Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Debt

Objective And Strategy

Objective
The investment seeks high total return.

Strategy
The fund invests at least 80% of the fund's assets in debt securities of issuers located in emerging market or developing countries. It may invest, to a lesser extent, in securities denominated in currencies other than U.S. dollars. The fund may invest in fixed income securities that are rated below investment grade or are not rated, but are of equivalent quality. It may, but it is not required to, use derivative instruments for a variety of purposes, including hedging, risk management, portfolio management or to earn income. The fund is non-diversified.

Principal Risks

* This portfolio is non-diversified, with the potential to invest a greater portion of its assets in a limited number of companies. Consequently, this portfolio may have more risk as changes in the value of a single security may have a more significant effect on the portfolio's net asset value.

* This portfolio invests in securities of foreign issuers which involves risks not typically associated with domestic issuers, including currency fluctuations and the possibility of political and economic instability. Emerging markets involve risks in addition to those generally associated with foreign securities, because political and economic structures in many emerging markets may be undergoing significant evolution and rapid development.

* This portfolio can leverage or use leveraged instruments or derivatives. Portfolios that use leverage, that is, borrow money, are subject to the risk that the cost of borrowing money to leverage will exceed the returns for the securities purchased or that the securities purchased may actually go down in value. Thus, the portfolio's net asset value can decrease more quickly than if the portfolio had not borrowed. Portfolios that use leveraged instruments or derivatives such as futures, options and swap agreements, may expose the portfolio to additional risks that it would not be subject to if it invested directly in the securities underlying those derivatives. The more a portfolio invests in leveraged instruments, the more the leverage will magnify any gains or losses on those investments.

* Fixed income securities are subject to interest rate risk because the prices of fixed income securities tend to move in the opposite direction of interest rates. When interest rates rise, fixed income security prices fall. When interest rates fall, fixed income security prices rise.

* Credit risk is the risk that the issuer of a security may be unable to make interest payments and/or repay principal when due. A downgrade to an issuer's credit rating or a perceived change in an issuer's financial strength may affect a security's value, and thus, impact the VA Short-Term Fixed Portfolio's performance.

* Sovereign debt securities are subject to the risk that a government entity may delay or refuse to pay interest or repay principal on its sovereign debt.

* 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 and liquidity risks. High yield securities are considered primarily speculative with respect to the issuer's continuing ability to make principal and interest payments.

* There may be little trading in the secondary market for particular bonds or other debt securities, which may make them more difficult to value, acquire or sell.