Alternative risk premia (ARP) is a newly coined industry category. While a convenient catchall term, it belies the heterogeneity of these strategies which can be risk-seeking, risk-mitigating and anywhere in between. Recent press has thrown a spotlight on ARP strategies, but it fails to tell the whole story.

It takes a village to raise a child, but with the costs of college it may take an extended family to finance the education of one. It also takes smart planning, which has become a challenge in 2020 as the pandemic, market volatility and economic lockdowns have pushed families to focus on near-term crisis management.

With the costs of higher education trending higher each year, paying for college has become a top-tier life expense, alongside other big-ticket goals like buying a home and planning for retirement. Education costs, often starting with elementary school and continuing through graduate school, have now skyrocketed to the extent that saving for both of those life goals—retirement and home-buying—has become hampered in some families.

Program Will Target Small Businesses Focusing on MWBEs, Non-Profits, and Small Landlords That Did Not Receive Federal COVID-19 Assistance

Nearly 20 Community and Financial Partners Have Committed Resources to Support Restarting New York State's Economy

Empire State Development (ESD) and Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) today detailed the $100 million New York Forward Loan Fund announced today by Governor Cuomo, aimed at providing working capital loans to small businesses focusing on MWBEs, small landlords and non-profit organizations that did not receive funding from the Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loans. The fund will target those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, including small businesses and non-profit organizations with 20 or fewer employees, and small landlords who own small multi-family rental portfolios.

Eligible non-profits can apply for a 60-month, no-fee loan at 2% fixed...

Morgan Stanley announced today the Firm will launch the Morgan Stanley National Advisory 529 Plan, the industry’s first advisory 529 Plan, which strategically aligns with the Firm’s goals-based investing approach to help families save and invest for future education expenses. Morgan Stanley has contracted with the North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority (NCSEAA) to sponsor the Plan. The Morgan Stanley National Advisory 529 Plan will be offered exclusively through Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Financial Advisors to their clients in North Carolina and nationally, and is expected to be available in the Fall.

For the first time in the industry, the Plan will be offered only within an advisory relationship to enable Financial Advisors to provide their clients with holistic financial advice on their total assets allowing for active wealth planning and goal monitoring. Morgan Stanley Wealth Management clients who invest in the Morgan Stanley National Advisory...

The novel coronavirus outbreak was first reported in China. And although Premier Li Keqiang has not set any economic growth target for this year in the Government Work Report he presented on Friday, the first country where we can really observe economic recovery is also China. So, how is the recovery going?

China adopted a three-stage approach to contain the virus and reopen the economy. The first stage was hard lockdown, which lasted about a month from late January. Most people stayed at home and non-essential services were closed.

Lockdowns give way to social distancing

Once the virus curve flattened, China entered the second stage, replacing the lockdown with social distancing measures in March. Quarantine measures were gradually relaxed to facilitate the resumption of production in the industrial sector. For example, car factories and smartphone supply chains mostly resumed production during this stage. And since workers returning to the workplace...

The practice of investing in companies or funds that aim to achieve market-rate financial returns, while considering positive social or environmental impact, is gaining more popularity than ever before among institutional investors, according to a new report from Morgan Stanley, jointly issued by its Institute for Sustainable Investing and its Investment Management division.

Among asset owners surveyed, 80% said that they actively integrated sustainable investing in 2019, up 10 percentage points from Morgan Stanley’s last biennial survey in 2017. Factors driving this increase include constituent demand, perceived potential for attractive financial performance and evolving regulations that are driving greater disclosure on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors, the survey says.

“These results provide an additional proof point that sustainable investing has become table stakes,” says Audrey Choi, Chief Sustainability Officer and...

Young people and their parents and teachers are all struggling with the ‘new normal’ while trying to keep worries under control. You don’t have to do it alone. Download our tailored resources below or explore our telehealth services for children and families.

Each week, Mike Wilson offers his perspective on the forces shaping the markets and how to separate the signal from the noise. Listen to his most recent episode and check out those of his colleagues from across Morgan Stanley Research.

Thoughts on the Market is also available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play and other major podcast platforms. In addition, the most recent episode is available on Amazon's Alexa. Just ask Alexa to "Enable Morgan Stanley" or to "Add Morgan Stanley to my Flash Briefing."

For more about our Alexa skill, visit www.morganstanley.com/alexa

For more Ideas, visit www.morganstanley.com/ideas

As the U.S. scrambled to confront the COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented joint effort developed among federal and state governments, regulators, hospitals, suppliers and health-care providers. Out of necessity, institutions altered how they function—and how they cooperate—to save lives.

Although the pandemic exposed flaws and weaknesses in the health-care system, it also revealed unprecedented flexibility, cooperation and innovation in areas such as telemedicine, streamlined regulation and digital health technologies related to electronic patient records and contact tracing.

A new report from Morgan Stanley Research examines the potential new shape of health-care services in a post-outbreak world and identifies five key areas that may hold promise for consumers, health professionals and investors.

“The efficiencies and expansion of care, as well as the potential to reduce medicine's carbon footprint, point to permanent changes and...

In the past three months, investors have experienced a remarkably steep stock market plunge and an impressive snapback, followed by approximately three weeks with the S&P 500 bouncing around a trading range of 2800 to 2950. I expect this phase to continue for the next three to six months.

In San Antonio, 10,000 cars showed up at an emergency pop-up food distribution in just one day, which is the same amount of time it took for the Houston Food Bank, the nation’s biggest, to distribute 750,000 pounds of food recently. The Community FoodBank of New Jersey, the state’s largest anti-hunger and anti-poverty organization, has provided enough food for nearly 12 million nutritious meals since the pandemic took hold—addressing an average increase in need of about 50% across its 16-county service area—while the demand for their pre-packed emergency meal kits, filled with 40 meals’ worth of non-perishables, has tripled over the same period.

Ventilators, testing kits, PPE equipment—the coronavirus pandemic has led to a critical lack of medical supplies. But it’s also caused an urgent need for a much more basic commodity, the shortage of which affects millions more people than the virus itself does: food.

Editor's note: This article has been updated since its original publication to include recently released data and commentary.

The first-quarter GDP data released at the end of April for the U.S. and euro area officially confirm something we have known for some time: The global recession has started. However, my colleagues and I at Morgan Stanley Research believe that this downturn will be sharper—but shorter—than the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) that began in 2008.

In San Antonio, 10,000 cars showed up at an emergency pop-up food distribution in just one day, which is the same amount of time it took for the Houston Food Bank, the nation’s biggest, to distribute 750,000 pounds of food recently. The Community FoodBank of New Jersey, the state’s largest anti-hunger and anti-poverty organization, has provided enough food for nearly 12 million nutritious meals since the pandemic took hold—addressing an average increase in need of about 50% across its 16-county service area—while the demand for their pre-packed emergency meal kits, filled with 40 meals’ worth of non-perishables, has tripled over the same period.

Ventilators, testing kits, PPE equipment—the coronavirus pandemic has led to a critical lack of medical supplies. But it’s also caused an urgent need for a much more basic commodity, the shortage of which affects millions more people than the virus itself does: food.

Each week, Chief Cross-Asset Strategist Andrew Sheets, or a member of his team, offers perspective on the forces shaping the markets as well as insights on investment opportunities and risk across global asset classes.

Thoughts on the Market is also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play and other major podcast platforms. In addition, the most recent episode is available on Amazon's Alexa. Just ask Alexa to "Enable Morgan Stanley" or to "Add Morgan Stanley to my Flash Briefing."

For more about our Alexa skill, visit www.morganstanley.com/alexa

For more Ideas, visit www.morganstanley.com/ideas

Welcome back to Access & Opportunity. Because we are currently living in unprecedented times with COVID-19, this is not your traditional episode of Access & Opportunity. As we all try to manage this global pandemic, we're checking in with some of our favorite guests from previous seasons. We want to understand how they've adjusted their schedules, their businesses, their outlook, and their investing style. Together we want to write a new playbook and emerge from this experience stronger than ever.

In this episode we welcome back James Rhee, Chairman and CEO of Ashley Stewart and founder of the FirePine Group. We check in with James to see how this pandemic has impacted his numerous brick and mortar locations, his employees and the company's overall morale. James is clearly focused on people over profits, and he offers us several playbook points on the importance of loyalty and integrity in leadership roles, as well as the ways in which we...

Morgan Stanley today announced its plan to launch Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Canada, a full-service wealth management offering to complement the existing Shareworks by Morgan Stanley stock plan administrative services it provides to executives and employees who reside in Canada (subject to regulatory approval). Morgan Stanley has selected Canaccord Genuity as its local platform provider to support the deployment of this new business.

Morgan Stanley acquired Calgary-based Solium Capital Inc. (rebranded Shareworks by Morgan Stanley) in May 2019 and formed the Morgan Stanley at Work suite of financial solutions. Shareworks by Morgan Stanley has been operating in Canada since 1999 and services more than 350 Canadian Companies, comprising over 70% of the companies listed on the TSX60. Its client base includes more than 275,000 Canadian stock plan participants who hold more than US$17.5 billion in assets.

“The creation of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Canada...

DISCLOSURES

The views and opinions are those of the author as of the date of publication and are subject to change at any time due to market or economic conditions and may not necessarily come to pass. Furthermore, the views will not be updated or otherwise revised to reflect information that subsequently becomes available or circumstances existing, or changes occurring, after the date of publication. The views expressed do not reflect the opinions of all portfolio managers at Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM) or the views of the firm as a whole, and may not be reflected in all the strategies and products that the Firm offers.

Forecasts and/or estimates provided herein are subject to change and may not actually come to pass. Information regarding expected market returns and market outlooks is based on the research, analysis and opinions of the authors. These conclusions are speculative in nature, may not come to pass, and are not intended to predict...