497K 1 gresummary.htm MFS GLOBAL REAL ESTATE FUND gresummary.htm

Before you invest, you may want to review the fund’s prospectus, which contains more information about the fund and its risks. You can find the fund’s prospectus and other information about the fund, including the fund’s statement of additional information, online at funds.mfs.com.  You can also get this information at no cost by calling 1-800-225-2606 or by sending an e-mail request to orderliterature@mfs.com.  The fund’s prospectus and statement of additional information, both dated June 28, 2012, as may be supplemented from time to time, are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus.

 
CLASS
 
TICKER SYMBOL
Class A (Currently Not Offered)
MGLAX
Class B (Currently Not Offered)
N/A
Class C (Currently Not Offered)
N/A
Class I
MGLIX
Class R1 (Currently Not Offered)
N/A
Class R2 (Currently Not Offered)
N/A
Class R3 (Currently Not Offered)
N/A
Class R4 (Currently Not Offered)
N/A
Class R5
MGLRX

Summary of Key Information
 
Investment Objective
The fund’s investment objective is to seek total return.
 
Fees and Expenses
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay when you buy and hold shares of the fund. The annual fund operating expenses for Class B, Class C, Class R1, Class R2, Class R3, Class R4, and Class R5 shares are based on estimated "Other Expenses" for the current fiscal year expressed as a percentage of the fund's estimated average net assets during the period.
 
You may qualify for sales charge reductions if you and certain members of your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in MFS Funds. More information about these and other waivers and reductions is available from your financial intermediary and in “Sales Charges and Waivers or Reductions” on page 8 of the fund’s prospectus and “Waivers of Sales Charges” on page I-13 of the fund’s statement of additional information Part I.
 
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment):
 
Share Class
A
B
C
I
ALL R
Maximum Sales Charge (Load)
Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price)
5.75%
None
None
None
None
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a percentage of original purchase price or redemption proceeds, whichever is less)
1.00% #
4.00%
1.00%
None
None

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment):
 
Share Class
A
B
C
I
R1
R2
R3
R4
R5
Management Fee
0.90%
0.90%
0.90%
0.90%
0.90%
0.90%
0.90%
0.90%
0.90%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees
0.25%
1.00%
1.00%
None
1.00%
0.50%
0.25%
None
None
Other Expenses
0.09%
0.09%
0.09%
0.09%
0.09%
0.09%
0.09%
0.09%
0.09%
Total Annual Fund
Operating Expenses
1.24%
1.99%
1.99%
0.99%
1.99%
1.49%
1.24%
0.99%
0.99%
 
#
On shares purchased without an initial sales charge and redeemed within 18 months of purchase for shares purchased on or after August 1, 2012, and within 24 months of purchase for shares purchased prior to August 1, 2012.
 
GRE-SUM-032713
 
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MFS Global Real Estate Fund

 
Example
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.
 
The example assumes that: you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and you redeem your shares at the end of the time periods (unless otherwise indicated); your investment has a 5% return each year; and the fund’s operating expenses remain the same.
 
Although your actual costs will likely be higher or lower, under these assumptions your costs would be:
 
 
1 YEAR
3 YEARS
5 YEARS
10 YEARS
Class A Shares
$694
$946
$1,217
$1,989
Class B Shares assuming
       
    redemption at end of period
$602
$924
$1,273
$2,123
    no redemption at end of period
$202
$624
$1,073
$2,123
Class C Shares assuming
       
    redemption at end of period
$302
$624
$1,073
$2,317
    no redemption at end of period
$202
$624
$1,073
$2,317
Class I Shares
$101
$315
$547
$1,213
Class R1 Shares
$202
$624
$1,073
$2,317
Class R2 Shares
$152
$471
$813
$1,779
Class R3 Shares
$126
$393
$681
$1,500
Class R4 Shares
$101
$315
$547
$1,213
Class R5 Shares
$101
$315
$547
$1,213
 
Portfolio Turnover
The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when shares are held in a taxable account. These transaction costs, which are not reflected in “Annual Fund Operating Expenses” or in the “Example,” affect the fund’s performance.  During the most recent fiscal year, the fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 37% of the average value of its portfolio.
 
