Morgan Stanley Investment Management announced today that the Morgan Stanley Frontier Emerging Markets Fund, Inc. (the “Fund”) has issued 7,100,000 shares of common stock at a price of $20 per share resulting in gross proceeds to the Fund of approximately $142,000,000 (before deduction of the sales load and offering expenses and exclusive of the underwriters’ over-allotment option). Assuming full exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option, the gross proceeds to the Fund (before deduction of the sales load and offering expenses) could be increased to approximately $163,300,000. The Fund’s shares began trading on August 25, 2008 on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “FFD.”
The Fund’s lead underwriter is Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated.
The Fund is a newly organized, non-diversified closed-end fund. The Fund’s investment objective is to seek long-term capital appreciation. There can be no assurance that the Fund’s investment objective will be achieved. The Fund will seek to achieve its investment objective by investing, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities of companies operating in frontier emerging market countries. In selecting investments for the Fund, Morgan Stanley Investment Management will combine top-down country allocation based on relative economic, political and social fundamentals, stock valuations and investor sentiment, with bottom-up fundamental analysis seeking to identify issuers with investor friendly management, effective use of free cash flows and strong earnings growth potential.
Frontier emerging market countries in which the Fund currently intends to invest include: Bahrain, Bangladesh, Botswana, Bulgaria, Croatia, Ecuador, Estonia, Ghana, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Macao, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Oman, Panama, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.
The Fund's assets are managed within Morgan Stanley Investment Management's Emerging Markets Equity team. Current members of the team who are responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund are Ruchir Sharma, a Managing Director of Morgan Stanley Investment Management, and Tim Drinkall, an Executive Director of Morgan Stanley Investment Management. Mr. Drinkall is the lead portfolio manager and Mr. Sharma is the head of the Emerging Markets Equity team.
“We have a long tradition of emerging markets investing dating back to the mid-1980’s, with the objective of helping investors capture growth opportunities in developing economies,” said Ruchir Sharma. “We launched a Frontier Fund to invest in markets that we believe are continuing to grow and are not currently on most investors' radar screens. The Fund's registration in over 30 frontier markets across geographical regions gives us a wide footprint to make active country allocation decisions, and we are excited about the potential opportunities."
The Fund’s investment adviser is Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc. (“MSIM”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Morgan Stanley. Since 1986, MSIM has supported a dedicated investment team specializing in emerging markets. Today, with over $30 billion in emerging markets equity assets, MSIM has established a global presence and proven its long-term commitment to markets that are normally difficult for foreign investors to access.1 The MSIM Emerging Markets Equity Team comprises more than two dozen portfolio managers, analysts and traders located in New York, Singapore and Mumbai. Separate strategy groups focus on India; Asia; Latin America; Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa; and global emerging markets.
“As we continue to leverage Morgan Stanley’s strong franchise and global presence, we are extremely pleased to add this distinctive strategy to our equity fund line-up,” said Randy Takian, Head of the Morgan Stanley Retail & Intermediary business at Morgan Stanley Investment Management. “This offering is emblematic of Morgan Stanley Investment Management’s continued commitment to providing an array of innovative, institutional-quality investment strategies and products to meet the increasingly diverse and complex investment needs of our clients.”
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, investment management and wealth management services. The Firm’s employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals from more than 600 offices in 33 countries. For further information about Morgan Stanley, please visit www.morganstanley.com.
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful under the securities laws of any such state.
Please consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the Fund carefully before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information about the Fund. To obtain a prospectus, contact your financial advisor, or download one at www.morganstanley.com/msim.Please read the prospectus carefully before investing.
Shares of closed-end investment companies frequently trade at a discount from their net asset value, which may increase investors’ risk of loss. This risk may be greater for investors expecting to sell their shares in a relatively short period after completion of the public offering.
An investment in the Morgan Stanley Frontier Emerging Markets Fund, Inc. should be considered speculative. Investing in the securities of issuers operating in frontier emerging markets involves a high degree of risk including the risk of expropriation and/or nationalization, investment and repatriation restrictions and political or social instability not typically associated with investing in the securities of other foreign or U.S. issuers. In addition, the Fund will concentrate its investments in the banking industry and, although it currently intends to invest less than 25% in a single country, the Fund has the ability in the future to concentrate its investments in one country. As a result, factors that have an adverse impact on the banking industry may have a disproportionate impact on the Fund’s performance and, to the extent that the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in a single frontier emerging market country, the Fund will be subject to heightened risk associated with investing in frontier emerging market countries and additional risks associated with that particular country.
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objectives. Investors should be warned that they may lose money by investing in the Fund, including the possibility that the investors may lose all of their investments. The Fund may not be suitable for an investor who is not able to afford the loss of his or her entire investment. SEE THE “PRINCIPAL RISKS OF THE FUND” SECTION OF THE PROSPECTUS, FOR MORE DISCUSSION OF THE RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH INVESTING IN THIS FUND. Suitable clients should only consider purchasing shares as a portion of an overall diversified portfolio. Diversification does not eliminate the risk of loss.
1 Morgan Stanley Client Services, May 2008.
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Media Relations:
Erica Platt, 212-762-6848
