N-CSRS 1 d449615dncsrs.htm MFS SERIES TRUST X N-CSRS MFS SERIES TRUST X N-CSRS
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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM N-CSR

CERTIFIED SHAREHOLDER REPORT OF

REGISTERED MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES

Investment Company Act file number 811-04492

MFS SERIES TRUST X

(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)

111 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02199

(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code)

Christopher R. Bohane

Massachusetts Financial Services Company

111 Huntington Avenue

Boston, Massachusetts 02199

(Name and address of agents for service)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (617) 954-5000

Date of fiscal year end: May 31*

Date of reporting period: November 30, 2017

 

*

This Form N-CSR pertains to the following series of the Registrant: MFS Absolute Return Fund, MFS Aggressive Growth Allocation Fund, MFS Blended Research Growth Equity Fund, MFS Blended Research Small Cap Equity Fund, MFS Blended Research Value Equity Fund, MFS Blended Research Mid Cap Equity Fund, MFS Conservative Allocation Fund, MFS Emerging Markets Equity Fund, MFS Growth Allocation Fund, MFS International Diversification Fund, MFS International Growth Fund, MFS International Value Fund, MFS Managed Wealth Fund, and MFS Moderate Allocation Fund. The remaining series of the Registrant have fiscal year ends other than May 31st.


Table of Contents
ITEM 1. REPORTS TO STOCKHOLDERS.


Table of Contents

SEMIANNUAL REPORT

November 30, 2017

 

LOGO

 

MFS® ABSOLUTE RETURN FUND

 

LOGO

 

ART-SEM

 


Table of Contents

MFS® ABSOLUTE RETURN FUND

 

CONTENTS

 

Letter from the Executive Chairman     1  
Portfolio composition     2  
Expense table     4  
Portfolio of investments     6  
Statement of assets and liabilities     22  
Statement of operations     24  
Statements of changes in net assets     25  
Financial highlights     26  
Notes to financial statements     35  
Board review of investment advisory agreement     54  
Proxy voting policies and information     58  
Quarterly portfolio disclosure     58  
Further information     58  
Information about fund contracts and legal claims     59  
Provision of financial reports and summary prospectuses     59  
Contact information    back cover  

The report is prepared for the general information of shareholders. It is authorized for distribution to prospective investors only when preceded or accompanied by a current prospectus.

 

NOT FDIC INSURED MAY LOSE VALUE NO BANK GUARANTEE



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LOGO

 

LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN

 

Dear Shareholders:

Most markets have proved resilient over the past year, despite uncertainty accompanying a new presidential administration in the United States and unease over

ongoing negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union regarding Brexit. U.S. share prices have reached new highs in recent months although the U.S. Federal Reserve has continued to gradually hike interest rates and has begun to shrink its balance sheet.

Globally, we’ve experienced a synchronized upturn in economic growth for more than a year. Despite the improvement in economic activity, there are few immediate signs of worrisome inflation amid muted wage gains around the world. Emerging market economies have been boosted in part by a weaker

U.S. dollar and are recovering despite lingering concerns over the potential for restrictive U.S. trade policies. Commodity markets have recovered somewhat in response to solid global demand and robust global trade, though not enough to rekindle inflation fears.

At MFS®, we believe having a disciplined, long-term investment approach through a full market cycle is essential to capturing the best opportunities while also managing risk. In our view, such a strategy, along with the professional guidance of a financial advisor, will help you reach your investment objectives.

Respectfully,

 

LOGO

Robert J. Manning

Executive Chairman

MFS Investment Management

January 16, 2018

The opinions expressed in this letter are subject to change and may not be relied upon for investment advice. No forecasts can be guaranteed.

 

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PORTFOLIO COMPOSITION

Portfolio structure

 

       

Active Security

Selection (a)

    Derivative
Overlay
Positions (b)
   

Net Market
Exposure (c)

 
            Long     Short    
Fixed Income   U.S.     67.5%       10.2%       (9.5)%       68.2%  
  Europe ex-U.K.     10.7%       4.7%       0.0%       15.4%  
  United Kingdom     5.4%       3.7%       0.0%       9.1%  
  Asia/Pacific ex-Japan     1.7%       7.1%       0.0%       8.8%  
  Emerging Markets     2.1%       0.0%       0.0%       2.1%  
  Supranational     0.4%       0.0%       0.0%       0.4%  
  Japan     2.5%       0.0%       (3.3)%       (0.8)%  
    North America ex-U.S.     3.9%       0.0%       (5.6)%       (1.7)%  
Equity   Europe ex-U.K.     0.0%       13.4%       (2.4)%       11.0%  
  Asia/Pacific ex-Japan     0.0%       4.6%       (2.6)%       2.0%  
  Japan     0.0%       1.7%       0.0%       1.7%  
  United Kingdom     0.0%       0.0%       (0.3)%       (0.3)%  
  Emerging Markets     0.0%       9.8%       (10.2)%       (0.4)%  
  U.S. Large Cap     0.0%       0.0%       (2.4)%       (2.4)%  
  North America ex-U.S.     0.0%       0.0%       (4.2)%       (4.2)%  
    U.S. Small/Mid Cap     0.0%       0.0%       (4.5)%       (4.5)%  
Real Estate-related   U.S.     0.7%       0.0%       0.0%       0.7%  
Cash   Cash & Cash Equivalents (d)                             8.8%  
  Other (e)                             (13.9)%  

 

Top ten holdings (c)  
iBoxx $ Liquid High Yield Index Total Return Swap – DEC 2017     10.2%  
Australian Treasury Bond 10 yr Future – DEC 2017     7.1%  
U.S. Treasury Notes, 1.875%, 2/28/2022     5.3%  
Euro Bund Future – DEC 2017     4.7%  
FTSE MIB Index Future – DEC 2017     4.5%  
CAC 40 Index Future – DEC 2017     4.3%  
S&P TSX 60 Index Future – DEC 2017     (4.2)%  
Russell 2000 Index Future – DEC 2017     (4.5)%  
Canadian Treasury Bond 10 yr Future – MAR 2018     (5.6)%  
U.S. Treasury Notes 10 yr Future – MAR 2018     (9.5)%  

 

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Portfolio Composition – continued

 

 

(a) Represents the actively managed portion of the portfolio and for purposes of this presentation, components include the value of securities, less any securities sold short. The bond component will include any accrued interest amounts. This also reflects the equivalent exposure of certain derivative positions. These amounts may be negative from time to time.
(b) Represents the tactical overlay portion of the portfolio which is how the fund manages its exposure to markets and currencies through the use of derivative positions. Percentages reflect the equivalent exposure of those derivative positions.
(c) For purposes of this presentation, the components include the value of securities, less any securities sold short, and reflect the impact of the equivalent exposure of all derivative positions. These amounts may be negative from time to time. The bond component will include any accrued interest amounts.
(d) Cash & Cash Equivalents includes any cash, investments in money market funds, short term securities, and other assets less liabilities. Please see the Statement of Assets and Liabilities for additional information related to the fund’s cash position and other assets and liabilities.
(e) Other includes currency derivatives and/or the offsetting of the leverage produced by the fund’s derivative positions, including payables and/or receivables of the finance leg of interest rate swaps and the unrealized gain or loss in connection with forward currency exchange contracts.

Equivalent exposure is a calculated amount that translates the derivative position into a reasonable approximation of the amount of the underlying asset that the portfolio would have to hold at a given point in time to have the same price sensitivity that results from the portfolio’s ownership of the derivative contract. When dealing with derivatives, equivalent exposure is a more representative measure of the potential impact of a position on portfolio performance than value. The value of derivatives may be different.

Where the fund holds convertible bonds, they are treated as part of the equity portion of the portfolio.

Percentages are based on net assets as of November 30, 2017.

The portfolio is actively managed and current holdings may be different.

 

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EXPENSE TABLE

Fund expenses borne by the shareholders during the period, June 1, 2017 through November 30, 2017

As a shareholder of the fund, you incur two types of costs: (1) transaction costs, including sales charges (loads) on certain purchase or redemption payments, and (2) ongoing costs, including management fees; distribution and service (12b-1) fees; and other fund expenses. This example is intended to help you understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the fund and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds.

The example is based on an investment of $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period June 1, 2017 through November 30, 2017.

The expenses include the payment of a portion of the transfer-agent-related expenses of MFS funds that invest in the fund. For further information, please see the Notes to Financial Statements.

Actual Expenses

The first line for each share class in the following table provides information about actual account values and actual expenses. You may use the information in this line, together with the amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you paid over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000 = 8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first line under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid During Period” to estimate the expenses you paid on your account during this period.

Hypothetical Example for Comparison Purposes

The second line for each share class in the following table provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the fund’s actual expense ratio and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses, which is not the fund’s actual return. The hypothetical account values and expenses may not be used to estimate the actual ending account balance or expenses you paid for the period. You may use this information to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the fund and other funds. To do so, compare this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of the other funds.

Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only and do not reflect any transactional costs, such as sales charges (loads). Therefore, the second line for each share class in the table is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds. In addition, if these transactional costs were included, your costs would have been higher.

 

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Expense Table – continued

 

 

Share

Class

       Annualized
Expense
Ratio
    Beginning
Account Value
6/01/17
    Ending
Account Value
11/30/17
    Expenses
Paid During
Period  (p)
6/01/17-11/30/17
 
A   Actual     1.20%       $1,000.00       $999.75       $6.02  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.20%       $1,000.00       $1,019.05       $6.07  
B   Actual     1.95%       $1,000.00       $995.93       $9.76  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.95%       $1,000.00       $1,015.29       $9.85  
C   Actual     1.95%       $1,000.00       $995.96       $9.76  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.95%       $1,000.00       $1,015.29       $9.85  
I   Actual     0.95%       $1,000.00       $1,001.00       $4.77  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.95%       $1,000.00       $1,020.31       $4.81  
R1   Actual     1.95%       $1,000.00       $996.01       $9.76  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.95%       $1,000.00       $1,015.29       $9.85  
R2   Actual     1.45%       $1,000.00       $998.50       $7.26  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.45%       $1,000.00       $1,017.80       $7.33  
R3   Actual     1.20%       $1,000.00       $999.76       $6.02  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.20%       $1,000.00       $1,019.05       $6.07  
R4   Actual     0.95%       $1,000.00       $999.97       $4.76  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.95%       $1,000.00       $1,020.31       $4.81  
R6   Actual     0.89%       $1,000.00       $1,000.27       $4.46  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.89%       $1,000.00       $1,020.61       $4.51  

 

(h) 5% class return per year before expenses.
(p) “Expenses Paid During Period” are equal to each class’s annualized expense ratio, as shown above, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/365 (to reflect the one-half year period). Expenses paid do not include any applicable sales charges (loads). If these transaction costs had been included, your costs would have been higher.

Notes to Expense Table

Expense ratios include 0.05% of interest expense on uncovered collateral or margin obligations with the broker (See Note 2 of the Notes to Financial Statements) that are outside of the expense limitation arrangement (See Note 3 of the Notes to Financial Statements).

 

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PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS

11/30/17 (unaudited)

The Portfolio of Investments is a complete list of all securities owned by your fund. It is categorized by broad-based asset classes.

 

Bonds - 90.7%                 
Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Asset-Backed & Securitized - 23.0%                 
A Voce CLO Ltd., 2014-1A, “A2R”, FLR, 2.909%, (U.S. LIBOR-3mo. + 1.55%) 7/15/2026 (n)    $ 575,000     $ 578,267  
A Voce CLO Ltd., 2014-1A, “BR”, FLR, 3.509%, (U.S. LIBOR-3mo. + 2.15%) 7/15/2026 (n)      747,000       749,972  
AIMCO Properties CLO LP, 2014-AA, “B1R”, FLR, 2.963%, (U.S. LIBOR-3mo. + 1.6%) 7/20/2026 (n)      565,000       568,188  
AmeriCredit Automobile Receivables Trust, 2016-3, “A2A”, 1.37%, 11/08/2019      144,762       144,719  
AmeriCredit Automobile Receivables Trust, 2017-2, “C”, 2.97%, 3/20/2023      605,000       609,475  
Ares CLO Ltd., 2013-3A, “B1R”, FLR, 2.853%, (U.S. LIBOR-3mo. + 1.5%) 10/17/2024 (n)      709,000       709,019  
ARI Fleet Lease Trust, 2016-A, “A2”, 1.82%, 7/15/2024 (n)      267,901       267,875  
Atrium CDO Corp., 2010-A, “B1R”, FLR, 2.809%, (U.S. LIBOR-3mo. + 1.45%) 7/16/2025 (n)      849,000       852,903  
Atrium CDO Corp., 2011-A, “BR”, FLR, 2.863%, (U.S. LIBOR-3mo. + 1.5%) 10/23/2025 (n)      575,000       579,336  
Avery Point CLO Ltd., 2014-1A, “CR”, FLR, 3.717%,
(U.S. LIBOR-3mo. + 2.35%) 4/25/2026 (n)
     562,000       572,125  
Babson CLO Ltd., 2013-IIA, “BR”, FLR, 2.853%, (U.S. LIBOR-3mo. + 1.5%) 10/17/2026 (n)      863,000       862,495  
Ballyrock Ltd., 2014-1A, “A2R”, FLR, 3.063%, (U.S. LIBOR-3mo. + 1.7%) 10/20/2026 (n)      561,000       560,998  
Canadian Pacific Auto Receivables Trust, 2017-1A, “A2B”, FLR, 1.483%, (U.S. LIBOR-1mo. + 0.43%) 12/19/2019 (n)      447,000       447,000  
Capital Auto Receivables Asset Trust, 2016-3, “A2A”, 1.36%, 4/22/2019      49,969       49,959  
Capital One Multi-Asset Execution Trust, 2016-A4, “A4”, 1.33%, 6/15/2022      1,360,000       1,344,892  
CD Commercial Mortgage Trust, 2017-CD4, “XA”, 1.327%, 5/10/2050 (i)      5,825,117       530,138  
Cent CLO LP, 2014-21A, “A2AR”, FLR, 3.074%, (U.S. LIBOR-3mo. + 1.7%) 7/27/2026 (n)      458,549       461,297  
Cent CLO LP, 2014-21A, “BR”, FLR, 3.774%, (U.S. LIBOR-3mo. + 2.4%) 7/27/2026 (n)      323,186       323,455  
Chesapeake Funding II LLC, 2017-2A, “B”, 2.81%, 5/15/2029 (n)      396,000       395,857  
Chesapeake Funding II LLC, 2017-2A, “C”, 3.01%, 5/15/2029 (n)      200,000       199,895  
Chesapeake Funding II LLC, 2017-3A, “B”, 2.57%, 8/15/2029 (n)      256,000       253,846  
Chesapeake Funding II LLC, 2017-4A, “C”, 2.76%, 11/15/2029 (n)      132,000       131,965  

