Employee Benefit Plans

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Retirement Benefits [Abstract]

Employee Benefit Plans

Employee Benefit Plans

Pension Plans

Components of Net Periodic Benefit Expense (Income)

	Pension Plans
$ in millions	2021		2020		2019
Service cost, benefits earned during the period	$	19	$	17	$	16
Interest cost on projected benefit obligation	104		121		139
Expected return on plan assets	(48)		(77)		(114)
Net amortization of prior service cost	1		1		1
Net amortization of actuarial loss	34		26		13
Net periodic benefit expense	$	110	$	88	$	55

Certain current and former U.S. employees of the Firm and its U.S. affiliates who were hired before July 1, 2007 are covered by the U.S. pension plan, a non-contributory defined benefit pension plan that is qualified under Section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code (“U.S. Qualified Plan”). The U.S. Qualified Plan has ceased future benefit accruals.

Unfunded supplementary plans (“Supplemental Plans”) cover certain executives. Liabilities for benefits payable under the Supplemental Plans are accrued by the Firm and are funded when paid. The Morgan Stanley Supplemental Executive Retirement and Excess Plan (“SEREP”), a non-contributory defined benefit plan that is not qualified under Section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code, has ceased future benefit accruals.

Certain of the Firm’s non-U.S. subsidiaries also have defined benefit pension plans covering their eligible current and former employees.

The Firm’s pension plans generally provide pension benefits that are based on each employee’s years of credited service and on compensation levels specified in the plans.

Rollforward of Pre-tax AOCI

	Pension Plans
$ in millions	2021		2020		2019
Beginning balance	$	(691)	$	(877)	$	(779)
Net gain (loss)	(112)		161		(112)
Prior service cost	—		(2)		—
Amortization of prior service cost	1		1		1
Amortization of net loss	34		26		13
Changes recognized in OCI	(77)		186		(98)
Ending balance	$	(768)	$	(691)	$	(877)

The Firm generally amortizes into net periodic benefit expense (income) the unrecognized net gains and losses exceeding 10% of the greater of the projected benefit obligation or the market-related value of plan assets. The U.S. pension plans amortize the unrecognized net gains and losses over the average life expectancy of participants. The remaining plans generally amortize the unrecognized net gains and losses and prior service credit over the average remaining service period of active participants.

Weighted Average Assumptions Used to Determine Net Periodic Benefit Expense (Income)

	Pension Plans
	2021		2020	2019
Discount rate	2.43	%	3.08 %	4.01 %
Expected long-term rate of return on plan assets	1.42	%	2.35 %	3.52 %
Rate of future compensation increases	3.25	%	3.28 %	3.34 %

 

The accounting for pension plans involves certain assumptions and estimates. The expected long-term rate of return for the U.S. Qualified Plan was estimated by computing a weighted average of the underlying long-term expected returns based on the investment managers’ target allocations.

Benefit Obligation and Funded Status

Rollforward of the Benefit Obligation and Fair Value of Plan Assets

	Pension Plans
$ in millions	2021		2020
Rollforward of projected benefit obligation
Benefit obligation at beginning of year	$	4,334	$	4,026
Service cost	19		17
Interest cost	104		121
Actuarial (gain) loss1	(122)		362
Plan amendments	(1)		2
Plan settlements	(16)		(2)
Benefits paid	(217)		(222)
Other2	(20)		30
Benefit obligation at end of year	$	4,081	$	4,334
Rollforward of fair value of plan assets
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year	$	3,985	$	3,553
Actual return on plan assets	(186)		600
Employer contributions	38		35
Benefits paid	(217)		(222)
Plan settlements	(15)		(2)
Other2	—		21
Fair value of plan assets at end of year	$	3,605	$	3,985
Funded (unfunded) status	$	(476)	$	(349)
Amounts recognized in the balance sheet
Assets	$	117	$	283
Liabilities	(593)		(632)
Net amount recognized	$	(476)	$	(349)

1.Primarily reflects the impact of year-over-year discount rate fluctuations and changes in mortality assumptions.

2.Includes the impact of foreign currency exchange rate changes and transfers into plan assets.

Accumulated Benefit Obligation

$ in millions	At December 31, 2021		At December 31, 2020
Pension plans	$	4,065	$	4,318

Pension Plans with Projected Benefit Obligations in Excess of the Fair Value of Plan Assets

$ in millions	At December 31, 2021		At December 31, 2020
Projected benefit obligation	$	3,768	$	708
Accumulated benefit obligation	3,753		692
Fair value of plan assets	3,175		76

The pension plans included in the table above may differ based on their funding status as of December 31 of each year. December 31, 2021 includes the U.S. Qualified Plan.

Weighted Average Assumptions Used to Determine Projected Benefit Obligation

	Pension Plans
	At December 31, 2021		At December 31, 2020
Discount rate	2.80	%	2.43 %
Rate of future compensation increase	3.36	%	3.25 %

The discount rates used to determine the benefit obligation were selected by the Firm, in consultation with its independent actuary. The U.S. pension plans use a pension discount yield curve based on the characteristics of the plans, each determined independently. The pension discount yield curve represents spot discount yields based on duration implicit in a representative broad-based Aa-rated corporate bond universe of high-quality fixed income investments. For all non-U.S. pension plans, the assumed discount rates based on the nature of liabilities, local economic environments and available bond indices.

Plan Assets

Fair Value of Plan Assets

	At December 31, 2021
$ in millions	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Assets
Cash and cash equivalents1	$	9	$	—	$	—	$	9
U.S. government and agency securities	2,759		314		—		3,073
Corporate and other debt—CDO	—		1		—		1
Derivative contracts	—		3		—		3
Other investments	—		—		65		65
Other receivables1	—		2		—		2
Total	$	2,768	$	320	$	65	$	3,153
Assets Measured at NAV
Commingled trust funds:
Money market							33
Foreign funds:
Fixed income							162
Liquidity							39
Targeted cash flow							235
Total							$	469
Liabilities
Other payables1	—		(17)		—		(17)
Total liabilities	$	—	$	(17)	$	—	$	(17)
Fair value of plan assets							$	3,605

	At December 31, 2020
$ in millions	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Assets
Cash and cash equivalents1	$	4	$	—	$	—	$	4
U.S. government and agency securities	3,038		321		—		3,359
Corporate and other debt—CDO	—		4		—		4
Derivative contracts	—		2		—		2
Other investments	—		—		61		61
Other receivables1	—		53		—		53
Total	$	3,042	$	380	$	61	$	3,483
Assets Measured at NAV
Commingled trust funds:
Money market							48
Foreign funds:
Fixed income							169
Liquidity							54
Targeted cash flow							250
Total							$	521
Liabilities
Other payables1	—		(19)		—		(19)
Total liabilities	$	—	$	(19)	$	—	$	(19)
Fair value of plan assets							$	3,985

1.Cash and cash equivalents, other receivables and other payables are valued at their carrying value, which approximates fair value.

Rollforward of Level 3 Plan Assets

$ in millions	2021		2020
Balance at beginning of period	$	61	$	53
Realized and unrealized gains	1		5
Purchases, sales and settlements, net	3		3
Balance at end of period	$	65	$	61

There were no transfers between levels during 2021 and 2020.

The U.S. Qualified Plan’s assets represent 86% of the Firm’s total pension plan assets. The U.S. Qualified Plan uses a combination of active and risk-controlled fixed income investment strategies. The fixed income asset allocation consists primarily of fixed income securities and related derivative instruments designed to approximate the expected cash flows of the plan’s liabilities in order to help reduce plan exposure to interest rate variation and to better align assets with the obligation. The longer-duration fixed income allocation is expected to help protect the plan’s funded status and maintain the stability of plan contributions over the long run. The investment portfolio performance is assessed by comparing actual investment performance with changes in the estimated present value of the U.S. Qualified Plan’s benefit obligation.

Derivative instruments are permitted in the U.S. Qualified Plan’s investment portfolio only to the extent that they comply with all of the plan’s investment policy guidelines and are consistent with the plan’s risk and return objectives.

As a fundamental operating principle, any restrictions on the underlying assets apply to the respective derivative product. This includes percentage allocations and credit quality. Derivatives are used solely for the purpose of enhancing

investment returns in the underlying assets and not to circumvent portfolio restrictions.

Plan assets are measured at fair value using valuation techniques that are consistent with the valuation techniques applied to the Firm’s major categories of assets and liabilities as described in Notes 2 and 5. OTC derivative contracts consist of investments in interest rate swaps and total return swaps. Other investments consist of insurance contracts held by non-U.S.-based plans. The insurance contracts are valued based on the premium reserve of the insurer for a guarantee that the insurer has given to the employee benefit plan that approximates fair value. The insurance contracts are categorized in Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy.

Commingled trust funds are privately offered funds regulated, supervised and subject to periodic examination by a U.S. federal or state agency and available to institutional clients. The trust must be maintained for the collective investment or reinvestment of assets contributed to it from U.S. tax-qualified employee benefit plans maintained by more than one employer or controlled group of corporations. The sponsor of the commingled trust funds values the funds based on the fair value of the underlying securities. Commingled trust funds are redeemable at NAV at the measurement date or in the near future.

Some non-U.S.-based plans hold foreign funds that consist of investments in fixed income funds, target cash flow funds and liquidity funds. Fixed income funds invest in individual securities quoted on a recognized stock exchange or traded in a regulated market. Certain fixed income funds aim to produce returns consistent with certain Financial Times Stock Exchange indexes. Target cash flow funds are designed to provide a series of fixed annual cash flows achieved by investing in government bonds and derivatives. Liquidity funds place a high priority on capital preservation, stable value and a high liquidity of assets. Foreign funds are readily redeemable at NAV.

The Firm generally considers the NAV of commingled trust funds and foreign funds provided by the fund manager to be the best estimate of fair value.

Expected Contributions

The Firm’s policy is to fund at least the amount sufficient to meet minimum funding requirements under applicable employee benefit and tax laws. At December 31, 2021, the Firm expected to contribute approximately $40 million to its pension plans in 2022 based upon the plans’ current funded status and expected asset return assumptions for 2022.

Expected Future Benefit Payments

	At December 31, 2021
$ in millions	Pension Plans
2022	$	148
2023	153
2024	156
2025	163
2026	170
2027-2031	938

401(k) Plans

$ in millions	2021		2020		2019
Expense	$	357	$	293	$	280

U.S. employees meeting certain eligibility requirements may participate in the Firm’s 401(k) plans.

Morgan Stanley 401(k) Plan

Eligible employees receive discretionary 401(k) matching cash contributions as determined annually by the Firm. The Firm matched eligible employee contributions up to the IRS limit at 4%, or 5% up to a certain compensation level, in 2021 and 4% in 2020 and 2019. Eligible employees with eligible pay less than or equal to $100,000 also received a fixed contribution equal to 2% of eligible pay. Transition contributions relating to acquired entities or frozen employee benefit plans were allocated to certain eligible employees through 2020. Contributions are invested among available funds according to each participant’s investment direction and are included in the Firm’s 401(k) expense.

Non-U.S. Defined Contribution Pension Plans

$ in millions	2021		2020		2019
Expense	$	149	$	130	$	121

The Firm maintains separate defined contribution pension plans that cover eligible employees of certain non-U.S. subsidiaries. Under such plans, benefits are generally determined based on a fixed rate of base salary with certain vesting requirements.