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Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk/Return [Heading] rr_RiskReturnHeading GLOBAL INFRASTRUCTURE PORTFOLIO
Objective [Heading] rr_ObjectiveHeading Investment Objective
Objective, Primary [Text Block] rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock

The Portfolio seeks both capital appreciation and current income.

Expense [Heading] rr_ExpenseHeading Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio
Expense Narrative [Text Block] rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock

The table below describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold Class X shares of the Portfolio. Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses in the table and the Example below do not reflect the impact of any charges by your insurance company. If they did, expenses would be higher.

Operating Expenses Caption [Text] rr_OperatingExpensesCaption Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Advisory Fee rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.57%
Distribution and/or Shareholder Service (12b-1) Fee rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets none
Other Expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.30%
Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 0.87%
Portfolio Turnover [Heading] rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading Portfolio Turnover
Portfolio Turnover [Text Block] rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock

The Portfolio 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 transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Portfolio's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Portfolio's portfolio turnover rate was 28% of the average value of its portfolio.

Portfolio Turnover, Rate rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate 28.00%
Expense Example [Heading] rr_ExpenseExampleHeading Example
Expense Example Narrative [Text Block] rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock

The example below is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Portfolio with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.


The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Portfolio, your investment has a 5% return each year, and the Portfolio's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 $ 89
Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 278
Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear05 482
Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear10 $ 1,073
Strategy [Heading] rr_StrategyHeading Principal Investment Strategies
Strategy Narrative [Text Block] rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock

The Portfolio will normally invest at least 80% of its assets in equity securities issued by companies located throughout the world that are engaged in the infrastructure business. A company will be considered to be in the infrastructure business if it derives at least 50% of its revenues or earnings from, or devotes at least 50% of its assets to, infrastructure-related activities. Infrastructure refers to the systems and networks of energy, transportation, communication and other services required for the normal function of society. The Portfolio may invest up to 100% of its net assets in foreign securities, which may include emerging market securities. Under normal market conditions, the Portfolio invests at least 40% of its assets in the securities of issuers located outside of the United States. The Portfolio's equity investments may include convertible securities.


The Portfolio's "Adviser," Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc., and/or "Sub-Advisers," Morgan Stanley Investment Management Limited and Morgan Stanley Investment Management Company, will shift the Portfolio's assets between the different types of companies in the infrastructure business described above based on relative valuation, underlying company fundamentals, and demographic and macroeconomic considerations. Utility companies represent a significant component of the universe of companies engaged in the infrastructure business. These companies may include traditionally regulated public utilities or fully or partially deregulated utility companies as well as unregulated utility companies. The Portfolio has a fundamental policy (i.e., one that cannot be changed without shareholder approval) of investing 25% or more of its assets in the utilities industry.


In selecting securities to buy, hold or sell for the Portfolio, the Adviser and/or Sub-Advisers actively manage the portfolio using a combination of bottom-up and top-down methodologies. The value-driven approach to bottom-up security selection utilizes proprietary research models to identify infrastructure companies that offer the best value relative to their underlying assets and growth prospects. The top-down allocation provides diversified exposure to major economic infrastructure sectors and countries, with an overweighting to those sectors/countries that offer the best relative valuation.

Risk [Heading] rr_RiskHeading Principal Risks
Risk Narrative [Text Block] rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock

There is no assurance that the Portfolio will achieve its investment objective and you can lose money investing in this Portfolio. The principal risks of investing in the Portfolio include:


• Infrastructure-Related Companies. Because the Portfolio concentrates its investments in infrastructure-related companies, the Portfolio has greater exposure to the potential adverse economic, regulatory, political and other changes affecting such entities. Infrastructure-related companies are subject to a variety of factors that may adversely affect their business or operations including high interest costs in connection with capital construction programs, costs associated with compliance with and changes in environmental and other regulations, difficulty in raising capital in adequate amounts on reasonable terms in periods of high inflation and unsettled capital markets, the effects of surplus capacity, increased competition from other providers of services in a developing deregulatory environment, uncertainties concerning the availability of fuel at reasonable prices, the effects of energy conservation policies and other factors.


  Other factors that may affect the operations of infrastructure-related companies include innovations in technology, significant changes to the number of ultimate end-users of a company's products, increased susceptibility to terrorist acts or political actions, risks of environmental damage due to a company's operations or an accident, and general changes in market sentiment towards infrastructure and utilities assets.


• Utilities Industry. Changing regulation constitutes one of the key industry-specific risks for the Portfolio. State and other regulators often monitor and control utility revenues and costs. Regulatory authorities also may restrict a company's access to new markets. The deregulation of certain utilities companies may subject these companies to greater risks of loss. Individual sectors of the utility market are subject to additional risks. These risks apply to all utility companies—regulated, fully or partially deregulated, and unregulated.


  Certain utilities companies may incur unexpected increases in fuel and other operating costs. They are adversely affected when long-term interest rates rise. Long-term borrowings are used to finance most utility investments, and rising interest rates lead to higher financing costs and reduced earnings. There are also considerable costs associated with environmental compliance, nuclear waste clean-up and safety regulation. Increasingly, regulators are calling upon electric utilities to bear these added costs, and there is a risk that these costs will not be fully recovered through an increase in revenues.


• Common Stock and Other Equity Securities. In general, common stock and other equity security values fluctuate, and sometimes widely fluctuate, in response to activities specific to the issuer of the security as well as factors unrelated to the fundamental condition of the issuer, including general market, economic and political conditions. To the extent that the Portfolio invests in convertible securities, and the convertible security's investment value is greater than its conversion value, its price will be likely to increase when interest rates fall and decrease when interest rates rise. If the conversion value exceeds the investment value, the price of the convertible security will tend to fluctuate directly with the price of the underlying equity security. The Portfolio's emphasis on industries may cause its performance to be more sensitive to developments affecting particular industries than a fund that places primary emphasis on individual companies.


• Small and Medium Capitalization Companies. Investments in small and medium capitalization companies may involve greater risks than investments in larger, more established companies. The securities issued by small and medium capitalization companies may be less liquid, and such companies may have more limited markets, financial resources and product lines, and may lack the depth of management of larger companies.


• Foreign and Emerging Market Securities. Investments in foreign markets entail special risks such as currency, political, economic and market risks. There also may be greater market volatility, less reliable financial information, higher transaction and custody costs, decreased market liquidity and less government and exchange regulation associated with investments in foreign markets. In addition, investments in certain foreign markets, which have historically been considered stable, may become more volatile and subject to increased risk due to ongoing developments and changing conditions in such markets. Moreover, the growing interconnectivity of global economies and financial markets has increased the probability that adverse developments and conditions in one country or region will affect the stability of economies and financial markets in other countries or regions. The risks of investing in emerging market countries are greater than risks associated with investments in foreign developed countries.


Shares of the Portfolio are not bank deposits and are not guaranteed or insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.

Risk Lose Money [Text] rr_RiskLoseMoney There is no assurance that the Portfolio will achieve its investment objective and you can lose money investing in this Portfolio.
Risk Not Insured Depository Institution [Text] rr_RiskNotInsuredDepositoryInstitution Shares of the Portfolio are not bank deposits and are not guaranteed or insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Bar Chart and Performance Table [Heading] rr_BarChartAndPerformanceTableHeading Past Performance
Performance Narrative [Text Block] rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock

The bar chart and table below provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Portfolio by showing changes in the performance of the Portfolio's Class X shares from year-to-year and by showing how the average annual returns of the Portfolio's Class X shares for the one, five and 10 year periods compare with those of a broad measure of market performance, as well as a comparative sector index, over time. This performance information does not include the impact of any charges deducted by your insurance company. If it did, returns would be lower. The Portfolio's past performance does not indicate how the Portfolio will perform in the future.

Performance Information Illustrates Variability of Returns [Text] rr_PerformanceInformationIllustratesVariabilityOfReturns The bar chart and table below provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Portfolio by showing changes in the performance of the Portfolio's Class X shares from year-to-year and by showing how the average annual returns of the Portfolio's Class X shares for the one, five and 10 year periods compare with those of a broad measure of market performance, as well as a comparative sector index, over time.
Performance Past Does Not Indicate Future [Text] rr_PerformancePastDoesNotIndicateFuture The Portfolio's past performance does not indicate how the Portfolio will perform in the future.
Bar Chart [Heading] rr_BarChartHeading Annual Total Returns-Calendar Years
Annual Return 2003 rr_AnnualReturn2003 17.34%
Annual Return 2004 rr_AnnualReturn2004 20.66%
Annual Return 2005 rr_AnnualReturn2005 14.62%
Annual Return 2006 rr_AnnualReturn2006 20.32%
Annual Return 2007 rr_AnnualReturn2007 20.34%
Annual Return 2008 rr_AnnualReturn2008 (33.27%)
Annual Return 2009 rr_AnnualReturn2009 19.26%
Annual Return 2010 rr_AnnualReturn2010 6.93%
Annual Return 2011 rr_AnnualReturn2011 16.07%
Annual Return 2012 rr_AnnualReturn2012 18.69%
Bar Chart Closing [Text Block] rr_BarChartClosingTextBlock

High Quarter

 

6/30/09:

   

21.03

%

 

Low Quarter

 

9/30/08:

   

–18.12

%

 
Highest Quarterly Return, Label rr_HighestQuarterlyReturnLabel High Quarter
Highest Quarterly Return, Date rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate Jun. 30, 2009
Highest Quarterly Return rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturn 21.03%
Lowest Quarterly Return, Label rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel Low Quarter
Lowest Quarterly Return, Date rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturnDate Sep. 30, 2008
Lowest Quarterly Return rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn (18.12%)
Index No Deduction for Fees, Expenses, Taxes [Text] rr_IndexNoDeductionForFeesExpensesTaxes (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)
Caption rr_AverageAnnualReturnCaption Average Annual Total Returns For Periods Ended December 31, 2012
Average Annual Returns, 1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 18.69%
Average Annual Returns, 5 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 3.23%
Average Annual Returns, 10 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10 10.66%
Dow Jones Brookfield Global Infrastructure IndexSM (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)
  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Average Annual Returns, 1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 16.01% [1]
Average Annual Returns, 5 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 4.86% [1]
Average Annual Returns, 10 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10 14.38% [1]
S&P Global BMI Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)
  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Average Annual Returns, 1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 17.15% [2]
Average Annual Returns, 5 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 (0.26%) [2]
Average Annual Returns, 10 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10 9.31% [2]
[1] The Dow Jones Brookfield Global Infrastructure IndexSM is a float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index that measures the stock performance of companies that exhibit strong infrastructure characteristics. The Index intends to measure all sectors of the infrastructure market. The Index was first published in July 2008; however, back-tested hypothetical performance information is available for this Index since December 31, 2002. Returns are calculated using the return data of the S&P Global BMI Index through December 31, 2002 and the return data of the Dow Jones Brookfield Global Infrastructure Index for periods thereafter. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
[2] The Standard & Poor's Global BMI Index (S&P Global BMI Index) is a broad market index designed to capture exposure to equities in all countries in the world that meet minimum size and liquidity requirements. As of the date of this Prospectus, there are approximately 11,000 index members representing 26 developed and 20 emerging market countries. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.