XML 19 R8.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.5.0.2
Organization
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2016
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Organization
1.

Organization:

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Spectrum Select L.P. (the “Partnership”) is a Delaware limited partnership organized in 1991 to engage primarily in the speculative trading of futures contracts, options on futures and forward contracts, and forward contracts on physical commodities and other commodity interests, including, but not limited to, foreign currencies, financial instruments, metals, energy, and agricultural products (collectively, “Futures Interests”) (refer to Note 4, “Financial Instruments”). The General Partner (defined below) may also determine to invest up to all of the Partnership’s assets in United States (“U.S.”) Treasury bills and/or money market mutual funds, including money market mutual funds managed by Morgan Stanley or its affiliates. The Partnership is one of the Morgan Stanley Spectrum series of funds, comprised of the Partnership, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Spectrum Currency and Commodity L.P., Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Spectrum Technical L.P. and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Spectrum Strategic L.P.

Ceres Managed Futures LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, acts as the general partner (“Ceres” or the “General Partner”) and commodity pool operator for the Partnership. Ceres is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Holdings LLC (“MSSBH”). MSSBH is wholly-owned indirectly by Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC is doing business as Morgan Stanley Wealth Management (“Morgan Stanley Wealth Management”). Morgan Stanley Wealth Management is a principal subsidiary of MSSBH.

During the reporting periods ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, the Partnership’s commodity broker was Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC (“MS&Co.”), a registered futures commission merchant. MS&Co. also acts as the counterparty on all trading of foreign currency forward contracts. MS&Co. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Morgan Stanley. The Partnership also deposits a portion of its cash in a non-trading account at JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. The trading advisors to the Partnership are EMC Capital Management, Inc. (“EMC”), Graham Capital Management, L.P. (“Graham”) and Rabar Market Research, Inc. (“Rabar”) (individually, a “Trading Advisor”, or collectively, the “Trading Advisors”).

Effective June 30, 2016, the General Partner terminated the management agreement, dated as of October 9, 2007, as amended, among the Partnership, the General Partner and Altis Partners (Jersey) Limited (“Altis”), pursuant to which Altis traded a portion of the Partnership’s assets. Consequently, Altis ceased all Futures Interest trading on behalf of the Partnership. References herein to the Trading Advisor or the Trading Advisors may also include, as relevant, Altis.

In July 2015, the General Partner delegated certain administrative functions to SS&C Technologies, Inc., a Delaware corporation, currently doing business as SS&C GlobeOp (the “Administrator”). Pursuant to a master services agreement, the Administrator furnishes certain administrative, accounting, regulatory reporting, tax and other services as agreed from time to time. In addition, the Administrator maintains certain books and records of the Partnership. The General Partner pays or reimburses the Partnership, from the General Partner fee it receives from the Partnership, the ordinary administrative expenses of the Partnership. This includes the expenses related to the engagement of the Administrator. Therefore, the engagement of the Administrator did not impact the Partnership’s break-even point.