 

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Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Bonds - continued                 
Asset-Backed & Securitized - continued                 
Chrysler Capital Auto Receivables Trust 2016-B, “A2”, 1.36%, 1/15/2020 (n)    $ 186,243     $ 186,077  
Colony Starwood Homes, 2016-2A, “A”, FLR, 2.516%,
(LIBOR-1mo. + 1.25%) 12/17/2033 (n)
     806,110       810,767  
CPS Auto Trust, 2016-D, “B”, 2.11%, 3/15/2021 (n)      678,000       675,343  
CPS Auto Trust, 2017-C, “C”, 2.86%, 6/15/2023 (n)      390,000       387,499  
Credit Acceptance Auto Loan Trust, 2015-2A, “A”, 2.4%, 2/15/2023 (n)      518,548       519,546  
Credit Acceptance Auto Loan Trust, 2016-3A, “A”, 2.15%, 4/15/2024 (n)      807,000       804,310  
Credit Acceptance Auto Loan Trust, 2017-2A, “B”, 3.02%, 4/15/2026 (n)      860,000       852,872  
Cutwater Ltd., 2014-1A, “A2R”, FLR, 3.059%,
(U.S. LIBOR-3mo. + 1.7%) 7/15/2026 (n)
     1,250,000       1,257,665  
Dell Equipment Finance Trust, 2017-2, “B”, 2.47%, 10/24/2022 (n)      235,000       234,067  
DLL Securitization Trust, 2017-A, “A3”, 2.14%, 12/15/2021 (n)      267,000       266,952  
Drive Auto Receivables Trust, 2016-CA, “A3”, 1.67%, 11/15/2019 (n)      372,946       372,942  
Drive Auto Receivables Trust, 2017-1, “B”, 2.36%, 3/15/2021      247,000       247,438  
Dryden Senior Loan Fund, 2014-31A, “CR”, FLR, 3.454%, (LIBOR-3mo. + 2.1%) 4/18/2026 (n)      260,000       259,735  
Dryden Senior Loan Fund, 2014-34A, “BR”, FLR, 2.909%, (LIBOR-3mo. + 1.55%) 10/15/2026 (n)      275,000       275,017  
Dryden Senior Loan Fund, 2014-34A, “CR”, CLO, FLR, 3.509%, (LIBOR-3mo. + 2.15%) 10/15/2026 (n)      353,729       358,322  
DT Auto Owner Trust, 2017-2A, “C”, 3.03%, 1/17/2023 (n)      664,000       664,930  
DT Auto Owner Trust, 2017-3A, “C”, 3.01%, 5/15/2023 (n)      431,000       428,551  
Enterprise Fleet Financing LLC, 1.74%, 2/22/2022 (n)      353,594       353,100  
Enterprise Fleet Financing LLC, 2017-1, “A2”, 2.13%, 7/20/2022 (n)      370,000       370,498  
Exeter Automobile Receivables Trust, 2016-3A, “A”, 1.84%, 11/16/2020 (n)      376,947       376,745  
Exeter Automobile Receivables Trust, 2017-1A, “A”, 1.96%, 3/15/2021 (n)      196,411       195,870  
Flagship Credit Auto Trust, 2016-1, “A”, 2.77%, 12/15/2020 (n)      213,625       214,677  
Ford Credit Auto Owner Trust, 2014-1,“A”, 2.26%, 11/15/2025 (n)      227,000       227,615  
Ford Credit Auto Owner Trust, 2014-2,“A”, 2.31%, 4/15/2026 (n)      1,263,000       1,268,511  
GMF Floorplan Owner Revolving Trust, 2017-A1, “A”, 2.22%, 1/18/2022 (n)      560,000       559,567  
GS Mortgage Securities Trust, 2010-C1, “A2”, 4.592%, 8/10/2043 (n)      968,000       1,012,352  
GS Mortgage Securities Trust, 2017-GS6, “XA”, 1.198%, 5/10/2050 (i)      5,246,185       426,056  
GS Mortgage Securities Trust, 2017-GS7, “XA”, 1.289%, 8/10/2050 (i)      5,275,593       438,022  
HarbourView CLO VII Ltd., “B1R”, FLR, 3.086%, (U.S. LIBOR-3mo. + 1.65%) 11/18/2026 (n)      890,237       890,998  

 

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Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Bonds - continued                 
Asset-Backed & Securitized - continued                 
HarbourView CLO VII Ltd., 7A, “CR”, FLR, 3.816%, (U.S. LIBOR-3mo. + 2.38%) 11/18/2026 (n)    $ 573,237     $ 573,885  
Invitation Homes Trust, 2017-SFR2, “A”, FLR, (LIBOR-1mo. + 1%) 12/17/2036 (n)      840,000       842,722  
JPMorgan Chase Commercial Mortgage Securities Corp., 1.241%, 9/15/2050 (i)      11,007,171       834,819  
JPMorgan Chase Commercial Mortgage Securities Corp., 2011-C3, “A4”, 4.717%, 2/15/2046 (n)      927,980       981,604  
Loomis, Sayles & Co., CLO, “A1”, FLR, 2.889%, (U.S. LIBOR-3mo. + 1.53%) 10/15/2027 (n)      523,217       526,294  
Madison Park Funding XIV Ltd., 2014-14A, “C1R”, FLR, 3.413%, (U.S. LIBOR-3mo. + 2.05%) 7/20/2026 (n)      791,000       800,912  
Magnetite XI Ltd., 2014-11A, “BR”, FLR, 3.454%, (U.S. LIBOR-3mo. + 2.1%) 1/18/2027 (n)      393,000       399,274  
Morgan Stanley Bank of America Merrill Lynch Trust, 2017-C33, “XA”, 1.607%, 5/15/2050 (i)      5,778,843       523,467  
Morgan Stanley Capital I Trust, 2017-H1, “XA”,
1.619%, 6/15/2050 (i)
     2,229,047       213,030  
Motor PLC, 2015-1A, “A1”, FLR, 1.928%,
(U.S. LIBOR-1mo. + 0.6%) 6/25/2022 (n)
     32,446       32,447  
Mountain Hawk CLO Ltd., 2014-3A, “BR”, FLR,
3.154%, (U.S. LIBOR-3mo. + 1.8%) 4/18/2025 (n)
     1,132,000       1,139,647  
Nationstar HECM Loan Trust, 2016-2A, “A”, 2.239%, 6/25/2026 (n)      62,698       62,776  
Navient Student Loan Trust, 2016-3A, “A1”, FLR,
1.928%, (U.S. LIBOR-1mo. + 0.6%) 6/25/2065 (n)
     142,578       142,866  
Neuberger Berman CLO Ltd., 2015-20A, “BR”, FLR,
2.686%, (U.S. LIBOR-3mo. + 1.25%) 1/15/2028 (z)
     1,271,000       1,269,330  
NextGear Floorplan Master Owner Trust, 2017-1A, “A2”, 2.54%, 4/18/2022 (n)      451,000       450,782  
NextGear Floorplan Master Owner Trust, 2017-2A, “B”, 3.02%, 10/17/2022 (n)      353,000       351,363  
Oaktree CLO Ltd., 2014-2A, “BR”, FLR, 3.913%,
(U.S. LIBOR-3mo. + 2.55%) 10/20/2026 (n)
     573,000       578,127  
OCP CLO Ltd., 2015-10A, “A2AR”, 2.671%, 10/26/2027 (z)      1,038,043       1,038,043  
OneMain Direct Auto Receivables Trust, 2016-1A, “A”, 2.04%, 1/15/2021 (n)      75,354       75,425  
OneMain Financial Issuance Trust, 2017-1A, “A1”, 2.37%, 9/14/2032 (n)      697,000       692,061  
Oscar U.S. Funding Trust, 2016-2A, “A”, 2.31%, 11/15/2019 (n)      145,049       144,883  
Oscar U.S. Funding Trust, 2017-1A, “A3”, 2.82%, 6/10/2021 (n)      510,000       510,575  
Oscar U.S. Funding Trust, 2017-2A, “A2B”, FLR,
1.896%, (U.S. LIBOR-1mo. + 6.5%) 11/10/2020 (n)
     410,000       409,406  

 

8


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Bonds - continued                 
Asset-Backed & Securitized - continued                 
PFS Financing Corp., 2017-C, “A”, FLR,
(LIBOR-1mo. + 0.47%) 10/15/2021 (n)
   $ 309,000     $ 309,000  
Santander Drive Auto Receivables Trust, 2017-2, “C”, 2.79%, 8/15/2022      366,000       365,320  
Santander Retail Auto Lease Trust, 2017-A, “B”, 2.68%, 1/20/2022 (n)      266,000       265,387  
Securitized Term Auto Receivables Trust, 2016-1A, “A2A”,
1.284%, 11/26/2018 (n)
     96,593       96,535  
Shackelton CLO Ltd., 2013-4A, “CR”, FLR,
3.459%, (U.S. LIBOR-3mo. + 2.1%) 1/13/2025 (n)
     280,000       281,798  
Sierra Receivables Funding Co. LLC, 2015-1A, “A”, 2.4%, 3/22/2032 (n)      168,180       167,742  
Silver Spring CLO Ltd., FLR, 4.109%, (LIBOR-3mo. +
2.75%) 10/15/2026 (n)
     458,000       456,749  
SPS Servicer Advance Receivables Trust, 2016-T1, “AT1”, 2.53%, 11/16/2048 (n)      1,000,000       991,420  
Thacher Park CLO Ltd. 2014-1A. “CR”, FLR,
3.563%, (U.S. LIBOR-3mo. + 2.2%) 10/20/2026 (n)
     570,000       572,014  
TICP CLO Ltd., FLR, 3.613%, (U.S. LIBOR-3mo. +
2.25%) 1/20/2027 (n)
     502,000       508,536  
Tricon American Homes 2015-SFR1, Trust “1A”, 2.589%, 11/17/2033 (n)      650,000       640,500  
UBS Commercial Mortgage Trust, 2017-C1, “XA”, 1.022%, 11/15/2050 (i)      3,824,000       276,461  
Verizon Owner Trust, 2016-1A, “A”, 1.42%, 1/20/2021 (n)      983,000       976,891  
Verizon Owner Trust, 2017-3a, “B”, 2.38%, 4/20/2022 (n)      369,000       368,066  
Veros Auto Receivables Trust, 2017-1, “A”, 2.84%, 4/17/2023 (n)      317,000       316,755  
Volvo Financial Equipment LLC, “A2”, 1.44%, 10/15/2018 (n)      42,686       42,684  
Volvo Financial Equipment Master Owner Trust, 2017-A, “A”, FLR, 1.744%, (LIBOR-1mo. + 0.5%) 11/15/2022 (n)      408,000       407,964  
West CLO Ltd., 2013-1A, “A2BR”, 3.393%, 11/07/2025 (n)      564,000       559,304  
Wheels SPV LLC, 2015-1A, “A2”, 1.27%, 4/22/2024 (n)      146,260       146,155  
World Financial Network Credit Card Master Trust, 2017-B, “A”, 1.98%, 6/15/2023      888,000       885,167  
    

 

 

 
             $ 47,357,906  
Automotive - 4.6%                 
American Honda Finance Corp., 1.6%, 7/13/2018    $ 800,000     $ 799,268  
Daimler Finance North America LLC, 1.65%, 5/18/2018 (n)      1,100,000       1,099,248  
Ford Motor Credit Co. LLC, 2.262%, 3/28/2019      840,000       838,705  
Ford Motor Credit Co. LLC, 2.021%, 5/03/2019      810,000       805,913  
Ford Motor Credit Co. LLC, 2.343%, 11/02/2020      593,000       587,716  
Ford Motor Credit Co. LLC, FLR,
2.29%, (U.S. LIBOR-3mo. + 0.94%) 1/09/2018
     280,000       280,143  

 

9


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Bonds - continued                 
Automotive - continued                 
General Motors Financial Co., Inc., 2.65%, 4/13/2020    $ 1,753,000     $ 1,755,896  
General Motors Financial Co., Inc., 3.15%, 6/30/2022      397,000       397,302  
Hyundai Capital America, 2%, 3/19/2018 (n)      875,000       874,607  
Hyundai Capital America, 2.4%, 10/30/2018 (n)      480,000       479,646  
Toyota Motor Credit Corp., 1.7%, 2/19/2019      620,000       617,870  
Toyota Motor Credit Corp., FLR,
1.743%, (U.S. LIBOR-3mo. + 0.39%) 1/17/2019
     850,000       852,740  
    

 

 