Principal Investment Strategies
MFS (Massachusetts Financial Services Company, the fund's investment adviser) normally invests at least 80% of the fund’s net assets in U.S. and foreign real estate-related investments.
 
MFS normally invests the fund’s assets primarily in equity securities.
 
MFS generally focuses the fund’s investments in equity real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) as well as similar entities formed under the laws of non-U.S. countries, but may also invest in mortgage REITs, hybrid REITs and other U.S. and foreign real estate-related investments, including emerging market real estate-related investments.
 
MFS may invest the fund’s assets in real estate-related investments of any size.  However, issuers of real estate-related investments tend to be small-to-medium-sized.
 
MFS typically allocates the fund’s investments across various geographic areas, REIT managers and property types, but may from time to time focus the fund’s investments in any one or a few of these areas.
 
MFS may invest a large percentage of the fund’s assets in issuers in a single country, a small number of countries, or a particular geographic region.
 
MFS selects investments by analyzing the fundamental and relative values of potential investments.
 
Principal Risks
As with any mutual fund, the fund may not achieve its objective and/or you could lose money on your investment in the fund. An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency.
 
The principal risks of investing in the fund are:
 
Real Estate-Related Investment Risk:  The fund’s performance will be closely tied to the performance of real estate-related investments and as a result, can be more volatile than the performance of more broadly-diversified funds. The risks of investing in real estate-related investments include certain risks associated with the direct ownership of real estate and the real estate industry in general. These include risks related to general, regional and local economic conditions; fluctuations in interest rates; property tax rates, zoning laws, environmental regulations and other governmental action; cash flow dependency; increased operating expenses; lack of availability of mortgage funds; losses due to natural disasters; overbuilding; losses due to casualty or condemnation; changes in property values and rental rates; and other factors.
 
Small Cap Risk:  The securities of smaller real estate-related issuers can be more volatile and less liquid than securities of larger issuers and their issuers can have more limited financial resources.
 
Stock Market/Company Risk:  Stock markets are volatile and can decline significantly in response to issuer, market, economic, industry, political, regulatory, geopolitical, and other conditions, as well as to investor perceptions of these conditions. The price of an equity security can decrease significantly in response to these conditions, and these conditions can affect a single issuer or type of security, issuers within a broad market sector, industry or geographic region, or the market in general.
 
Foreign and Emerging Markets Risk: Exposure to foreign markets, especially emerging markets, through issuers or currencies can involve additional risks relating to market, economic, political, regulatory, geopolitical, or other conditions. These factors can make foreign investments, especially those in emerging markets, more volatile and less liquid than U.S. investments. In addition, foreign markets can react differently to these conditions than the U.S. market. Emerging markets can have less developed markets and less developed legal, regulatory, and accounting systems, and greater political, social, and economic instability than developed markets.
 
Currency Risk: The value of foreign currencies relative to the U.S. dollar fluctuates in response to market, economic, political, regulatory, geopolitical or other conditions, and a decline in the value of a foreign currency versus the U.S. dollar reduces the value in U.S. dollars of investments denominated in that foreign currency.
 
Geographic Concentration Risk: The fund’s performance could be closely tied to the market, currency, economic, political, regulatory, geopolitical, or other conditions in the countries or regions in which the fund invests and could be more volatile than the performance of more geographically-diversified funds.
 
Investment Selection Risk:  The MFS analysis of an investment can be incorrect and can lead to an investment focus that results in the fund underperforming other funds with similar investment strategies and/or underperforming the markets in which the fund invests.
 
Counterparty and Third Party Risk:  Transactions involving a counterparty or third party other than the issuer of the instrument are subject to the credit risk of the counterparty or third party, and to the

 
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MFS Global Real Estate Fund

counterparty’s or third party’s ability to perform in accordance with the terms of the transaction.
 
Liquidity Risk:  It may not be possible to sell certain investments, types of investments, and/or segments of the market at any particular time or at an acceptable price.
 
Performance Information
The bar chart and performance table below are intended to provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund by showing changes in the fund’s performance over time and how the fund’s performance over time compares with that of a broad measure of market performance.
 
The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) does not necessarily indicate how the fund will perform in the future. Updated performance is available online at mfs.com or by calling 1-800-225-2606.
 
Class A Bar Chart.  The bar chart does not take into account any sales charges (loads) that you may be required to pay upon purchase or redemption of the fund’s shares. If these sales charges were included, they would reduce the returns shown.
The total return for the three-month period ended March 31, 2012 was 12.74%. During the period(s) shown in the bar chart, the highest quarterly return was 18.70% (for the calendar quarter ended September 30, 2010) and the lowest quarterly return was (18.05)% (for the calendar quarter ended September 30, 2011).
 
Performance Table.
 
Average Annual Total Returns
 
(for the Periods Ended December 31, 2011)
 
Share Class
1 YEAR
LIFE
INCEPTION 3-11-2009
Returns Before Taxes
   
B Shares
(11.32)%
28.39%
C Shares
(8.69)%
29.07%
I Shares
(6.89)%
30.35%
R1 Shares
(7.81)%
29.07%
R2 Shares
(7.35)%
29.71%
R3 Shares
(7.12)%
30.03%
R4 Shares
(6.89)%
30.35%
R5 Shares
(6.89)%
30.35%
A Shares
(12.55)%
27.30%
Returns After Taxes on Distributions
A Shares
(13.61)%
20.31%
Returns After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares
A Shares
(7.46)%
19.97%
Index Comparison  (Reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
   
FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Real Estate Index
(5.82)%
33.50%

After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns will depend on your own tax situation, and may differ from those shown. The after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. The after-tax returns are shown for only one of the fund’s classes of shares, and after-tax returns for the fund’s other classes of shares will vary from the returns shown.
 
Investment Adviser
MFS serves as the investment adviser for the fund.
 
Portfolio Manager(s)

Portfolio Manager
Since
Title
Richard R. Gable
2009
Investment Officer of MFS

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
You may purchase and redeem shares of the fund each day the New York Stock Exchange is open for trading. You may purchase or redeem shares either by having your financial intermediary process your purchase or redemption, or through MFS Service Center, Inc. (MFSC) by overnight mail (MFSC, c/o Boston Financial Data Services, 30 Dan Road, Canton, MA  02021-2809), by mail ([Fund Name], P.O. Box 55824, Boston, MA 02205-5824), by telephone (1-800-225-2606), or via the Internet at mfs.com (MFS Access).
 
The fund’s initial and subsequent investment minimums generally are as follows:
 
Class
Initial Minimum
Subsequent Minimum
 
Class A, Class B, Class C
None – automatic investment plans and certain asset-based fee programs
$25 – employer-sponsored retirement plans
$250 – Traditional and Roth IRAs
$1,000 – other accounts
$50 – by check and non-systematic written exchange request, and via MFSC telephone representatives
None – other purchases
Class I, Class R1, Class R2, Class R3, Class R4, Class R5
None
None
 
 
Currently, only Class I and Class R5 shares are available for sale and only to funds distributed by MFS Fund Distributors, Inc.
 
Taxes
If your shares are held in a taxable account, the fund’s distributions are taxable to you, and will be taxed as ordinary income and/or capital gains.
 

 
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MFS Global Real Estate Fund

 
Payments to Broker/Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of the fund through a broker/dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the fund, MFS, and MFS’ affiliates may pay the financial intermediary for the sale of shares of a fund and/or the servicing of shareholder accounts. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing your broker/dealer or other financial intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the fund over another investment. Ask your financial intermediary or visit your financial intermediary’s Web site for more information.
 
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