwilling to meet its financial obligations. |
| • | High Yield Risk, the risk that high yield securities and unrated securities of similar credit quality (commonly known as “junk bonds”) are subject to greater levels of credit, call and liquidity risks. High yield securities are considered primarily speculative with respect to the issuer’s continuing ability to make principal and interest payments and may be more volatile than higher-rated securities of similar maturity. |
| • | Market Risk, the risk that the value of securities owned by the Fund may go up or down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, due to factors affecting securities markets generally or particular industries. Environmental and public health risks, such as natural disasters, epidemics, pandemics or widespread fear that such events may occur, may impact markets adversely and cause market volatility in both the short- and long-term. |
| • | Issuer Risk, the risk that the value of a security may decline for a reason directly related to the issuer, such as management performance, financial leverage and reduced demand for the issuer’s goods or services. |
| • | Liquidity Risk, the risk that a particular investment may be difficult to purchase or sell and that the Fund may be unable to sell illiquid securities at an advantageous time or price or achieve its desired level of exposure to a certain sector. Liquidity risk may result from the lack of an active market, reduced number and capacity of traditional market participants to make a market in fixed income securities, and |
| may be magnified in a rising interest rate environment or other circumstances where investor redemptions from fixed income mutual funds may be higher than normal, causing increased supply in the market due to selling activity. | |
| • | Derivatives Risk, the risk of investing in derivative instruments (such as forwards, futures, options, swaps and structured securities), include liquidity, interest rate, market, and credit risks, each of which is described herein. Derivative instruments also may be difficult to accurately price due to their complexity, particularly derivative instruments that are traded off an exchange (also known as “over the counter”). Changes in the value of the derivative may not correlate perfectly with, and may be more sensitive to market events than, the underlying asset, rate or index, and the Fund could lose more than the initial amount invested. The Fund’s use of derivatives may result in losses to the Fund, a reduction in the Fund’s returns and/or increased volatility. Over-the-counter derivatives are also subject to the risk that the other party in the transaction will not fulfill its contractual obligations. For derivatives traded on exchanges, the primary credit risk is the creditworthiness of the Fund’s clearing broker or the exchange itself. |
| • | LIBOR Transition Risk refers to the fact that the elimination of the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) rate may adversely affect the interest rates on, and value of, certain Fund investments that are tied to LIBOR. The publication of LIBOR on a representative basis will cease for the one-week and two-month U.S. dollar LIBOR settings immediately after December 31, 2021, and for the remaining U.S. dollar LIBOR settings immediately after June 30, 2023. Alternatives to LIBOR are established or in development in most major currencies and markets are slowly responding to these new rates. It is difficult to predict the full impact of the transition away from LIBOR on the Fund. |
| • | Securities Lending Risk, which includes the potential insolvency of a borrower and losses due to the re-investment of collateral received on loaned securities in investments that default or do not perform well. |
| • | Equity Risk, the risk that the value of equity securities, such as common stocks and preferred stocks, may decline due to general market conditions which are not specifically related to a particular company or to factors affecting a particular industry or industries. Equity securities generally have greater price volatility than fixed income securities. |
| • | Mortgage-Related and Other Asset-Backed Securities Risk, the risks of investing in mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities, including interest rate risk, extension risk, prepayment risk, and credit risk. |
| • | U.S. Government Securities Risk, which means that although U.S. Government securities are considered to be among the safest investments, they are still subject to the credit risk of the U.S. Government and are not guaranteed against price movements due to changing interest rates. Obligations issued by some U.S. Government agencies are backed by the U.S. Treasury, while others are backed solely by the ability of the agency to borrow from the U.S. Treasury or by |
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| the agency’s own resources. No assurance can be given that the U.S. Government will provide financial support to its agencies and instrumentalities if it is not obligated by law to do so. | |
| • | Money Market Securities Risk, means that an investment in the Fund is subject to the risk that the value of its investments in high-quality short-term obligations (“money market securities”) may be subject to changes in interest rates, changes in the rating of any money market security and in the ability of an issuer to make payments of interest and principal. |
| • | Foreign (Non-U.S.) Investment Risk, the risk that investing in foreign securities may result in the Fund experiencing more rapid and extreme changes in value than a fund that invests exclusively in securities of U.S. companies, due to smaller markets, differing reporting, accounting and auditing standards, increased risk of delayed settlement of portfolio transactions or loss of certificates of portfolio securities, and the risk of unfavorable foreign government actions, including nationalization, expropriation or confiscatory taxation, currency blockage, or political changes or diplomatic developments. Foreign securities may also be less liquid and more difficult to value than securities of U.S. issuers. |
| • | Currency Risk, the risk that foreign currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar and affect the Fund’s investments in foreign currencies or in securities that trade in, and receive revenues in, or in derivatives that provide exposure to, foreign currencies. |
| • | Leveraging Risk, the risk that certain transactions of the Fund, such as reverse repurchase agreements, loans of portfolio securities, and the use of when-issued, delayed delivery or forward commitment transactions, or derivative instruments, may give rise to leverage, magnifying gains and losses and causing the Fund to be more volatile than if it had not been leveraged. This means that leverage entails a heightened risk of loss. |
| • | Short Sale Risk, the risk of entering into short sales, including the potential loss of more money than the actual cost of the investment, and the risk that the third party to the short sale may fail to honor its contract terms, causing a loss to the Fund. |
| • | Collateralized Loan Obligations Risk, collateralized loan obligations (“CLOs”) are a type of asset-backed security that is typically structured as a trust collateralized by a pool of loans. The cash flows from the trust are split into two or more portions, called tranches, varying in risk and yield. The risks of an investment in a CLO depend largely on the type of the collateral securities and the class of the instrument in which the Fund invests. In addition to the normal risks associated with fixed income securities, CLOs carry additional risks including, but not limited to: (i) the possibility that distributions from collateral securities will not be adequate to make interest or other payments; (ii) the quality of the collateral may decline in value or default; (iii) the Fund may invest in CLOs that are subordinate to other classes; and (iv) the complex structure of the security may not be fully understood at the time of investment and may produce disputes with the issuer or unexpected investment results. |
An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not
insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. For more information on the risks of investing in the Fund please see the Fund details
section of this Prospectus.
