Incorporated herein by reference is a supplement to the prospectus of MFS High Yield Opportunities Fund, a series of MFS Series Trust III (File No. 002-60491), filed pursuant to Rule 497(e) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, on November 1, 2012 (SEC Accession No. 0000912938-12-000475).
| MFS High Yield Opportunities Fund (Prospectus Summary): | MFS High Yield Opportunities Fund |
| MFS® High Yield Opportunities Fund |
SUPPLEMENT TO PROSPECTUS The date of this supplement is November 1, 2012.
MFS® High Yield Opportunities Fund
Effective immediately, the sub-section entitled “Principal Investment Strategies” beneath the main heading “Summary of Key Information” is restated in its entirety as follows: |
| Principal Investment Strategies |
MFS (Massachusetts Financial Services Company, the fund’s investment adviser) normally invests directly and/or indirectly through investment in mutual funds advised by MFS at least 80% of the fund’s net assets in high income debt instruments.
MFS may invest the fund’s assets in other types of debt instruments and equity securities.
Debt instruments include corporate bonds, foreign government securities, asset-backed securities, and other obligations to repay money borrowed.
MFS may invest up to 100% of the fund’s assets directly or indirectly in less than investment grade quality debt instruments (lower quality debt instruments).
MFS may invest the fund’s assets in foreign securities, including emerging market securities.
While MFS may use derivatives for any investment purpose, to the extent MFS uses derivatives, MFS expects to use derivatives primarily to increase or decrease exposure to a particular market, segment of the market, or security, to increase or decrease interest rate or currency exposure, or as alternatives to direct investments. Derivatives include futures, forward contracts, options, structured securities, inverse floating rate instruments, and swaps.
MFS uses a bottom-up investment approach to buying and selling investments for the fund. Investments are selected primarily based on fundamental analysis of individual issuers and instruments. Quantitative models that systematically evaluate issuers and instruments may also be considered. |
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| Label | Element | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Risk/Return: | rr_RiskReturnAbstract | |
| Prospectus Date | rr_ProspectusDate | May 30, 2012 |
|
MFS High Yield Opportunities Fund (Prospectus Summary): | MFS High Yield Opportunities Fund
|
||
| Risk/Return: | rr_RiskReturnAbstract | |
| Risk/Return, Heading | rr_RiskReturnHeading | MFS® High Yield Opportunities Fund |
| Supplement Text | ck0000225604_SupplementTextBlock | SUPPLEMENT TO PROSPECTUS The date of this supplement is November 1, 2012.
MFS® High Yield Opportunities Fund
Effective immediately, the sub-section entitled “Principal Investment Strategies” beneath the main heading “Summary of Key Information” is restated in its entirety as follows: |
| Investment Strategy, Heading | rr_StrategyHeading | Principal Investment Strategies |
| Investment Strategy, Narrative | rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock | MFS (Massachusetts Financial Services Company, the fund’s investment adviser) normally invests directly and/or indirectly through investment in mutual funds advised by MFS at least 80% of the fund’s net assets in high income debt instruments.
MFS may invest the fund’s assets in other types of debt instruments and equity securities.
Debt instruments include corporate bonds, foreign government securities, asset-backed securities, and other obligations to repay money borrowed.
MFS may invest up to 100% of the fund’s assets directly or indirectly in less than investment grade quality debt instruments (lower quality debt instruments).
MFS may invest the fund’s assets in foreign securities, including emerging market securities.
While MFS may use derivatives for any investment purpose, to the extent MFS uses derivatives, MFS expects to use derivatives primarily to increase or decrease exposure to a particular market, segment of the market, or security, to increase or decrease interest rate or currency exposure, or as alternatives to direct investments. Derivatives include futures, forward contracts, options, structured securities, inverse floating rate instruments, and swaps.
MFS uses a bottom-up investment approach to buying and selling investments for the fund. Investments are selected primarily based on fundamental analysis of individual issuers and instruments. Quantitative models that systematically evaluate issuers and instruments may also be considered. |
|
MFS High Yield Opportunities Fund | A
|
||
| Risk/Return: | rr_RiskReturnAbstract | |
| Trading Symbol | dei_TradingSymbol | MHOAX |
|
MFS High Yield Opportunities Fund | B
|
||
| Risk/Return: | rr_RiskReturnAbstract | |
| Trading Symbol | dei_TradingSymbol | MHOBX |
|
MFS High Yield Opportunities Fund | C
|
||
| Risk/Return: | rr_RiskReturnAbstract | |
| Trading Symbol | dei_TradingSymbol | MHOCX |
|
MFS High Yield Opportunities Fund | I
|
||
| Risk/Return: | rr_RiskReturnAbstract | |
| Trading Symbol | dei_TradingSymbol | MHOIX |
|
MFS High Yield Opportunities Fund | R1
|
||
| Risk/Return: | rr_RiskReturnAbstract | |
| Trading Symbol | dei_TradingSymbol | MHORX |
|
MFS High Yield Opportunities Fund | R2
|
||
| Risk/Return: | rr_RiskReturnAbstract | |
| Trading Symbol | dei_TradingSymbol | MHOSX |
|
MFS High Yield Opportunities Fund | R3
|
||
| Risk/Return: | rr_RiskReturnAbstract | |
| Trading Symbol | dei_TradingSymbol | MHOTX |
|
MFS High Yield Opportunities Fund | R4
|
||
| Risk/Return: | rr_RiskReturnAbstract | |
| Trading Symbol | dei_TradingSymbol | MHOUX |
|
MFS High Yield Opportunities Fund | R5
|
||
| Risk/Return: | rr_RiskReturnAbstract | |
| Trading Symbol | dei_TradingSymbol | MHOVX |
| Label | Element | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Risk/Return: | rr_RiskReturnAbstract | |
| Document Type | dei_DocumentType | Other |
| Document Period End Date | dei_DocumentPeriodEndDate | Nov. 01, 2012 |
| Registrant Name | dei_EntityRegistrantName | MFS SERIES TRUST III |
| Central Index Key | dei_EntityCentralIndexKey | 0000225604 |
| Amendment Flag | dei_AmendmentFlag | false |
| Document Creation Date | dei_DocumentCreationDate | Nov. 01, 2012 |
| Document Effective Date | dei_DocumentEffectiveDate | Nov. 01, 2012 |
| Prospectus Date | rr_ProspectusDate | May 30, 2012 |