 
             $ 9,389,054  
Broadcasting - 0.1%                 
SES Global Americas Holdings GP, 2.5%, 3/25/2019 (n)    $ 203,000     $ 202,411  
Brokerage & Asset Managers - 0.3%                 
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc., 2.75%, 12/01/2020    $ 680,000     $ 687,754  
Building - 0.3%                 
Stanley Black & Decker, Inc., 1.622%, 11/17/2018    $ 560,000     $ 557,905  
Business Services - 0.3%                 
Fidelity National Information Services, Inc., 2.25%, 8/15/2021    $ 590,000     $ 580,362  
Cable TV - 0.6%                 
Time Warner Cable, Inc., 5%, 2/01/2020    $ 1,146,000     $ 1,200,571  
Chemicals - 1.5%                 
Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. LLC, 1.7%, 5/01/2018 (n)    $ 1,000,000     $ 999,936  
Dow Chemical Co., 8.55%, 5/15/2019      840,000       914,443  
LyondellBasell Industries N.V., 5%, 4/15/2019      425,000       437,382  
Sherwin-Williams Co., 2.25%, 5/15/2020      805,000       801,354  
    

 

 

 
             $ 3,153,115  
Computer Software - 0.2%                 
Diamond 1 Finance Corp./Diamond 2 Finance Corp., 3.48%, 6/01/2019 (n)    $ 520,000     $ 526,638  
Conglomerates - 0.1%                 
Roper Technologies, Inc., 2.8%, 12/15/2021    $ 240,000     $ 240,221  
Consumer Products - 1.3%                 
Mattel, Inc., 1.7%, 3/15/2018    $ 139,000     $ 137,610  
Newell Brands, Inc., 2.6%, 3/29/2019      64,000       64,238  
Newell Rubbermaid, Inc., 2.05%, 12/01/2017      236,000       236,000  
Reckitt Benckiser PLC, 2.125%, 9/21/2018 (n)      910,000       911,994  

 

10


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Bonds - continued                 
Consumer Products - continued                 
Reckitt Benckiser Treasury Services PLC, 2.375%, 6/24/2022 (n)    $ 1,433,000     $ 1,402,525  
    

 

 

 
             $ 2,752,367  
Consumer Services - 0.4%                 
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., 2.8%, 6/06/2023    $ 903,000     $ 904,101  
Electrical Equipment - 0.4%                 
Arrow Electronics, Inc., 3%, 3/01/2018    $ 141,000     $ 141,341  
Molex Electronic Technologies LLC, 2.878%, 4/15/2020 (n)      593,000       594,303  
    

 

 

 
             $ 735,644  
Electronics - 0.3%                 
Tyco Electronics Group S.A., 2.375%, 12/17/2018    $ 155,000     $ 155,521  
Xilinx, Inc., 2.125%, 3/15/2019      480,000       478,791  
    

 

 

 
             $ 634,312  
Emerging Market Quasi-Sovereign - 0.6%                 
Corporacion Financiera de Desarrollo S.A., 3.25%, 7/15/2019 (n)    $ 548,000     $ 556,220  
State Grid International Development Co. Ltd., 1.75%, 5/22/2018 (n)      627,000       625,496  
    

 

 

 
             $ 1,181,716  
Energy - Integrated - 0.6%                 
BP Capital Markets PLC, 2.521%, 1/15/2020    $ 403,000     $ 405,890  
Shell International Finance B.V., 1.375%, 5/10/2019      830,000       822,874  
    

 

 

 
             $ 1,228,764  
Entertainment - 0.2%                 
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., 2.65%, 11/28/2020    $ 407,000     $ 407,335  
Financial Institutions - 0.1%                 
LeasePlan Corp. N.V., 2.5%, 5/16/2018 (n)    $ 200,000     $ 200,110  
Food & Beverages - 2.8%                 
Anheuser-Busch InBev Finance, Inc., 1.9%, 2/01/2019    $ 1,487,000     $ 1,484,995  
Anheuser-Busch InBev Finance, Inc., 2.15%, 2/01/2019      675,000       676,284  
Anheuser-Busch InBev Finance, Inc., 2.65%, 2/01/2021      708,000       713,604  
Kraft Heinz Foods Co., 6.125%, 8/23/2018      900,000       926,352  
Mondelez International, Inc., FLR,
1.988%, (LIBOR-3mo. + 0.61%) 10/28/2019 (n)
     1,010,000       1,013,654  
Pernod Ricard S.A., 5.75%, 4/07/2021 (n)      260,000       286,289  
Want Want China Finance Co., 1.875%, 5/14/2018 (n)      607,000       605,305  
Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co., 2.4%, 10/21/2018 (n)      52,000       52,166  
    

 

 

 
             $ 5,758,649  

 

11


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Bonds - continued                 
Food & Drug Stores - 0.2%                 
CVS Health Corp., 2.8%, 7/20/2020    $ 490,000     $ 492,793  
Insurance - 1.5%                 
American International Group, Inc., 2.3%, 7/16/2019    $ 180,000     $ 180,077  
American International Group, Inc., 3.3%, 3/01/2021      860,000       878,735  
Metropolitan Life Global Funding I, 2%, 4/14/2020 (n)      900,000       894,657  
Metropolitan Life Global Funding I, FLR,
1.754%, (U.S. LIBOR-3mo. + 0.43%) 12/19/2018 (n)
     1,000,000       1,003,773  
Voya Financial, Inc., 2.9%, 2/15/2018      82,000       82,136  
    

 

 

 
      $ 3,039,378  
Insurance - Health - 0.4%  
UnitedHealth Group, Inc., 1.95%, 10/15/2020    $ 861,000     $ 854,126  
Insurance - Property & Casualty - 0.3%  
Marsh & McLennan Cos., Inc., 2.35%, 9/10/2019    $ 600,000     $ 603,264  
International Market Quasi-Sovereign - 3.0%  
Caisse d’Amortissement de la Dette Sociale,
1.875%, 1/13/2020 (n)
   $ 670,000     $ 666,686  
CPPIB Capital, Inc., 1.25%, 9/20/2019 (n)      1,060,000       1,043,504  
Dexia Credit Local S.A., 1.875%, 9/15/2021 (n)      1,090,000       1,067,024  
Dexia Credit Local S.A., 2.25%, 1/30/2019 (n)      310,000       310,656  
Dexia Credit Local, “A”, 2.25%, 2/18/2020 (n)      340,000       339,709  
Electricite de France, 2.15%, 1/22/2019 (n)      650,000       650,742  
Kommunalbanken A.S., 1.375%, 10/26/2020 (n)      630,000       616,697  
Swedish Export Credit Corp., 1.125%, 8/28/2019      1,470,000       1,447,913  
    

 

 

 
      $ 6,142,931  
Internet - 0.2%  
Baidu, Inc., 2.75%, 6/09/2019    $ 328,000     $ 329,014  
Local Authorities - 0.6%  
Kommuninvest i Sverige AB, 1.125%, 9/17/2019 (n)    $ 1,292,000     $ 1,272,705  
Machinery & Tools - 0.7%  
John Deere Capital Corp., 1.6%, 7/13/2018    $ 1,550,000     $ 1,548,532  
Major Banks - 12.6%  
ABN AMRO Bank N.V., 2.1%, 1/18/2019 (n)    $ 460,000     $ 459,918  
ABN AMRO Bank N.V., 1.8%, 6/04/2018 (n)      600,000       599,258  
Bank of America Corp., 2.369% to 7/21/2020, FLR to 7/21/2021      1,306,000       1,301,221  
Bank of America Corp., 2.881% to 4/24/2022, FLR to 4/24/2023      1,000,000       1,001,150  

 

12


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Bonds - continued                 
Major Banks - continued  
Bank of Montreal, 1.45%, 4/09/2018    $ 1,700,000     $ 1,698,703  
Barclays PLC, 3.25%, 1/12/2021      1,450,000       1,468,280  
BNP Paribas, 2.7%, 8/20/2018      580,000       583,272  
Citibank N.A., 2.125%, 10/20/2020      807,000       801,135  
Commonwealth Bank of Australia, 2.3%, 9/06/2019      843,000       844,461  
Credit Agricole, “A”, FLR,
2.78%, (LIBOR-3mo. + 1.43%) 1/10/2022 (n)
     410,000       419,392  
Credit Suisse Group AG, “A”, 3.574%, 1/09/2023 (n)      690,000       702,561  
DNB Bank A.S.A., 2.125%, 10/02/2020 (n)      879,000       871,984  
HSBC Holdings PLC, 3.033% to 3/13/2022, FLR to 11/22/2023      448,000       450,205  
HSBC Holdings PLC, 3.262% to 3/13/2022, FLR to 3/13/2023      576,000       584,685  
ING Bank N.V., 1.8%, 3/16/2018 (n)      1,500,000       1,500,054  
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc., 2.95%, 3/01/2021      400,000       404,313  
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc., 2.998%, 2/22/2022      415,000       418,746  
Mizuho Bank Ltd., FLR,
2.553%, (U.S. LIBOR-3mo. + 1.19%) 10/20/2018 (n)
     260,000       262,336  
Morgan Stanley, 2.375%, 7/23/2019      1,000,000       1,001,496  
Morgan Stanley, 2.65%, 1/27/2020      1,100,000       1,106,857  
National Australia Bank Ltd., 1.375%, 7/12/2019      610,000       602,891  
PNC Bank N.A., 1.6%, 6/01/2018      620,000       619,392  
PNC Bank N.A., 2.25%, 7/02/2019      650,000       651,109  
Skandinaviska Enskilda, 1.75%, 3/19/2018 (n)      271,000       271,025  
Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB, 2.45%, 5/27/2020 (n)      790,000       792,299  
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., FLR,
2.027%, (U.S. LIBOR-3mo. + 0.67%) 10/19/2018
     880,000       883,782  
Svenska Handelsbanken AB, 2.25%, 6/17/2019      842,000       843,932  
Toronto-Dominion Bank, 1.75%, 7/23/2018      1,000,000       999,802  
Toronto-Dominion Bank, 1.45%, 9/06/2018      1,200,000       1,196,067  
UBS Group Funding (Jersey) Ltd., 3%, 4/15/2021 (n)      1,000,000       1,008,294  
UBS Group Funding (Switzerland) AG, 3.491%, 5/23/2023 (n)      1,148,000       1,167,642  
Westpac Banking Corp., 1.55%, 5/25/2018      420,000       419,648  
    

 

 

 
      $ 25,935,910  
Medical & Health Technology & Services - 1.0%  
Becton, Dickinson and Co., 2.675%, 12/15/2019    $ 842,000     $ 846,351  
Becton, Dickinson and Co., 2.404%, 6/05/2020      377,000       374,785  
Becton, Dickinson and Co., 2.894%, 6/06/2022      452,000       448,413  
Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings, 2.625%, 2/01/2020      400,000       401,553  
    

 

 

 
      $ 2,071,102  
Medical Equipment - 1.2%  
Abbott Laboratories, 2.35%, 11/22/2019    $ 850,000     $ 850,961  
Abbott Laboratories, 2.9%, 11/30/2021      680,000       684,122  

 

13


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Bonds - continued                 
Medical Equipment - continued  
Medtronic, Inc., 1.5%, 3/15/2018    $ 190,000     $ 189,934  
Zimmer Holdings, Inc., 2%, 4/01/2018      750,000       750,665  
    

 

 

 
      $ 2,475,682  
Metals & Mining - 0.5%  
Freeport-McMoRan, Inc., 2.375%, 3/15/2018    $ 270,000     $ 269,663  
Glencore Funding LLC, 2.125%, 4/16/2018 (n)      420,000       420,055  
Glencore Funding LLC, 3%, 10/27/2022 (n)      296,000       293,786  
    

 

 

 
      $ 983,504  
Midstream - 1.5%  
Andeavor Logistics LP/Tesoro Logistics Finance Corp., 3.5%, 12/01/2022    $ 577,000     $ 577,031  
EL Paso LLC, 6.5%, 9/15/2020      858,000       941,483  
EnLink Midstream Partners LP, 2.7%, 4/01/2019      236,000       235,642  
Enterprise Products Operating LP, 6.5%, 1/31/2019      400,000       418,924  
Kinder Morgan (Delaware), Inc., 2%, 12/01/2017      340,000       340,000  
ONEOK Partners LP, 3.2%, 9/15/2018      450,000       453,654  
TransCanada PipeLines Ltd., 1.875%, 1/12/2018      195,000       195,000  
    

 

 

 
      $ 3,161,734  
Mortgage-Backed - 1.0%  
Fannie Mae, 4%, 12/01/2025    $ 310,981     $ 325,876  
Fannie Mae, 3%, 12/01/2031      615,938       628,609  
Fannie Mae, 2%, 5/25/2044      1,168,748       1,148,825  
Fannie Mae, FLR, 1.527%, (LIBOR-1mo. + 0.29%) 12/25/2017      4,694       4,690  
Fannie Mae, FLR, 1.487%, (LIBOR-1mo. + 0.25%) 5/25/2018      53,587       53,546  
Freddie Mac, 1.018%, 7/25/2049 (i)      99,947       4,622  
    

 

 

 
      $ 2,166,168  
Network & Telecom - 1.7%  
AT&T, Inc., 2.3%, 3/11/2019    $ 560,000     $ 560,777  
AT&T, Inc., 2.45%, 6/30/2020      1,190,000       1,187,331  
AT&T, Inc., 2.85%, 2/14/2023      405,000       401,393  
AT&T, Inc., FLR, 2.372%, (U.S. LIBOR-3mo. + 0.91%) 11/27/2018      780,000       785,548  
British Telecommunications PLC, 2.35%, 2/14/2019      580,000       581,478  
    

 

 

 
      $ 3,516,527  
Oil Services - 0.4%  
Schlumberger Holdings Corp., 1.9%, 12/21/2017 (n)    $ 750,000     $ 750,076  
Oils - 0.5%  
Marathon Petroleum Corp., 2.7%, 12/14/2018    $ 1,068,000     $ 1,074,293  

 

