<PAGE>
SUPPLEMENT DATED JANUARY 24, 2000
TO PROSPECTUS DATED MAY 1, 1999
OF
ASIAN EQUITY PORTFOLIO
JAPANESE EQUITY PORTFOLIO
PORTFOLIOS OF THE
MORGAN STANLEY DEAN WITTER INSTITUTIONAL FUND, INC.
P.O. BOX 2798
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
02208-2798
---------------------
The Prospectus is hereby amended and supplemented to reflect changes in the
portfolio management of the Asian Equity Portfolio (the "Portfolio"). Timothy
Jensen no longer serves as a Portfolio Manager to the Portfolio. Ashutosh Sinha,
who previously shared primary responsibility with Mr. Jensen, will continue to
have primary responsibility for managing the assets of the Portfolio.
Accordingly, the paragraph "ASIAN EQUITY PORTFOLIO" on page 7 is hereby deleted
and replaced with the following:
ASIAN EQUITY PORTFOLIO
ASHUTOSH SINHA
Ashutosh Sinha joined MSDW Investment Management in 1995. He is a Principal of
MSDW Investment Management and Morgan Stanley and a member of MSDW Investment
Management's Emerging Markets Equity Group, focusing primarily on Asian markets
other than Japan. Prior to joining MSDW Investment Management, he spent two
years at SBI Funds Management Ltd., where he was an analyst for the India Magnum
Fund. Previous to that, he worked for three years as a consultant for Citicorp
Overseas Software Ltd. He graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology,
Kanpur, with a degree in Electrical Engineering and received an M.B.A. from the
Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta. Mr. Sinha has had primary
responsibility for managing the Portfolio's assets since August 1998.
------------------------
PLEASE RETAIN THIS SUPPLEMENT FOR FUTURE REFERENCE