Morgan Stanley Investment Management Partners with Korea’s National Pension Service

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) announced today that its Investment Management division (MSIM) has signed a Strategic Partnership with South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS). Under the agreement, Morgan Stanley will provide support and training to enhance NPS’s overseas investment portfolio and in-house capabilities. As a strategic partner, MSIM will manage certain NPS assets.

The Partnership was ratified on 17 July at a ceremony held at MSIM’s offices in New York, attended by Ho-Shik Kim, President of NPS, and Owen Thomas, President of MSIM.

The largest pension fund in Asia outside of Japan, NPS has over US$200 billion of assets under management.

“NPS is growing fast and we expect to be managing over US$300 billion of assets by 2012,” said NPS’s Mr. Kim. “It is important that we enhance our investment skills and we are delighted to have access to the expertise and professionalism of Morgan Stanley. We have great confidence in the success of this partnership program and believe that the initiative will lay a solid foundation for NPS’s future.”

NPS has recently finalized its five year investment plan. In this time frame, it aims to increase its equities allocation to 30% from 11.6% currently, increase its alternatives to 10% from less than 1% today, and to double total overseas investments to 20%.

“Korea is an important market for Morgan Stanley Investment Management,” said MSIM’s Owen Thomas. “We are proud that NPS, one of the largest pension funds in the world, has chosen MSIM as a Strategic Partner and honored to be playing a key role in how Korea’s pension assets are managed.”

MSIM’s Asia Head, Blair Pickerell, said, “We look forward to adding value to Korea’s NPS, whether it’s through exposure to our global equities and fixed income products, our expertise in alternative investments or assistance with overall portfolio strategy.”

The Strategic Partnership Program will help NPS facilitate its move to diversify its assets internationally and to help the organisation build in-house fund management teams for certain assets classes through special training programs.

Morgan Stanley Investment Management, together with its investment advisory affiliates, has over 400 investment professionals around the world and $560 billion in assets under management or supervision as of May 31, 2007. These entities offer investment management services to a diverse client base, which includes governments, institutions, corporations and individuals.

Morgan Stanley 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 32 countries. For further information about Morgan Stanley, please visit www.morganstanley.com.

The National Pension Service was established by the Korean government in 1988 to administer and manage the assets for employees of private companies and self-employed persons. NPS is under the purview of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Korea.

Contact: Media Relations, Poling Cheung, (852)2848.6501