Van Kampen Investments, Inc. manages separate client-focused equity portfolios. The firm also manages equity and fixed income mutual funds, IRAs, and unit investment trusts for its clients. It invests in the public equity markets across the globe and fixed income markets of the United States. For its equity investments, the firm typically invests in value and growth stocks of small-cap, mid-cap, and large-cap companies. It employs a combination of a quantitative, a fundamental, a technical, and a macro-economic analysis with a bottom-up tock picking approach to make its equity investments. The firm benchmarks the performance of its domestic equity investments against the S&P 500 index and international equity investments against the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) EAFE Index. For its fixed income investments, it invests in U.S. dollar denominated investment-grade securities, U.S. government securities, corporate bonds, mortgage securities, and non-convertible preferred stocks. The firm has a disciplined and a contrarian investment approach. It conducts in-house research before make its investment decisions. The firm also provides investment advisory services. It provides its services to individuals, partnerships, corporations, and trusts among others. The firm was formerly known as Van Kampen American Capital (VKAC). Van Kampen Investments was founded in 1968 and is based in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois. Van Kampen Investments, Inc. operates as an asset management arm of Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated.