497K 1 a20-23614_23497k.htm 497K

 

SUMMARY PROSPECTUS

July 29, 2020

 

 

GRAPHIC

 

MFS® Municipal Income Fund

 

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 reports to shareholders and 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 July 29, 2020, as may be amended or supplemented from time to time, are incorporated by reference into this summary prospectus.

 

CLASS

 

TICKER SYMBOL

Class A1

 

MMIDX

Class B1

 

MMIGX

 

Beginning on January 1, 2021, as permitted by regulations adopted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, paper copies of the fund’s annual and semiannual shareholder reports will no longer be sent by mail, unless you specifically request paper copies of the reports.  Instead, the complete reports will be made available on the fund’s Web site (funds.mfs.com), and you will be notified by mail each time a report is posted and provided with a Web site link to access the report.

 

If you are already signed up to receive shareholder reports by email, you will not be affected by this change and you need not take any action.  You may sign up to receive shareholder reports and other communications from the fund by email by contacting your financial intermediary (such as a broker-dealer or bank) or, if you hold your shares directly with the fund, by calling 1-800-225-2606 or by logging on to MFS Access at mfs.com.

 

Beginning on January 1, 2019, you may elect to receive all future reports in paper free of charge.  Contact your financial intermediary to request that you continue to receive paper copies of your shareholder reports.  If you invest directly with the fund, you can call 1-800-225-2606 or send an email request to orderliterature@mfs.com to let the fund know that you wish to continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports.  Your election to receive reports in paper will apply to all funds held in your account if you invest through your financial intermediary or all funds held with the MFS fund complex if you invest directly.

 

Summary of Key Information

 

Investment Objective

 

The fund’s investment objective is to seek total return with an emphasis on income exempt from federal income tax, but also considering capital appreciation.

 

Fees and Expenses

 

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay when you buy and hold shares of the fund. Investors may also pay commissions or other fees to their financial intermediaries when they buy and hold shares of the fund, which are not reflected below.

 

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 $100,000 in MFS funds. More information about these and other waivers and reductions is available from your financial intermediary and in “Sales Charges and Waivers and Reductions” on page 10 and “Appendix A – Waivers and Reductions of Sales Charges” on page A-1 of the fund’s prospectus.

 

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment):

 

Share Class

 

A1

 

B1

 

Maximum Sales Charge (Load)
Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price)

 

4.25

%

None

 

Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load)
(as a percentage of original purchase price or redemption proceeds, whichever is less)

 

1.00

%#

4.00

%

 

LMBA1B1-SUM-072920

 

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MFS Municipal Income Fund

 

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment):

 

Share Class

 

A1

 

B1

 

Management Fee

 

0.37

%

0.37

%

Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees

 

None

 

1.00

%

Other Expenses

 

0.16

%

0.16

%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

 

0.53

%

1.53

%

Fee Reductions and/or Expense Reimbursements1

 

(0.01

)%

(0.26

)%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Reductions and/or Expense Reimbursements

 

0.52

%

1.27

%

 

#                 This contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) applies to shares purchased without an initial sales charge and redeemed within 18 months of purchase.

1                 MFS Fund Distributors, Inc., has agreed in writing to waive the Class B1 service fee to 0.00% of the class’ average daily net assets annually until modified by the fund’s Board of Trustees, but such agreement will continue until at least July 31, 2021. Massachusetts Financial Services Company has agreed in writing to bear the fund’s expenses, excluding interest, taxes, extraordinary expenses, brokerage and transaction costs, and investment related expenses (such as interest and borrowing expenses incurred in connection with the fund’s investment activity), such that “Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses” do not exceed 0.48% of the class’ average daily net assets annually for Class A1 and 1.23% of the class’ average daily net assets annually for Class B1. (Other Expenses include 0.04% of interest and/or investment-related expenses incurred in connection with the fund’s investment activity which are excluded from the expense limitation described in the prior sentence.) This written agreement will continue until modified by the fund’s Board of Trustees, but such agreement will continue until at least July 31, 2021.

 

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 A1 Shares

 

$

476

 

$

587

 

$

708

 

$

1,061

 

Class B1 Shares assuming

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

redemption at end of period

 

$

529

 

$

758

 

$

1,010

 

$

1,530

 

no redemption at end of period

 

$

129

 

$

458

 

$

810

 

$

1,530

 

 

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 23% of the average value of its portfolio.

 

Principal Investment Strategies

 

The fund invests, under normal market conditions, at least 80% of its net assets in securities and other investments, the interest on which is exempt from federal income tax. Interest from the fund’s investments may be subject to the federal alternative minimum tax.

 

MFS (Massachusetts Financial Services Company, the fund’s investment adviser) normally invests the fund’s assets primarily in municipal instruments.

 

MFS primarily invests the fund’s assets in investment grade quality debt instruments, but may also invest in below investment grade quality debt instruments.

 

MFS may invest 25% or more of the fund’s total assets in municipal instruments that finance similar projects, such as those relating to education, healthcare, housing, utilities, water, or sewers.

 

MFS may invest a significant percentage of the fund’s assets in issuers in a single state, territory, or possession, or a small number of states, territories, or possessions.

 

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 exposure, or as alternatives to direct investments. Derivatives include futures, forward contracts, options, inverse floating rate instruments, swaps, and certain complex structured securities.

 

MFS uses an active bottom-up investment approach to buying and selling investments for the fund. Investments are selected primarily based on fundamental analysis of individual instruments and their issuers. Quantitative screening tools that systematically evaluate instruments may also be considered. In structuring the fund, MFS also considers top-down factors.

 

For purposes of the fund’s 80% policy, net assets include the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes.

 

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:

 

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MFS Municipal Income Fund

 

Investment Selection Risk:  MFS’ investment analysis and its selection of investments may not produce the intended results and/or 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.

 

Debt Market Risk:  Debt markets can be volatile and can decline significantly in response to, or investor perceptions of, issuer, market, economic, industry, political, regulatory, geopolitical, environmental, public health, and other conditions.  These conditions can affect a single instrument, issuer, or borrower, a particular type of instrument, issuer, or borrower, a segment of the debt markets or the debt markets generally. Certain events can have a dramatic adverse effect on debt markets and may lead to periods of high volatility and reduced liquidity in a debt market or segment of a debt market.

 

Interest Rate Risk:  In general, the price of a debt instrument falls when interest rates rise and rises when interest rates fall. Interest rate risk is generally greater for instruments with longer maturities, or that do not pay current interest.

 

Credit Risk:  The price of a debt instrument depends, in part, on the credit quality of the issuer, borrower, counterparty, or other entity responsible for payment, or underlying collateral or assets and the terms of the instrument. The price of a debt instrument can decline in response to changes in, or perceptions of, the financial condition of the issuer, borrower, counterparty, or other entity, or underlying collateral or assets, or changes in, or perceptions of, specific or general market, economic, industry, political, regulatory, geopolitical, environmental, public health, and other conditions.

 

The credit quality of, and the ability to pay principal and interest when due by, an issuer of a municipal instrument depends on the credit quality of the entity supporting the municipal instrument, how essential any services supported by the municipal instrument are, the sufficiency of any revenues or taxes that support the municipal instrument, and/or the willingness or ability of the appropriate government entity to approve any appropriations necessary to support the municipal instrument. In addition, the price of a municipal instrument also depends on its credit quality and ability to meet the credit support obligations of any insurer or other entity providing credit support to a municipal instrument.

 

Below investment grade quality debt instruments (commonly referred to as “high yield securities” or “junk bonds”) can involve a substantially greater risk of default or can already be in default, and their values can decline significantly. Below investment grade quality debt instruments are regarded as having predominantly speculative characteristics. Below investment grade quality debt instruments tend to be more sensitive to adverse news about the issuer, or the market or economy in general, than higher quality debt instruments.

 

Municipal Risk: The price of a municipal instrument can be volatile and significantly affected by adverse tax changes or court rulings, legislative or political changes, changes in specific or general market and economic conditions and developments, and the financial condition of municipal issuers and insurers. Because many municipal instruments are issued to finance similar projects, conditions in certain industries can significantly affect the fund and the overall municipal market.  Municipal instruments may be more susceptible to downgrades or defaults during economic downturns or similar periods of economic stress, which in turn could affect the market values and marketability of many or all municipal obligations of issuers in a state, U.S. territory, or possession. For example, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has significantly stressed the financial resources of many municipal issuers, which may impair a municipal issuer’s ability to meet its financial obligations when due and could adversely impact the value of its bonds, which could negatively impact the performance of the fund.

 

Focus Risk: The fund’s performance will be closely tied to the issuer, market, economic, industry, political, regulatory, geopolitical, environmental, public health, and other conditions in the states, territories, and possessions of the United States in which the fund’s assets are invested.  If MFS invests a significant percentage of the fund’s assets in a single state, territory, or possession, or a small number of states, territories, or possessions, these conditions will have a significant impact on the fund’s performance and the fund’s performance may be more volatile than the performance of more geographically-diversified funds.

 

Prepayment/Extension Risk:  Instruments subject to prepayment and/or extension can reduce the potential for gain for the instrument’s holders if the instrument is prepaid and increase the potential for loss if the maturity of the instrument is extended.

 

Derivatives Risk:  Derivatives can be highly volatile and involve risks in addition to the risks of the underlying indicator(s) on which the derivative is based. Gains or losses from derivatives can be substantially greater than the derivatives’ original cost.  Derivatives can involve leverage.

 

Leveraging Risk:  Leverage involves investment exposure in an amount exceeding the initial investment. Leverage can cause increased volatility by magnifying gains or losses.

 

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 counterparty’s or third party’s ability or willingness to perform in accordance with the terms of the transaction.

 

Liquidity Risk:  It may be difficult to value, and it may not be possible to sell, certain investments, types of investments, and/or investments in certain segments of the market, and the fund may have to sell certain of these investments at prices or times that are not advantageous in order to meet redemptions or other cash needs.

 

Large Shareholder Risk: From time to time, shareholders of the fund (which may include institutional investors, financial intermediaries, or other MFS funds) may make relatively large redemptions or purchases of fund shares.  These transactions may cause the fund to sell securities or invest additional cash, as the case may be, at disadvantageous prices.  Redemptions of a large number of shares also may increase transaction costs or have adverse tax consequences for shareholders of the fund by requiring a sale of portfolio securities.

 

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MFS Municipal Income Fund

 

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 A1 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 six-month period ended June 30, 2020, was (0.31)%. During the period(s) shown in the bar chart, the highest quarterly return was 4.48% (for the calendar quarter ended June 30, 2011) and the lowest quarterly return was (4.86)% (for the calendar quarter ended December 31, 2010).

 

Performance Table.

 

Average Annual Total Returns

(For the Periods Ended December 31, 2019)

 

Share Class

 

1 YEAR

 

5 YEARS

 

10 YEARS

 

Returns Before Taxes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

B1 Shares

 

3.48

%

2.95

%

4.33

%

A1 Shares

 

3.69

%

3.19

%

4.50

%

Returns After Taxes on Distributions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A1 Shares

 

3.67

%

3.18

%

4.49

%

Returns After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A1 Shares

 

3.52

%

3.26

%

4.39

%

Index Comparison (Reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bloomberg Barclays Municipal Bond Index

 

7.54

%

3.53

%

4.34

%

 

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-advantaged 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

Jason Kosty

 

2015

 

Investment Officer of MFS

Geoffrey Schechter

 

2000

 

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 (the NYSE) 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, Suite 219341, 430 W 7th Street, Kansas City, MO 64105-1407), by mail ([Fund Name], P.O. Box 219341, Kansas City, MO 64121-9341), 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 A1, Class B1

 

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 A1 shares are available only to shareholder accounts opened in the fund in connection with the fund’s acquisition of all the assets and certain stated liabilities of MFS Municipal Bond Fund pursuant to an agreement and plan of reorganization. Class A1 shareholders of the fund can purchase additional Class A1 shares through accounts opened in connection with the reorganization. Purchases of Class B1 shares are closed to new and existing investors except through reinvestment of dividends and capital gain distributions. Existing Class B1 investors may continue to exchange their Class B1 shares for Class B shares of another MFS fund. Once a Class A1 or Class B1 shareholder has closed their account in the fund, they will be prohibited from purchasing Class A1 or Class B1 shares in the future.

 

Taxes

 

The fund intends to distribute income that is exempt from federal income tax, but may be subject to federal alternative minimum tax.  A portion of the fund’s distributions may be subject to federal income tax.

 

Payments to Broker/Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

 

If you purchase shares of the fund through a broker/dealer or other

 

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MFS Municipal Income Fund

 

financial intermediary (such as a bank), the fund, MFS, and/or 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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