14


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Bonds - continued                 
Other Banks & Diversified Financials - 6.9%  
Banque Federative du Credit Mutuel, 2.2%, 7/20/2020 (n)    $ 866,000     $ 861,726  
BNZ International Funding Ltd. London, 1.9%, 2/26/2018 (n)      1,300,000       1,300,632  
BPCE S.A., 1.625%, 1/26/2018      660,000       659,712  
Branch Banking & Trust Co., 1.45%, 5/10/2019      1,200,000       1,189,151  
Capital One Financial Corp., 2.5%, 5/12/2020      563,000       562,855  
Capital One Financial Corp., 2.4%, 10/30/2020      286,000       284,584  
Citizens Bank N.A., 2.3%, 12/03/2018      750,000       751,567  
Citizens Bank N.A., 2.25%, 3/02/2020      460,000       458,248  
Citizens Bank N.A., 2.55%, 5/13/2021      250,000       249,509  
Compass Bank, 2.875%, 6/29/2022      893,000       886,873  
Discover Bank, 3.1%, 6/04/2020      424,000       429,593  
Fifth Third Bancorp, 2.3%, 3/01/2019      200,000       200,313  
First Republic Bank, 2.375%, 6/17/2019      250,000       250,042  
Groupe BPCE S.A., 2.5%, 12/10/2018      500,000       502,187  
Lloyds Bank PLC, 1.75%, 5/14/2018      1,200,000       1,200,316  
Lloyds Bank PLC, 2.3%, 11/27/2018      200,000       200,692  
National Bank of Canada, FLR, 2.159%, (LIBOR-3mo. +
0.84%) 12/14/2018
     1,600,000       1,611,949  
Santander UK Group Holdings PLC, 2.875%, 8/05/2021      760,000       760,007  
Santander UK PLC, 3.05%, 8/23/2018      238,000       239,881  
SunTrust Banks, Inc., 2.7%, 1/27/2022      675,000       674,124  
U.S. Bank NA Cincinnati, 2.05%, 10/23/2020      1,001,000       996,670  
    

 

 

 
      $ 14,270,631  
Pharmaceuticals - 4.4%  
AbbVie, Inc., 1.8%, 5/14/2018    $ 1,000,000     $ 999,908  
Actavis Funding SCS, 2.35%, 3/12/2018      568,000       568,764  
Actavis Funding SCS, 3%, 3/12/2020      515,000       519,678  
Amgen, Inc., 2.2%, 5/11/2020      1,126,000       1,121,241  
Biogen, Inc., 2.9%, 9/15/2020      500,000       507,028  
Celgene Corp., 2.125%, 8/15/2018      670,000       671,680  
Celgene Corp., 2.875%, 8/15/2020      883,000       891,631  
Celgene Corp., 2.75%, 2/15/2023      613,000       607,877  
EMD Finance LLC, 1.7%, 3/19/2018 (n)      1,000,000       999,767  
Gilead Sciences, Inc., 1.85%, 9/04/2018      700,000       699,968  
Shire Acquisitions Investments Ireland Designated Activity Co., 1.9%, 9/23/2019      1,460,000       1,445,808  
    

 

 

 
      $ 9,033,350  
Real Estate - Healthcare - 0.1%  
Welltower, Inc., REIT, 2.25%, 3/15/2018    $ 150,000     $ 150,212  
Real Estate - Office - 0.2%  
Vornado Realty LP, REIT, 2.5%, 6/30/2019    $ 325,000     $ 325,384  

 

15


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Bonds - continued                 
Real Estate - Retail - 0.1%  
Simon Property Group, Inc., REIT, 1.5%, 2/01/2018 (n)    $ 167,000     $ 166,975  
Retailers - 0.2%  
Dollar General Corp., 1.875%, 4/15/2018    $ 90,000     $ 89,989  
Wesfarmers Ltd., 1.874%, 3/20/2018 (n)      233,000       233,144  
    

 

 

 
      $ 323,133  
Specialty Chemicals - 0.2%  
Airgas, Inc., 3.05%, 8/01/2020    $ 330,000     $ 337,364  
Supranational - 0.4%  
Corporacion Andina de Fomento, 2%, 5/10/2019    $ 820,000     $ 816,584  
Corporacion Andina de Fomento, FLR,
1.928%, (U.S. LIBOR-3mo. + 0.55%) 1/29/2018
     50,000       50,024  
    

 

 

 
      $ 866,608  
Telecommunications - Wireless - 1.2%  
American Tower Corp., REIT, 2.8%, 6/01/2020    $ 280,000     $ 282,128  
American Tower Trust I, REIT, 1.551%, 3/15/2018 (n)      500,000       499,340  
Crown Castle Towers LLC, 4.883%, 8/15/2020 (n)      905,000       952,100  
SBA Tower Trust, 2.898%, 10/08/2019 (n)      473,000       475,170  
SBA Tower Trust, 2.877%, 7/09/2021 (n)      305,000       302,713  
    

 

 

 
      $ 2,511,451  
Tobacco - 1.6%  
BAT Capital Corp., 2.297%, 8/14/2020 (n)    $ 990,000     $ 984,729  
Imperial Tobacco Finance PLC, 2.05%, 7/20/2018 (n)      680,000       679,927  
Imperial Tobacco Finance PLC, 2.95%, 7/21/2020 (n)      1,106,000       1,116,487  
Reynolds American, Inc., 2.3%, 6/12/2018      580,000       581,168  
    

 

 

 
      $ 3,362,311  
Transportation - Services - 0.4%  
TTX Co., 2.6%, 6/15/2020 (n)    $ 840,000     $ 838,685  
U.S. Government Agencies and Equivalents - 0.3%  
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, 1.945%, 6/23/2019    $ 430,000     $ 430,273  
Small Business Administration, 2.25%, 7/01/2021      185,481       186,802  
    

 

 

 
      $ 617,075  
U.S. Treasury Obligations - 6.3%  
U.S. Treasury Notes, 1.75%, 9/30/2019    $ 2,000,000     $ 1,998,438  
U.S. Treasury Notes, 1.875%, 2/28/2022 (f)      11,000,000       10,901,172  
    

 

 

 
      $ 12,899,610  

 

16


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Bonds - continued                 
Utilities - Electric Power - 3.4%  
American Electric Power Co., Inc., 1.65%, 12/15/2017    $ 220,000     $ 220,000  
Dominion Energy, Inc., 2.579%, 7/01/2020      539,000       539,300  
Dominion Resources, Inc., 2.962%, 7/01/2019      410,000       413,551  
Dominion Resources, Inc., 2.5%, 12/01/2019      650,000       651,262  
Emera U.S. Finance LP, 2.15%, 6/15/2019      645,000       642,975  
Eversource Energy, 1.6%, 1/15/2018      600,000       599,792  
Eversource Energy, 2.5%, 3/15/2021      500,000       497,822  
FirstEnergy Corp., 2.85%, 7/15/2022      282,000       280,090  
Southern Co., 2.45%, 9/01/2018      50,000       50,170  
Southern Co., 1.85%, 7/01/2019      1,150,000       1,143,860  
Southern Power Co., 1.85%, 12/01/2017      960,000       960,000  
Virginia Electric & Power Co., 1.2%, 1/15/2018      410,000       409,795  
Xcel Energy, Inc., 2.4%, 3/15/2021      590,000       588,895  
    

 

 

 
      $ 6,997,512  
Total Bonds (Identified Cost, $187,081,774)     $ 186,816,975  
Investment Companies (h) - 7.8%  
Money Market Funds - 7.8%  
MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio, 1.19% (v)
(Identified Cost, $16,030,618)
     16,031,705     $ 16,030,101  
Other Assets, Less Liabilities - 1.5%       2,993,685  
Net Assets - 100.0%     $ 205,840,761  

 

(f) All or a portion of the security has been segregated as collateral for open futures contracts.
(h) An affiliated issuer may be considered one in which the fund owns 5% or more of the outstanding voting securities, or a company which is under common control. At period end, the aggregate values of the fund’s investments in affiliated issuers and in unaffiliated issuers were $16,030,101 and $186,816,975, respectively.
(i) Interest only security for which the fund receives interest on notional principal (Par amount). Par amount shown is the notional principal and does not reflect the cost of the security.
(n) Securities exempt from registration under Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933. These securities may be sold in the ordinary course of business in transactions exempt from registration, normally to qualified institutional buyers. At period end, the aggregate value of these securities was $75,388,346, representing 36.6% of net assets.
(v) Affiliated issuer that is available only to investment companies managed by MFS. The rate quoted for the MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio is the annualized seven-day yield of the fund at period end.

 

17


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

(z) Restricted securities are not registered under the Securities Act of 1933 and are subject to legal restrictions on resale. These securities generally may be resold in transactions exempt from registration or to the public if the securities are subsequently registered. Disposal of these securities may involve time-consuming negotiations and prompt sale at an acceptable price may be difficult. The fund holds the following restricted securities:

 

Restricted Securities    Acquisition
Date
   Cost      Value  
Neuberger Berman CLO Ltd., 2015-20A, “BR”, FLR, 2.686%, (U.S. LIBOR-3mo. + 1.25%) 1/15/2028    11/15/17      $1,271,000        $1,269,330  
OCP CLO Ltd., 2015-10A, “A2AR”,
2.671%, 10/26/2027
   11/27/17      1,038,043        1,038,043  
Total Restricted Securities        $2,307,373  
% of Net assets        1.1%  

The following abbreviations are used in this report and are defined:

 

CDO   Collateralized Debt Obligation
CLO   Collateralized Loan Obligation
FLR   Floating rate. Interest rate resets periodically based on the parenthetically disclosed reference rate plus a spread (if any). The period-end rate reported may not be the current rate.
PLC   Public Limited Company
REIT   Real Estate Investment Trust

Abbreviations indicate amounts shown in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. All amounts are stated in U.S. dollars unless otherwise indicated. A list of abbreviations is shown below:

 

AUD   Australian Dollar
BRL   Brazilian Real
CAD   Canadian Dollar
CHF   Swiss Franc
EUR   Euro
GBP   British Pound
HKD   Hong Kong Dollar
JPY   Japanese Yen
KRW   Korean Won
MXN   Mexican Peso
NOK   Norwegian Krone
NZD   New Zealand Dollar
SEK   Swedish Krona
SGD   Singapore Dollar
TRY   Turkish Lira
ZAR   South African Rand

 

18


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Derivative Contracts at 11/30/17

Forward Foreign Currency Exchange Contracts

 

Currency
Purchased
   

Currency

Sold

  Counterparty   Settlement
Date
    Unrealized
Appreciation
(Depreciation)
 
Asset Derivatives    
GBP     1,883,156     USD   2,481,012   JPMorgan Chase Bank     2/12/2018       $72,456  
JPY     669,027,106     USD   5,930,828   JPMorgan Chase Bank     2/15/2018       38,422  
USD     7,887,537     NZD   11,375,539   Goldman Sachs International     2/12/2018       120,130  
           

 

 

 
              $231,008  
           

 

 

 
Liability Derivatives    
AUD     750,218     USD   575,842   JPMorgan Chase Bank     2/12/2018       $(8,593
CAD     1,893,603     USD   1,489,292   JPMorgan Chase Bank     2/12/2018       (20,035
NOK     36,516,595     USD   4,484,190   Goldman Sachs International     2/12/2018       (84,951
NOK     59,809,443     USD   7,343,628   JPMorgan Chase Bank     2/12/2018       (138,245
SEK     11,045,349     USD   1,330,292   Goldman Sachs International     2/12/2018       (3,773
USD     6,536,026     EUR   5,582,721   Goldman Sachs International     2/12/2018       (140,024
USD     10,485,587     CHF   10,407,658   JPMorgan Chase Bank     2/12/2018       (155,436
USD     1,657,685     EUR   1,415,827   JPMorgan Chase Bank     2/12/2018       (35,419
           

 

 

 
              $(586,476
           

 

 

 

Futures Contracts

 

Description   Long/
Short
    Currency     Contracts   Notional
Amount
    Expiration
Date
    Value/
Unrealized
Appreciation
(Depreciation)
 
Asset Derivatives      
Equity Futures            
AEX 25 Index     Short       EUR     38        $4,885,691       December - 2017       $38,305  
Bovespa Index     Short       BRL     270        5,940,916       December - 2017       502,397  
CAC 40 Index     Long       EUR     140        8,944,134       December - 2017       104,359  
DAX Index     Long       EUR     12        4,660,721       December - 2017       130,910  
FTSE 100 Index     Short       GBP     6        594,704       December - 2017       14,899  
FTSE MIB Index     Long       EUR     69        9,188,807       December - 2017       65,217  
Hang Seng China ENT Index     Short       HKD     57        4,210,520       December - 2017       119,864  
IBEX Index     Long       EUR     39        4,734,675       December - 2017       86,944  
KOSPI Index     Long       KRW     60        4,486,449       December - 2017       191,216  
MSCI Singapore Index     Long       SGD     66        1,907,058       December - 2017       13,814  
NIFTY Index     Short       USD     312        6,413,472       December - 2017       78,874  
           

 

 

 
              $1,346,799  
           

 

 

 

 

19


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Futures Contracts - continued

 

Description   Long/
Short
    Currency     Contracts   Notional
Amount
    Expiration
Date
    Value/
Unrealized
Appreciation
(Depreciation)
 
Asset Derivatives – continued      
Interest Rate Futures            
Australian Treasury Bond 10 yr     Long       AUD     148         $14,625,219       December - 2017       $256,192  
Canadian Treasury Bond 10 yr     Short       CAD     108         11,443,321       March - 2018       5,525  
Euro Bund     Long       EUR     50         9,683,874       December - 2017       47,158  
Japanese Government Bond 10 yr     Short       JPY     5         6,705,318       December - 2017       8,374  
U.S. Treasury Note 10 yr     Short       USD     157         19,475,359       March - 2018       146,607  
           

 

 

 
              $463,856  
           

 

 

 
              $1,810,655  
           

 

 

 
Liability Derivatives            
Equity Futures            
Australian SPI 200 Index     Short       AUD     47         $5,342,575       December - 2017       $(275,840
BIST 30 Index     Long       TRY     1,959         6,406,204       December - 2017       (357,000
FTSE JSE Top 40 Index     Short       ZAR     112         4,369,347       December - 2017       (226,450
Hang Seng Index     Long       HKD     40         7,539,441       December - 2017       (104,996
Mexican Bolsa Index     Long       MXN     110         2,783,713       December - 2017       (159,772
MSCI Taiwan Index     Long       USD     167         6,587,817       December - 2017       (200,174
Russell 2000 Index     Short       USD     121         9,349,670       December - 2017       (826,495
S&P 500 E-Mini Index     Short       USD     38         5,031,010       December - 2017       (235,374
S&P TSX 60 Index     Short       CAD     59         8,699,888       December - 2017       (657,711
Topix Index     Long       JPY     22         3,531,823       December - 2017       (13,374
           

 

 

 
              $(3,057,186
           

 

 

 
Interest Rate Futures            
U.K. Gilt 10 yr     Long       GBP     45         $7,522,049       March - 2018       $(47,016
U.S. Treasury Note 2 yr     Long       USD     35         7,504,219       March - 2018       (7,234
           

 

 

 
              $(54,250
           

 

 

 
              $(3,111,436
           

 

 

 

 

20


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Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Swap Agreements

 

Maturity
Date
    Notional
Amount
   

Counter-

party

  Cash
Flows
to
Receive/
Quarterly
    Cash
Flows
to Pay/
Quarterly
    Unrealized
Appreciation
(Depreciation)
    Net
Unamortized
Upfront
Payments
(Receipts)
    Value  
Asset Derivatives              
Total Return Swap Agreements      
12/20/17     USD       20,490,000     Goldman Sachs International     (1)      

1.487%
(U.S. LIBOR-
3mo.)
 