Performance
The bar chart below shows how the Fund’s investment
results have varied from year to year, and the following table shows how the Fund’s annual total returns for various periods compare to those of the Fund’s benchmark index and Lipper peer group. This information provides some indication
of the risks of investing in the Fund. The Fund is available only to investors participating in Morgan Stanley-sponsored investment advisory programs. These programs charge an annual fee (see Annual Advisory Program Fees above). The performance information in the bar chart and table below does not reflect this fee, which would reduce your return. The Fund’s past performance, before and after taxes, does not necessarily indicate how
the Fund will perform in the future. For current performance information please see www.morganstanley.com/wealth-investmentsolutions/cgcm.
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Annual total returns (%) calendar years
Ultra-Short Term Fixed Income Fund
Fund’s best and worst calendar quarters
Best: 3.64% 2nd quarter 2020
Worst: (2.34)% 1st quarter 2020
Year-to-date: 0.15% (through 3rd quarter 2021)
Worst: (2.34)% 1st quarter 2020
Year-to-date: 0.15% (through 3rd quarter 2021)
Average Annual Total Returns
(for the periods ended December 31, 2020)
| INCEPTION DATE: 3/8/2016 | 1 YEAR |
| Fund (without advisory program fee) | |
| Return Before Taxes | 2.06% |
| Return After Taxes on Distributions | 1.39% |
| Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares | 1.22% |
| FTSE 3-Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) | 0.58% |
| Lipper Ultra-Short Obligations Funds Average | 1.45% |
The after-tax returns are
calculated using the highest historical individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an individual investor’s tax situation and may differ from those
shown, and after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. In some cases, the return after taxes may exceed the return before
taxes due to an assumed tax benefit from any losses on a sale of Fund shares at the end of the measurement period.
The Fund’s benchmark is the FTSE 3-Month U.S. Treasury
Bill Index. Unlike the Fund, the benchmark is unmanaged and does not include any fees or expenses. An investor cannot invest directly in an index.
The Fund also compares its performance with the Lipper
Ultra-Short Obligations Funds Average. The Lipper Ultra-Short
Obligations Funds Average is composed of funds that invest primarily in
investment-grade debt issues or better and maintain a portfolio dollar-weighted average maturity between 91 days and 365 days.
Investment adviser
Consulting Group Advisory Services LLC (“CGAS” or
the “Manager”), a business of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management (“MSWM”), serves as the investment adviser for the Fund. Subject to Board review, the Manager selects and oversees professional money managers (each a
“Sub-adviser,” collectively, the “Sub-advisers”) who are responsible for investing the assets of the Fund. The Sub-advisers are selected based primarily upon the research and recommendation of the Manager, which
includes a quantitative and qualitative evaluation of a Sub-adviser’s skills and investment results in managing assets for specific asset classes, investment styles and strategies. The Manager allocates and, when appropriate, reallocates
the Fund’s assets among one or more Sub-advisers, continuously monitors and evaluates Sub-adviser performance (including trade execution), performs other due diligence functions (such as an assessment of changes in personnel or other
developments at the Sub-advisers), and oversees Sub-adviser compliance with the Fund’s investment objectives, policies and guidelines. The Manager also monitors changes in market conditions and considers whether changes in the allocation
of Fund assets or the lineup of Sub-advisers should be made in response to such changes in market conditions. Sub-advisers may also periodically recommend changes or enhancements to the Fund’s investment objectives, policies and
guidelines, which are subject to the approval of the Manager and may also be subject to the approval of the Board.
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Sub-adviser and portfolio manager
Pacific Investment Management Company LLC
(“PIMCO”)
| PORTFOLIO MANAGER | SUB-ADVISER OR ADVISER | FUND’S
PORTFOLIO MANAGER SINCE |
| Jerome M. Schneider, Managing Director and Portfolio Manager | PIMCO | Since Inception |
Purchase and sale of Fund shares
Purchases of shares of the Fund must be made through an
investment advisory program with Morgan Stanley. You may purchase or sell shares of the Fund at net asset value on any day the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) is open by contacting your Morgan Stanley Financial Advisor.
| • | The minimum initial aggregate investment in the Morgan Stanley-sponsored investment advisory programs is $1,000. |
| • | There is no minimum on additional investments in the Fund or the applicable investment advisory program through which you invest. |
| • | Each of the Fund and the Morgan Stanley-sponsored investment advisory programs through which investments in the Fund are offered may vary or waive these investment minimums at any time. |
For more information about the Morgan Stanley-sponsored
investment advisory programs, see the About the Funds section of this Prospectus.
Tax information
The Fund’s distributions are generally taxable to you as
ordinary income, capital gains, or a combination of the two.
Payments to financial intermediaries
If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or
other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other
intermediary and your sales person to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
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