 
    $369,646       $—       $369,646  
               

 

 

 

 

(1) Fund to receive notional amount multiplied by the rate of return of the iBoxx $ Liquid High Yield Index.

At November 30, 2017, the fund had cash collateral of $1,456,042 and other liquid securities with an aggregate value of $6,655,690 to cover collateral or margin obligations for certain derivative contracts. Deposits with brokers in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities is comprised of cash collateral.

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

21


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

 

STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

At 11/30/17 (unaudited)

This statement represents your fund’s balance sheet, which details the assets and liabilities comprising the total value of the fund.

 

Assets         

Investments in unaffiliated issuers, at value (identified cost, $187,081,774)

     $186,816,975  

Investments in affiliated issuers, at value (identified cost, $16,030,618)

     16,030,101  

Deposits with brokers

     1,456,042  

Receivables for

  

Forward foreign currency exchange contracts

     231,008  

Daily variation margin on open futures contracts

     71,550  

Investments sold

     1,404,431  

Fund shares sold

     1,313,793  

Interest

     932,156  
Uncleared swaps, at value      369,646  

Receivable from investment adviser

     26,164  

Total assets

     $208,651,866  
Liabilities         

Payables for

  

Distributions

     $1,373  

Forward foreign currency exchange contracts

     586,476  

Daily variation margin on open futures contracts

     56,317  

Investments purchased

     1,944,536  

Fund shares reacquired

     2,037  

Payable to affiliates

  

Shareholder servicing costs

     121,086  

Distribution and service fees

     95  

Payable for independent Trustees’ compensation

     87  

Accrued expenses and other liabilities

     99,098  

Total liabilities

     $2,811,105  

Net assets

     $205,840,761  
Net assets consist of         

Paid-in capital

     $212,623,492  

Unrealized appreciation (depreciation)

     (1,585,390

Accumulated net realized gain (loss)

     (5,396,362

Undistributed net investment income

     199,021  

Net assets

     $205,840,761  

Shares of beneficial interest outstanding

     21,615,444  

 

22


Table of Contents

Statement of Assets and Liabilities (unaudited) – continued

 

 

     Net assets      Shares
outstanding
     Net asset value
per share (a)
 

Class A

     $2,040,098        214,285        $9.52  

Class B

     354,455        37,557        9.44  

Class C

     884,580        93,782        9.43  

Class I

     682,804        71,593        9.54  

Class R1

     51,176        5,416        9.45  

Class R2

     51,720        5,432        9.52  

Class R3

     53,954        5,666        9.52  

Class R4

     52,329        5,495        9.52  

Class R6

     201,669,645        21,176,218        9.52  

 

(a) Maximum offering price per share was equal to the net asset value per share for all share classes, except for Class A, for which the maximum offering price per share was $9.94 [100 / 95.75 x $9.52]. On sales of $100,000 or more, the maximum offering price of Class A shares is reduced. A contingent deferred sales charge may be imposed on redemptions of Class A, Class B, and Class C shares. Redemption price per share was equal to the net asset value per share for Classes I, R1, R2, R3, R4, and R6. Net asset value per share is calculated using actual net assets and shares outstanding rather than amounts that have been rounded for presentation purposes.

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

23


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

 

STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS

Six months ended 11/30/17 (unaudited)

This statement describes how much your fund earned in investment income and accrued in expenses. It also describes any gains and/or losses generated by fund operations.

 

Net investment income (loss)         

Income

  

Interest

     $2,152,127  

Dividends from affiliated issuers

     72,340  

Total investment income

     $2,224,467  

Expenses

  

Management fee

     $665,921  

Distribution and service fees

     10,047  

Shareholder servicing costs

     231,789  

Administrative services fee

     21,007  

Independent Trustees’ compensation

     4,552  

Custodian fee

     21,688  

Shareholder communications

     5,146  

Audit and tax fees

     46,156  

Legal fees

     1,528  

Registration fees

     59,897  

Miscellaneous

     91,799  

Total expenses

     $1,159,530  

Fees paid indirectly

     (7,020

Reduction of expenses by investment adviser and distributor

     (232,780

Net expenses

     $919,730  

Net investment income (loss)

     $1,304,737  
Realized and unrealized gain (loss)         

Realized gain (loss) (identified cost basis)

  

Unaffiliated issuers

     $76,215  

Affiliated issuers

     (716

Futures contracts

     1,529,777  

Swap agreements

     1,336,593  

Forward foreign currency exchange contracts

     (82,194

Foreign currency

     (8,589

Net realized gain (loss)

     $2,851,086  

Change in unrealized appreciation (depreciation)

  

Unaffiliated issuers

     $(870,464

Affiliated issuers

     (1,541

Futures contracts

     (1,902,848

Swap agreements

     (987,172

Forward foreign currency exchange contracts

     (59,667

Translation of assets and liabilities in foreign currencies

     (7,189

Net unrealized gain (loss)

     $(3,828,881

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     $(977,795

Change in net assets from operations

     $326,942  

 

See Notes to Financial Statements

  

 

24


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

 

STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN NET ASSETS

These statements describe the increases and/or decreases in net assets resulting from operations, any distributions, and any shareholder transactions.

 

Change in net assets    Six months ended
11/30/17
(unaudited)
    

Year ended
5/31/17

 
From operations                  

Net investment income (loss)

     $1,304,737        $1,777,707  

Net realized gain (loss)

     2,851,086        5,757,782  

Net unrealized gain (loss)

     (3,828,881      1,527,780  

Change in net assets from operations

     $326,942        $9,063,269  
Distributions declared to shareholders                  

From net investment income

     $(1,326,505      $(1,878,442

Change in net assets from fund share transactions

     $2,893,195        $(9,222,028

Total change in net assets

     $1,893,632        $(2,037,201
Net assets                  

At beginning of period

     203,947,129        205,984,330  

At end of period (including undistributed net investment income of $199,021 and $220,789, respectively)

     $205,840,761        $203,947,129  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

25


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

 

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

The financial highlights table is intended to help you understand the fund’s financial performance for the semiannual period and the past 5 fiscal years (or life of a particular share class, if shorter). Certain information reflects financial results for a single fund share. The total returns in the table represent the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the fund share class (assuming reinvestment of all distributions) held for the entire period.

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class A     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning of period

    $9.57       $9.25       $9.53       $9.69       $9.73       $9.59  
Income (loss) from investment operations                          

Net investment income (loss) (d)

    $0.05       $0.05       $0.04       $0.02       $0.02       $0.04  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    (0.05     0.33       (0.26     (0.13     0.00 (w)      0.21  

Total from investment operations

    $0.00 (w)      $0.38       $(0.22     $(0.11     $0.02       $0.25  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                          

From net investment income

    $(0.05     $(0.06     $(0.06     $(0.05     $(0.06     $(0.11

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $9.52       $9.57       $9.25       $9.53       $9.69       $9.73  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    (0.02 )(n)      4.11       (2.31     (1.19     0.24       2.66  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                         

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    1.43 (a)      1.45       1.45       1.47       1.45       1.51  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    1.20 (a)      1.19       1.14       1.14       1.14       1.15  

Net investment income (loss)

    0.98 (a)      0.57       0.41       0.16       0.23       0.40  

Portfolio turnover

    20 (n)      53       36       30       28       29  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $2,040       $2,222       $2,710       $2,809       $3,846       $3,348  
Supplemental Ratios (%):                          

Ratio of expenses to average net
assets after expense reductions
excluding interest expense and
fees (f)

    1.15 (a)      1.14       N/A       N/A       N/A       N/A  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

26


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class B     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning of period

    $9.49       $9.19       $9.47       $9.66       $9.72       $9.59  
Income (loss) from investment operations                          

Net investment income (loss) (d)

    $0.01       $(0.02     $(0.03     $(0.06     $(0.05     $(0.03

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    (0.05     0.33       (0.25     (0.13     (0.01     0.21  

Total from investment operations

    $(0.04     $0.31       $(0.28     $(0.19     $(0.06     $0.18  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                          

From net investment income

    $(0.01     $(0.01     $—       $—       $(0.00 )(w)      $(0.05

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $9.44       $9.49       $9.19       $9.47       $9.66       $9.72  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    (0.41 )(n)      3.33       (2.96     (1.97     (0.58     1.85  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                         

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    2.18 (a)      2.19       2.20       2.22       2.20       2.26  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    1.95 (a)      1.94       1.90       1.90       1.90       1.90  

Net investment income (loss)

    0.22 (a)      (0.18     (0.35     (0.59     (0.53     (0.34

Portfolio turnover

    20 (n)      53       36       30       28       29  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $354       $433       $436       $644       $723       $668  
Supplemental Ratios (%):                          

Ratio of expenses to average net
assets after expense reductions
excluding interest expense and
fees (f)

    1.90 (a)      1.90       N/A       N/A       N/A       N/A  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

27


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class C     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning of period

    $9.48       $9.18       $9.47       $9.66       $9.72       $9.58  
Income (loss) from investment operations                          

Net investment income (loss) (d)

    $0.01       $(0.02     $(0.03     $(0.06     $(0.05     $(0.03

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    (0.05     0.33       (0.26     (0.13     0.00 (w)      0.22  

Total from investment operations

    $(0.04     $0.31       $(0.29     $(0.19     $(0.05     $0.19  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                          

From net investment income

    $(0.01     $(0.01     $—       $—       $(0.01     $(0.05

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $9.43       $9.48       $9.18       $9.47       $9.66       $9.72  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    (0.40 )(n)      3.33       (3.06     (1.97     (0.56     1.97  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                         

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    2.18 (a)      2.19       2.21       2.21       2.20       2.26  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    1.95 (a)      1.94       1.90       1.90       1.90       1.90  

Net investment income (loss)

    0.22 (a)      (0.18     (0.34     (0.59     (0.53     (0.34

Portfolio turnover

    20 (n)      53       36       30       28       29  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $885       $1,025       $1,366       $1,276       $3,048       $1,999  
Supplemental Ratios (%):                          

Ratio of expenses to average net
assets after expense reductions
excluding interest expense and
fees (f)

    1.90 (a)      1.90       N/A       N/A       N/A       N/A  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

28


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class I     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning of period

    $9.58       $9.27       $9.54       $9.70       $9.74       $9.60  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                  

Net investment income (loss) (d)

    $0.06       $0.08       $0.06       $0.04       $0.05       $0.08  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    (0.04     0.31       (0.25     (0.13     0.00 (w)      0.19  

Total from investment operations

    $0.02       $0.39       $(0.19     $(0.09     $0.05       $0.27  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                  

From net investment income

    $(0.06     $(0.08     $(0.08     $(0.07     $(0.09     $(0.13

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $9.54       $9.58       $9.27       $9.54       $9.70       $9.74  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    0.20 (n)      4.25       (1.97     (0.94     0.48       2.86  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                                 

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    1.18 (a)      1.20       1.18       1.22       1.18       1.23  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    0.95 (a)      0.94       0.90       0.90       0.90       0.90  

Net investment income (loss)

    1.22 (a)      0.83       0.67       0.41       0.51       0.83  

Portfolio turnover

    20 (n)      53       36       30       28       29  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $683       $740       $715       $1,402       $1,410       $2,244  
Supplemental Ratios (%):                                  

Ratio of expenses to average net
assets after expense reductions
excluding interest expense and
fees (f)

    0.90 (a)      0.90       N/A       N/A       N/A       N/A  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

29


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R1     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning of period

    $9.50       $9.20       $9.48       $9.67       $9.72       $9.59  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                  

Net investment income (loss) (d)

    $0.01       $(0.02     $(0.03     $(0.06     $(0.05     $(0.03

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    (0.05     0.33       (0.25     (0.13     0.00 (w)      0.21  

Total from investment operations

    $(0.04     $0.31       $(0.28     $(0.19     $(0.05     $0.18  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                  

From net investment income

    $(0.01     $(0.01     $—       $—       $(0.00 )(w)      $(0.05

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $9.45       $9.50       $9.20       $9.48       $9.67       $9.72  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    (0.40 )(n)      3.32       (2.95     (1.96     (0.48     1.84  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                                 

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    2.18 (a)      2.20       2.19       2.21       2.21       2.26  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    1.95 (a)      1.94       1.90       1.90       1.90       1.90  

Net investment income (loss)

    0.23 (a)      (0.17     (0.34     (0.59     (0.53     (0.35

Portfolio turnover

    20 (n)      53       36       30       28       29  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $51       $51       $50       $96       $112       $99  
Supplemental Ratios (%):                                  

Ratio of expenses to average net
assets after expense reductions
excluding interest expense and
fees (f)

    1.90 (a)      1.90       N/A       N/A       N/A       N/A  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

30


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R2     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning of period

    $9.57       $9.25       $9.52       $9.69       $9.73       $9.59  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                  

Net investment income (loss) (d)

    $0.03       $0.03       $0.01       $(0.01     $(0.00 )(w)      $0.02  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    (0.04     0.32       (0.24     (0.14     0.00 (w)      0.21  

Total from investment operations

    $(0.01     $0.35       $(0.23     $(0.15     $(0.00 )(w)      $0.23  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                  

From net investment income

    $(0.04     $(0.03     $(0.04     $(0.02     $(0.04     $(0.09

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $9.52       $9.57       $9.25       $9.52       $9.69       $9.73  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    (0.15 )(n)      3.84       (2.47     (1.54     (0.02     2.41  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                                 

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    1.68 (a)      1.70       1.69       1.72       1.70       1.76  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    1.45 (a)      1.44       1.40       1.40       1.40       1.40  

Net investment income (loss)

    0.72 (a)      0.33       0.16       (0.09     (0.03     0.16  

Portfolio turnover

    20 (n)      53       36       30       28       29  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $52       $52       $50       $98       $100       $100  
Supplemental Ratios (%):                                  

Ratio of expenses to average net
assets after expense reductions
excluding interest expense and
fees (f)

    1.40 (a)      1.40       N/A       N/A       N/A       N/A  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

31


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R3     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning of period

    $9.57       $9.25       $9.53       $9.69       $9.73       $9.59  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                  

Net investment income (loss) (d)

    $0.05       $0.05       $0.04       $0.02       $0.02       $0.04  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    (0.05     0.33       (0.26     (0.14     0.00 (w)      0.21  

Total from investment operations

    $0.00 (w)      $0.38       $(0.22     $(0.12     $0.02       $0.25  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                  

From net investment income

    $(0.05     $(0.06     $(0.06     $(0.04     $(0.06     $(0.11

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $9.52       $9.57       $9.25       $9.53       $9.69       $9.73  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    (0.02 )(n)      4.10       (2.32     (1.19     0.23       2.65  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                                 

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    1.43 (a)      1.45       1.44       1.47       1.45       1.51  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    1.20 (a)      1.19       1.15       1.15       1.15       1.15  

Net investment income (loss)

    0.97 (a)      0.58       0.41       0.16       0.22       0.41  

Portfolio turnover

    20 (n)      53       36       30       28       29  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $54       $53       $50       $99       $100       $100  
Supplemental Ratios (%):                                  

Ratio of expenses to average net
assets after expense reductions
excluding interest expense and
fees (f)

    1.15 (a)      1.15       N/A       N/A       N/A       N/A  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

32


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R4     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning of period

    $9.57       $9.25       $9.53       $9.69       $9.73       $9.59  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                  

Net investment income (loss) (d)

    $0.06       $0.08       $0.06       $0.04       $0.05       $0.06  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    (0.05     0.32       (0.26     (0.13     0.00 (w)      0.22  

Total from investment operations

    $0.01       $0.40       $(0.20     $(0.09     $0.05       $0.28  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                  

From net investment income

    $(0.06     $(0.08     $(0.08     $(0.07     $(0.09     $(0.14

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $9.52       $9.57       $9.25       $9.53       $9.69       $9.73  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    0.10 (n)      4.37       (2.07     (0.94     0.48       2.91  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                                 

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    1.18 (a)      1.20       1.19       1.22       1.20       1.26  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    0.95 (a)      0.94       0.90       0.90       0.90       0.90  

Net investment income (loss)

    1.23 (a)      0.83       0.66       0.41       0.47       0.66  

Portfolio turnover

    20 (n)      53       36       30       28       29  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $52       $52       $50       $100       $101       $101  
Supplemental Ratios (%):                                  

Ratio of expenses to average net
assets after expense reductions
excluding interest expense and
fees (f)

    0.90 (a)      0.90       N/A       N/A       N/A       N/A  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

33


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R6     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13 (i)  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning of period

    $9.57       $9.25       $9.53       $9.69       $9.73       $9.68  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                  

Net investment income (loss) (d)

    $0.06       $0.08       $0.07       $0.05       $0.05       $0.04  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    (0.05     0.33       (0.26     (0.13     0.00 (w)      0.10 (g) 

Total from investment operations

    $0.01       $0.41       $(0.19     $(0.08     $0.05       $0.14  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                  

From net investment income

    $(0.06     $(0.09     $(0.09     $(0.08     $(0.09     $(0.09

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $9.52       $9.57       $9.25       $9.53       $9.69       $9.73  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    0.13 (n)      4.42       (2.02     (0.87     0.56       1.44 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                                 

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    1.12 (a)      1.14       1.12       1.15       1.13       1.23 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

    0.89 (a)      0.89       0.85       0.83       0.83       0.89 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

    1.28 (a)      0.87       0.70       0.48       0.54       0.56 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

    20 (n)      53       36       30       28       29  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $201,670       $199,319       $200,558       $204,347       $187,921       $148,892  
Supplemental Ratios (%):                                  

Ratio of expenses to average net
assets after expense reductions
excluding interest expense and
fees (f)

    0.84 (a)      0.85       N/A       N/A       N/A       N/A  

 

(a) Annualized.
(d) Per share data is based on average shares outstanding.
(f) Ratios do not reflect reductions from fees paid indirectly, if applicable.
(g) The per share amount varies from the net realized and unrealized gain/loss for the period because of the timing of sales of fund shares and the per share amount of realized and unrealized gains and losses at such time.
(i) For the period from the class inception, October 1, 2012, through the stated period end.
(n) Not annualized.
(r) Certain expenses have been reduced without which performance would have been lower.
(s) From time to time the fund may receive proceeds from litigation settlements, without which performance would be lower.
(t) Total returns do not include any applicable sales charges.
(w) Per share amount was less than $0.01.
(x) The net asset values and total returns have been calculated on net assets which include adjustments made in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles required at period end for financial reporting purposes.

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

34


Table of Contents

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(unaudited)

(1) Business and Organization

MFS Absolute Return Fund (the fund) is a diversified series of MFS Series Trust X (the trust). The trust is organized as a Massachusetts business trust and is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, as an open-end management investment company.

The fund is an investment company and accordingly follows the investment company accounting and reporting guidance of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification Topic 946 Financial Services – Investment Companies.

(2) Significant Accounting Policies

General – The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of increases and decreases in net assets from operations during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. In the preparation of these financial statements, management has evaluated subsequent events occurring after the date of the fund’s Statement of Assets and Liabilities through the date that the financial statements were issued. The fund invests in derivatives as part of its principal investment strategy. Derivatives can be highly volatile and involve risks in addition to the risks of the underlying indicators on which the derivative is based. The fund invests in foreign securities. Investments in foreign securities are vulnerable to the effects of changes in the relative values of the local currency and the U.S. dollar and to the effects of changes in each country’s legal, political, and economic environment.

In October 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released its Final Rule on Investment Company Reporting Modernization (the “Rule”). The Rule, which introduced two new regulatory reporting forms for investment companies – Form N-PORT and Form N-CEN – also contained amendments to Regulation S-X which impact financial statement presentation, particularly the presentation of derivative investments, for all reporting periods ending after August 1, 2017. The fund has adopted the Rule’s Regulation S-X amendments and believes that the fund’s financial statements are in compliance with those amendments.

In March 2017, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update 2017-08, Receivables – Nonrefundable Fees and Other Costs (Subtopic 310-20) – Premium Amortization on Purchased Callable Debt Securities (“ASU 2017-08”). For entities that hold callable debt securities at a premium, ASU 2017-08 requires that the premium be amortized to the earliest call date. ASU 2017-08 will be effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Management is still evaluating the potential impacts of ASU 2017-08 but believes that adoption of ASU 2017-08 will not have a material effect on the fund’s overall financial position or its overall results of operations.

Balance Sheet Offsetting – The fund’s accounting policy with respect to balance sheet offsetting is that, absent an event of default by the counterparty or a termination

 

35


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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

of the agreement, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) Master Agreement, or similar agreement, does not result in an offset of reported amounts of financial assets and financial liabilities in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities across transactions between the fund and the applicable counterparty. The fund’s right to setoff may be restricted or prohibited by the bankruptcy or insolvency laws of the particular jurisdiction to which a specific master netting agreement counterparty is subject. Balance sheet offsetting disclosures, to the extent applicable to the fund, have been included in the fund’s Significant Accounting Policies note under the captions for each of the fund’s in-scope financial instruments and transactions.

Investment Valuations – Debt instruments and floating rate loans, including restricted debt instruments, are generally valued at an evaluated or composite bid as provided by a third-party pricing service. Short-term instruments with a maturity at issuance of 60 days or less may be valued at amortized cost, which approximates market value. Exchange-traded options are generally valued at the last sale or official closing price on their primary exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Exchange-traded options for which there were no sales reported that day are generally valued at the last daily bid quotation on their primary exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Options not traded on an exchange are generally valued at a broker/dealer bid quotation. Foreign currency options are generally valued at valuations provided by a third-party pricing service. Futures contracts are generally valued at last posted settlement price on their primary exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Futures contracts for which there were no trades that day for a particular position are generally valued at the closing bid quotation on their primary exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Forward foreign currency exchange contracts are generally valued at the mean of bid and asked prices for the time period interpolated from rates provided by a third-party pricing service for proximate time periods. Swap agreements are generally valued at valuations provided by a third-party pricing service, which for cleared swaps includes an evaluation of any trading activity at the clearinghouses. Open-end investment companies are generally valued at net asset value per share. Securities and other assets generally valued on the basis of information from a third-party pricing service may also be valued at a broker/dealer bid quotation. Values obtained from third-party pricing services can utilize both transaction data and market information such as yield, quality, coupon rate, maturity, type of issue, trading characteristics, and other market data. The values of foreign securities and other assets and liabilities expressed in foreign currencies are converted to U.S. dollars using the mean of bid and asked prices for rates provided by a third-party pricing service.

The Board of Trustees has delegated primary responsibility for determining or causing to be determined the value of the fund’s investments (including any fair valuation) to the adviser pursuant to valuation policies and procedures approved by the Board. If the adviser determines that reliable market quotations are not readily available, investments are valued at fair value as determined in good faith by the adviser in accordance with such procedures under the oversight of the Board of Trustees. Under the fund’s valuation policies and procedures, market quotations are not considered to be readily available for most types of debt instruments and floating rate loans and many types of derivatives. These investments are generally valued at fair value based on information from third-party pricing services. In addition, investments may be valued at fair value if

 

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the adviser determines that an investment’s value has been materially affected by events occurring after the close of the exchange or market on which the investment is principally traded (such as foreign exchange or market) and prior to the determination of the fund’s net asset value, or after the halting of trading of a specific security where trading does not resume prior to the close of the exchange or market on which the security is principally traded. The adviser generally relies on third-party pricing services or other information (such as the correlation with price movements of similar securities in the same or other markets; the type, cost and investment characteristics of the security; the business and financial condition of the issuer; and trading and other market data) to assist in determining whether to fair value and at what value to fair value an investment. The value of an investment for purposes of calculating the fund’s net asset value can differ depending on the source and method used to determine value. When fair valuation is used, the value of an investment used to determine the fund’s net asset value may differ from quoted or published prices for the same investment. There can be no assurance that the fund could obtain the fair value assigned to an investment if it were to sell the investment at the same time at which the fund determines its net asset value per share.

Various inputs are used in determining the value of the fund’s assets or liabilities. These inputs are categorized into three broad levels. In certain cases, the inputs used to measure fair value may fall into different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In such cases, an investment’s level within the fair value hierarchy is based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement. The fund’s assessment of the significance of a particular input to the fair value measurement in its entirety requires judgment, and considers factors specific to the investment. Level 1 includes unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. Level 2 includes other significant observable market-based inputs (including quoted prices for similar securities, interest rates, prepayment speed, and credit risk). Level 3 includes unobservable inputs, which may include the adviser’s own assumptions in determining the fair value of investments. Other financial instruments are derivative instruments,

 

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such as futures contracts, forward foreign currency exchange contracts, and swap agreements. The following is a summary of the levels used as of November 30, 2017 in valuing the fund’s assets or liabilities:

 

Financial Instruments   Level 1     Level 2     Level 3     Total  
U.S. Treasury Bonds & U.S. Government Agency & Equivalents     $—       $13,516,684       $—       $13,516,684  
Non-U.S. Sovereign Debt           8,191,257             8,191,257  
U.S. Corporate Bonds           70,580,362             70,580,362  
Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities           4,460,155             4,460,155  
Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities           5,235,949             5,235,949  
Asset-Backed Securities (including CDOs)           39,827,970             39,827,970  
Foreign Bonds           45,004,598             45,004,598  
Mutual Funds     16,030,101                   16,030,101  
Total     $16,030,101       $186,816,975       $—       $202,847,076  
Other Financial Instruments              
Futures Contracts – Assets     $1,485,761       $324,894       $—       $1,810,655  
Futures Contracts – Liabilities     (2,209,442     (901,994           (3,111,436
Swap Agreements – Assets           369,646             369,646  
Forward Foreign Currency
Exchange Contracts – Assets
          231,008             231,008  
Forward Foreign Currency
Exchange Contracts – Liabilities
          (586,476           (586,476

For further information regarding security characteristics, see the Portfolio of Investments.

Foreign Currency Translation – Purchases and sales of foreign investments, income, and expenses are converted into U.S. dollars based upon currency exchange rates prevailing on the respective dates of such transactions or on the reporting date for foreign denominated receivables and payables. Gains and losses attributable to foreign currency exchange rates on sales of securities are recorded for financial statement purposes as net realized gains and losses on investments. Gains and losses attributable to foreign exchange rate movements on receivables, payables, income and expenses are recorded for financial statement purposes as foreign currency transaction gains and losses. That portion of both realized and unrealized gains and losses on investments that results from fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates is not separately disclosed.

Derivatives – The fund uses derivatives in an attempt to adjust exposure to markets, asset classes, and currencies based on the adviser’s assessment of the relative attractiveness of such markets, asset classes, and currencies. Derivatives are used to increase or decrease the fund’s exposure to markets, asset classes, or currencies resulting from the fund’s individual security selections, and to expose the fund to markets, asset classes, or currencies in which the fund’s individual security selection has resulted in little or no exposure. Derivatives are used for hedging or non-hedging purposes. While hedging can reduce or eliminate losses, it can also reduce or eliminate gains. When the fund uses derivatives as an investment to increase or decrease market exposure, or for hedging purposes, gains and losses from derivative instruments may be substantially greater than the derivative’s original cost.

 

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The derivative instruments used by the fund were purchased options, futures contracts, forward foreign currency exchange contracts, and swap agreements. Depending on the type of derivative, the fund may exit a derivative position by entering into an offsetting transaction with a counterparty or exchange, negotiating an agreement with the derivative counterparty, or novating the position to a third party. The fund may be unable to promptly close out a futures position in instances where the daily fluctuation in the price for that type of future exceeds the daily limit set by the exchange. The fund’s period end derivatives, as presented in the Portfolio of Investments and the associated Derivative Contract tables, generally are indicative of the volume of its derivative activity during the period.

The following table presents, by major type of derivative contract, the fair value, on a gross basis, of the asset and liability components of derivatives held by the fund at November 30, 2017 as reported in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities:

 

        Fair Value (a)  
Risk   Derivative Contracts   Asset Derivatives     Liability Derivatives  
Interest Rate   Interest Rate Futures     $463,856       $(54,250
Interest Rate   Total Return Swaps     369,646        
Foreign Exchange   Forward Foreign Currency Exchange     231,008       (586,476
Equity   Equity Futures     1,346,799       (3,057,186
Total       $2,411,309       $(3,697,912

 

(a) The values for futures contracts presented in this table correspond to the values reported in the fund’s Portfolio of Investments. Only the current day net variation margin for futures contracts is separately reported within the fund’s Statement of Assets and Liabilities.

The following table presents, by major type of derivative contract, the realized gain (loss) on derivatives held by the fund for the six months ended November 30, 2017 as reported in the Statement of Operations:

 

Risk    Futures
Contracts
     Swap
Agreements
     Forward
Foreign
Currency
Exchange
Contracts
    Investments
(Purchased
Options)
 
Interest Rate      $758,309        $1,336,593        $—       $—  
Foreign Exchange                    (82,194      
Equity      771,468                     176,596  
Total      $1,529,777        $1,336,593        $(82,194     $176,596  

 

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The following table presents, by major type of derivative contract, the change in unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on derivatives held by the fund for the six months ended November 30, 2017 as reported in the Statement of Operations:

 

Risk    Futures
Contracts
     Swap
Agreements
     Forward
Foreign
Currency
Exchange
Contracts
     Investments
(Purchased
Options)
 
Interest Rate      $212,702        $(987,172      $—        $—  
Foreign Exchange                    (59,667       
Equity      (2,115,550                    (203,310
Total      $(1,902,848      $(987,172      $(59,667      $(203,310

Derivative counterparty credit risk is managed through formal evaluation of the creditworthiness of all potential counterparties. On certain, but not all, uncleared derivatives, the fund attempts to reduce its exposure to counterparty credit risk whenever possible by entering into an ISDA Master Agreement on a bilateral basis. The ISDA Master Agreement gives each party to the agreement the right to terminate all transactions traded under such agreement if there is a certain deterioration in the credit quality of the other party. Upon an event of default or a termination of the ISDA Master Agreement, the non-defaulting party has the right to close out all transactions traded under such agreement and to net amounts owed under each agreement to one net amount payable by one party to the other. This right to close out and net payments across all transactions traded under the ISDA Master Agreement could result in a reduction of the fund’s credit risk to such counterparty equal to any amounts payable by the fund under the applicable transactions, if any.

Collateral and margin requirements differ by type of derivative. For cleared derivatives (e.g., futures contracts, cleared swaps, and exchange-traded options), margin requirements are set by the clearing broker and the clearing house and collateral, in the form of cash or securities, is posted by the fund directly with the clearing broker. Collateral terms are counterparty agreement specific for uncleared derivatives (e.g., forward foreign currency exchange contracts, uncleared swap agreements, and uncleared options) and collateral, in the form of cash and securities, is held in segregated accounts with the fund’s custodian in connection with these agreements. For derivatives traded under an ISDA Master Agreement, which contains a collateral support annex, the collateral requirements are netted across all transactions traded under such counterparty-specific agreement and one amount is posted from one party to the other to collateralize such obligations. Cash that has been segregated or delivered to cover the fund’s collateral or margin obligations under derivative contracts, if any, will be reported separately in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities as restricted cash for uncleared derivatives or deposits with brokers for cleared derivatives, respectively. Securities pledged as collateral or margin for the same purpose, if any, are noted in the Portfolio of Investments. The fund may be required to make payments of interest on uncovered collateral or margin obligations with the broker. Any such payments are included in “Miscellaneous” expense in the Statement of Operations.

 

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The following table presents the fund’s derivative assets and liabilities (by type) on a gross basis as of November 30, 2017:

 

Gross Amounts of:    Derivative Assets      Derivative Liabilities  
Futures Contracts (a)      $71,550        $(56,317
Swap Agreements      369,646         
Forward Foreign Currency Exchange Contracts      231,008        (586,476
Total Gross Amount of Derivative Assets and Liabilities Presented in the Statement of Assets & Liabilities      $672,204        $(642,793
Less: Derivatives Assets and Liabilities Not Subject to a Master Netting Agreement or Similar Arrangement      71,550        (56,317
Total Gross Amount of Derivative Assets and Liabilites Subject to a Master Netting Agreement or Similar Arrangement      $600,654        $(586,476

 

(a) The amount presented here represents the fund’s current day net variation margin for futures contracts. This amount, which is recognized within the fund’s Statement of Assets and Liabilities, differs from the fair value of the futures contracts which is presented in the tables that follow the fund’s Portfolio of Investments.

The following table presents (by counterparty) the fund’s derivative assets net of amounts available for offset under Master Netting Agreements (or similar arrangements) and net of the related collateral held by the fund at November 30, 2017:

 

          Amounts Not Offset in the
Statement of Assets & Liabilities
 
    

Gross Amount

of Derivative
Assets Subject
to a Master
Netting
Agreement (or
Similar
Arrangement)
by Counterparty

    Financial
Instruments
Available
for Offset
    Financial
Instruments
Collateral
Received (b)
    Cash
Collateral
Received (b)
    Net Amount
of Derivative
Assets by
Counterparty
 
Goldman Sachs International     $489,776       $(228,748     $—       $(261,028     $—  
JP Morgan Chase Bank     110,878       (110,878                  
Total     $600,654       $(339,626     $—       $(261,028     $—  

 

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The following table presents (by counterparty) the fund’s derivative liabilities net of amounts available for offset under Master Netting Agreements (or similar arrangements) and net of the related collateral pledged by the fund at November 30, 2017:

 

          Amounts Not Offset in the
Statement of Assets & Liabilities
 
     Gross Amounts
of Derivative
Liabilities Subject
to a Master
Netting
Agreement (or
Similar
Arrangement)
by Counterparty
    Financial
Instruments
Available
for Offset
    Financial
Instruments
Collateral
Pledged (b)
    Cash
Collateral
Pledged (b)
    Net Amount
of Derivative
Liabilities by
Counterparty
 
Goldman Sachs International     $(228,748     $228,748       $—       $—       $—  
JP Morgan Chase Bank     (357,728     110,878                   (246,850
Total     $(586,476     $339,626       $—       $—       $(246,850

 

(b) The amount presented here may be less than the total amount of collateral (received)/pledged as the excess collateral (received)/pledged is not shown for purposes of this presentation.

Purchased Options – The fund purchased call options for a premium. Purchased call options entitle the holder to buy a specified number of shares or units of a particular security, currency or index at a specified price at a specified date or within a specified period of time. Purchasing call options may hedge against an anticipated increase in the dollar cost of securities or currency to be acquired or increase the fund’s exposure to an underlying instrument.

The premium paid is initially recorded as an investment in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. That investment is subsequently marked-to-market daily with the difference between the premium paid and the market value of the purchased option being recorded as unrealized appreciation or depreciation. Premiums paid for purchased call options which have expired are treated as realized losses on investments in the Statement of Operations. Upon the exercise or closing of a purchased call option, the premium paid is added to the cost of the security or financial instrument purchased.

Whether or not the option is exercised, the fund’s maximum risk of loss from purchasing an option is the amount of premium paid. All option contracts involve credit risk if the counterparty to the option contract fails to perform. For uncleared options, this risk is mitigated in cases where there is an ISDA Master Agreement between the fund and the counterparty providing for netting as described above and, where applicable, by the posting of collateral by the counterparty to the fund to cover the fund’s exposure to the counterparty under such ISDA Master Agreement.

Futures Contracts – The fund entered into futures contracts which may be used to hedge against or obtain broad market exposure, interest rate exposure, currency exposure, or to manage duration. A futures contract represents a commitment for the future purchase or sale of an asset at a specified price on a specified date.

 

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Upon entering into a futures contract, the fund is required to deposit with the broker, either in cash or securities, an initial margin in an amount equal to a certain percentage of the notional amount of the contract. Subsequent payments (variation margin) are made or received by the fund each day, depending on the daily fluctuations in the value of the contract, and are recorded for financial statement purposes as unrealized gain or loss by the fund until the contract is closed or expires at which point the gain or loss on futures contracts is realized.

The fund bears the risk of interest rates, exchange rates or securities prices moving unexpectedly, in which case, the fund may not achieve the anticipated benefits of the futures contracts and may realize a loss. While futures contracts may present less counterparty risk to the fund since the contracts are exchange traded and the exchange’s clearinghouse guarantees payments to the broker, there is still counterparty credit risk due to the insolvency of the broker. The fund’s maximum risk of loss due to counterparty credit risk is equal to the margin posted by the fund to the broker plus any gains or minus any losses on the outstanding futures contracts.

Forward Foreign Currency Exchange Contracts – The fund entered into forward foreign currency exchange contracts for the purchase or sale of a specific foreign currency at a fixed price on a future date. These contracts may be used to hedge the fund’s currency risk or for non-hedging purposes. For hedging purposes, the fund may enter into contracts to deliver or receive foreign currency that the fund will receive from or use in its normal investment activities. The fund may also use contracts to hedge against declines in the value of foreign currency denominated securities due to unfavorable exchange rate movements. For non-hedging purposes, the fund may enter into contracts with the intent of changing the relative exposure of the fund’s portfolio of securities to different currencies to take advantage of anticipated exchange rate changes.

Forward foreign currency exchange contracts are adjusted by the daily exchange rate of the underlying currency and any unrealized gains or losses are recorded as a receivable or payable for forward foreign currency exchange contracts until the contract settlement date. On contract settlement date, any gain or loss on the contract is recorded as realized gains or losses on forward foreign currency exchange contracts.

Risks may arise upon entering into these contracts from unanticipated movements in the value of the contract and from the potential inability of counterparties to meet the terms of their contracts. Generally, the fund’s maximum risk due to counterparty credit risk is the unrealized gain on the contract due to the use of Continuous Linked Settlement, a multicurrency cash settlement system for the centralized settlement of foreign transactions. This risk is mitigated in cases where there is an ISDA Master Agreement between the fund and the counterparty providing for netting as described above and, where applicable, by the posting of collateral by the counterparty to the fund to cover the fund’s exposure to the counterparty under such ISDA Master Agreement.

Swap Agreements – During the period the fund entered into swap agreements. Swap agreements generally involve a periodic exchange of cash payments on a net basis, at specified intervals or upon the occurrence of specified events, between the fund and a counterparty. Certain swap agreements may be entered into as a bilateral contract

 

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(“uncleared swaps”) while others are required to be centrally cleared (“cleared swaps”). In a cleared swap transaction, the ultimate counterparty to the transaction is a clearinghouse (the “clearinghouse”). The contract is transferred and accepted by the clearinghouse immediately following execution of the swap contract with an executing broker. Thereafter, throughout the term of the cleared swap, the fund interfaces indirectly with the clearinghouse through a clearing broker and has counterparty risk to the clearing broker as well.

Amounts paid or received at the inception of uncleared swap agreements are presented parenthetically as premiums paid or received and reflected in the value of the uncleared swap in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. Those premiums are amortized using the effective interest method over the term of the agreement as realized gain or loss on swap agreements in the Statement of Operations. The value of the uncleared swap agreements, which is adjusted daily and includes any related interest accruals to be paid or received by the fund, is recorded in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities as “Uncleared swaps, at value”. The daily change in the value of uncleared swaps, including any related interest accruals to be paid or received, is recorded as unrealized appreciation or depreciation on swap agreements in the Statement of Operations. For cleared swaps, the daily change in valuation is recorded as a receivable or payable for variation margin in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities and reflected in unrealized appreciation or depreciation on swap agreements in the Statement of Operations. The periodic exchange of net cash payments, at specified intervals or upon the occurrence of specified events as stipulated by the agreement, is recorded as realized gain or loss on swap agreements in the Statement of Operations. A liquidation payment received or made upon early termination is recorded as a realized gain or loss on swap agreements in the Statement of Operations.

Risks related to swap agreements include the possible lack of a liquid market, unfavorable market and interest rate movements of the underlying instrument and the failure of the counterparty to perform under the terms of the agreements. The fund’s maximum risk of loss from counterparty credit risk is the discounted net value of the cash flows to be received from/paid to the counterparty over the contract’s remaining life, to the extent that the amount is positive. To address counterparty risk, uncleared swap agreements are limited to only highly-rated counterparties. Risk is further reduced by having an ISDA Master Agreement between the fund and the counterparty providing for netting as described above and, where applicable, by the posting of collateral by the counterparty to the fund to cover the fund’s exposure to the counterparty under such ISDA Master Agreement. The fund’s counterparty risk due to cleared swaps is mitigated by the fact that the clearinghouse is the true counterparty to the transaction and the regulatory requirement safeguards in the event of a clearing broker bankruptcy.

The fund entered into total return swaps which involve commitments to pay interest in exchange for a market-linked return based on a notional amount. To the extent the total return of the security or index underlying the transaction exceeds or falls short of the offsetting interest rate obligation, the fund will receive a payment from or make a payment to the counterparty, respectively. The fund may enter into total return swap agreements on a particular security, or a basket or index of securities, in order to gain exposure to the underlying security or securities.

 

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Indemnifications – Under the fund’s organizational documents, its officers and Trustees may be indemnified against certain liabilities and expenses arising out of the performance of their duties to the fund. Additionally, in the normal course of business, the fund enters into agreements with service providers that may contain indemnification clauses. The fund’s maximum exposure under these agreements is unknown as this would involve future claims that may be made against the fund that have not yet occurred.

Investment Transactions and Income – Investment transactions are recorded on the trade date. Interest income is recorded on the accrual basis. All premium and discount is amortized or accreted for financial statement purposes in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Interest payments received in additional securities are recorded on the ex-interest date in an amount equal to the value of the security on such date.

The fund may receive proceeds from litigation settlements. Any proceeds received from litigation involving portfolio holdings are reflected in the Statement of Operations in realized gain/loss if the security has been disposed of by the fund or in unrealized gain/loss if the security is still held by the fund. Any other proceeds from litigation not related to portfolio holdings are reflected as other income in the Statement of Operations.

The fund invests a significant portion of its assets in asset-backed and/or mortgage-backed securities. The value of these securities may depend, in part, on the issuer’s or borrower’s credit quality or ability to pay principal and interest when due and that value may fall if an issuer or borrower defaults on its obligation to pay principal or interest or if the instrument’s credit rating is downgraded by a credit rating agency. U.S. Government securities not supported as to the payment of principal or interest by the U.S. Treasury, such as those issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks, are subject to greater credit risk than are U.S. Government securities supported by the U.S. Treasury, such as those issued by Ginnie Mae.

The fund purchased or sold debt securities on a when-issued or delayed delivery basis, or in a “To Be Announced” (TBA) or “forward commitment” transaction with delivery or payment to occur at a later date beyond the normal settlement period. At the time a fund enters into a commitment to purchase or sell a security, the transaction is recorded and the value of the security acquired is reflected in the fund’s net asset value. The price of such security and the date that the security will be delivered and paid for are fixed at the time the transaction is negotiated. The value of the security may vary with market fluctuations. No interest accrues to the fund until payment takes place. At the time that a fund enters into this type of transaction, the fund is required to have sufficient cash and/or liquid securities to cover its commitments. Losses may arise due to changes in the value of the underlying securities or if the counterparty does not perform under the contract’s terms, or if the issuer does not issue the securities due to political, economic or other factors. Additionally, losses may arise due to declines in the value of the securities prior to settlement date.

To mitigate this risk of loss on TBA securities and other types of forward settling mortgage-backed securities, the fund whenever possible enters into a Master Securities Forward Transaction Agreement (“MSFTA”) on a bilateral basis with each of the

 

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counterparties with whom it undertakes a significant volume of transactions. The MSFTA gives each party to the agreement the right to terminate all transactions traded under such agreement if there is a certain deterioration in the credit quality of the other party. Upon an event of default or a termination of the MSFTA, the non-defaulting party has the right to close out all transactions traded under such agreement and to net amounts owed under each transaction to one net amount payable by one party to the other. This right to close out and net payments across all transactions traded under the MSFTA could result in a reduction of the fund’s credit risk to such counterparty equal to any amounts payable by the fund under the applicable transactions, if any.

For mortgage-backed securities traded under a MSFTA, the collateral and margining requirements are contract specific. Collateral amounts across all transactions traded under such agreement are netted and one amount is posted from one party to the other to collateralize such obligations. Cash that has been pledged to cover the fund’s collateral or margin obligations under a MSFTA, if any, will be reported separately on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities as restricted cash. Securities pledged as collateral or margin for the same purpose, if any, are noted in the Portfolio of Investments.

Fees Paid Indirectly – The fund’s custody fee may be reduced by a credit earned under an arrangement that measures the value of U.S. dollars deposited with the custodian by the fund. The amount of the credit, for the six months ended November 30, 2017, is shown as a reduction of total expenses in the Statement of Operations.

Tax Matters and Distributions – The fund intends to qualify as a regulated investment company, as defined under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code, and to distribute all of its taxable income, including realized capital gains. As a result, no provision for federal income tax is required. The fund’s federal tax returns, when filed, will remain subject to examination by the Internal Revenue Service for a three year period. Management has analyzed the fund’s tax positions taken on federal and state tax returns for all open tax years and does not believe that there are any uncertain tax positions that require recognition of a tax liability. Foreign taxes, if any, have been accrued by the fund in the accompanying financial statements in accordance with the applicable foreign tax law. Foreign income taxes may be withheld by certain countries in which the fund invests. Additionally, capital gains realized by the fund on securities issued in or by certain foreign countries may be subject to capital gains tax imposed by those countries.

Distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Income and capital gain distributions are determined in accordance with income tax regulations, which may differ from U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Certain capital accounts in the financial statements are periodically adjusted for permanent differences in order to reflect their tax character. These adjustments have no impact on net assets or net asset value per share. Temporary differences which arise from recognizing certain items of income, expense, gain or loss in different periods for financial statement and tax purposes will reverse at some time in the future. Distributions in excess of net investment income or net realized gains are temporary overdistributions for financial statement purposes resulting from differences in the recognition or classification of income or distributions for financial statement and tax purposes.

 

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Book/tax differences primarily relate to amortization and accretion of debt securities, and derivative transactions.

The tax character of distributions made during the current period will be determined at fiscal year end. The tax character of distributions declared to shareholders for the last fiscal year is as follows:

 

     Year ended
5/31/17
 
Ordinary income (including any
short-term capital gains)
     $1,878,442  

The federal tax cost and the tax basis components of distributable earnings were as follows:

 

As of 11/30/17       
Cost of investments      $203,458,394  
Gross appreciation      367,629  
Gross depreciation      (978,947
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation)      $(611,318
As of 5/31/2017       
Undistributed ordinary income      385,476  
Capital loss carryforwards      (7,624,850
Other temporary differences      1,297,759  
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation)      158,447  

The aggregate cost above includes prior fiscal year end tax adjustments, if applicable.

As of May 31, 2017, the fund had capital loss carryforwards available to offset future realized gains. These net capital losses may be carried forward indefinitely and their character is retained as short-term and/or long-term losses. Such losses are characterized as follows:

 

Short-Term      $(1,418,932
Long-Term      (6,205,918
     $(7,624,850

Multiple Classes of Shares of Beneficial Interest – The fund offers multiple classes of shares, which differ in their respective distribution and service fees. The fund’s income, realized and unrealized gain (loss), and common expenses are allocated to shareholders based on the daily net assets of each class. Dividends are declared separately for each class. Differences in per share dividend rates are generally due to differences in separate class expenses. Class B shares will convert to Class A shares

 

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approximately eight years after purchase. The fund’s distributions declared to shareholders as reported in the Statements of Changes in Net Assets are presented by class as follows:

 

     From net investment
income
 
     Six months
ended
11/30/17
     Year
ended
5/31/17
 
Class A      $10,629        $16,429  
Class B      479        274  
Class C      1,162        814  
Class I      4,402        6,798  
Class R1      66        31  
Class R2      195        188  
Class R3      269        322  
Class R4      329        449  
Class R6      1,308,974        1,853,137  
Total      $1,326,505        $1,878,442  

(3) Transactions with Affiliates

Investment Adviser – The fund has an investment advisory agreement with MFS to provide overall investment management and related administrative services and facilities to the fund. The management fee is computed daily and paid monthly at the following annual rates based on the fund’s average daily net assets:

 

Up to $1 billion      0.65

In excess of $1 billion and up to $2.5 billion

In excess of $2.5 billion

    

0.55

0.50


MFS has agreed in writing to reduce its management fee by a specified amount if certain MFS mutual fund assets exceed thresholds agreed to by MFS and the fund’s Board of Trustees. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, this management fee reduction amounted to $8,382, which is included in the reduction of total expenses in the Statement of Operations. The management fee incurred for the six months ended November 30, 2017 was equivalent to an annual effective rate of 0.64% of the fund’s average daily net assets.

The investment adviser has agreed in writing to pay a portion of the fund’s total annual operating expenses, excluding interest, taxes, extraordinary expenses, brokerage and transaction costs, and investment-related expenses, such that total fund operating expenses do not exceed the following rates annually of each class’s average daily net assets:

 

Classes  
A   B     C     I     R1     R2     R3     R4     R6  
1.15%     1.90%       1.90%       0.90%       1.90%       1.40%       1.15%       0.90%       0.85%  

This written agreement will continue until modified by the fund’s Board of Trustees, but such agreement will continue at least until September 30, 2018. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, this reduction amounted to $224,350, which is included in the reduction of total expenses in the Statement of Operations.

 

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Distributor – MFS Fund Distributors, Inc. (MFD), a wholly-owned subsidiary of MFS, as distributor, received $55 for the six months ended November 30, 2017, as its portion of the initial sales charge on sales of Class A shares of the fund.

The Board of Trustees has adopted a distribution plan for certain share classes pursuant to Rule 12b-1 of the Investment Company Act of 1940.

The fund’s distribution plan provides that the fund will pay MFD for services provided by MFD and financial intermediaries in connection with the distribution and servicing of certain share classes. One component of the plan is a distribution fee paid to MFD and another component of the plan is a service fee paid to MFD. MFD may subsequently pay all, or a portion, of the distribution and/or service fees to financial intermediaries.

Distribution Plan Fee Table:

 

     Distribution
Fee Rate (d)
     Service
Fee Rate (d)
     Total
Distribution
Plan (d)
     Annual
Effective
Rate (e)
     Distribution
and Service
Fee
 
Class A             0.25%        0.25%        0.25%        $2,707  
Class B      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        2,052  
Class C      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        4,831  
Class R1      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        259  
Class R2      0.25%        0.25%        0.50%        0.50%        131  
Class R3             0.25%        0.25%        0.25%        67  
Total Distribution and Service Fees        $10,047  

 

(d) In accordance with the distribution plan for certain classes, the fund pays distribution and/or service fees equal to these annual percentage rates of each class’s average daily net assets. The distribution and service fee rates disclosed by class represent the current rates in effect at the end of the reporting period. Any rate changes, if applicable, are detailed below.
(e) The annual effective rates represent actual fees incurred under the distribution plan for the six months ended November 30, 2017 based on each class’s average daily net assets. MFD has voluntarily agreed to rebate a portion of each class’s 0.25% service fee attributable to accounts for which MFD retains the 0.25% service fee except for accounts attributable to MFS or its affiliates’ seed money. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, this rebate amounted to $48 for Class A and is included in the reduction of total expenses in the Statement of Operations.

Certain Class A shares are subject to a contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) in the event of a shareholder redemption within 18 months of purchase. Class C shares are subject to a CDSC in the event of a shareholder redemption within 12 months of purchase. Class B shares are subject to a CDSC in the event of a shareholder redemption within six years of purchase. All contingent deferred sales charges are paid to MFD and during the six months ended November 30, 2017, were as follows:

 

     Amount  
Class A      $23  
Class B      450  
Class C       

Shareholder Servicing Agent – MFS Service Center, Inc. (MFSC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of MFS, receives a fee from the fund for its services as shareholder servicing agent calculated as a percentage of the average daily net assets of the fund as determined periodically under the supervision of the fund’s Board of Trustees. For the

 

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six months ended November 30, 2017, the fee was $1,418, which equated to 0.0014% annually of the fund’s average daily net assets. MFSC also receives payment from the fund for out-of-pocket expenses, sub-accounting and other shareholder servicing costs which may be paid to affiliated and unaffiliated service providers. Class R6 shares do not incur sub-accounting fees. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, these out-of-pocket expenses, sub-accounting and other shareholder servicing costs amounted to $3,138.

Under a Special Servicing Agreement among MFS, certain MFS funds which invest in other MFS funds (“MFS fund-of-funds”) and certain underlying funds in which a MFS fund-of-funds invests (“underlying funds”), each underlying fund may pay a portion of each MFS fund-of-funds’ transfer agent-related expenses, including sub-accounting fees payable to financial intermediaries, to the extent such payments do not exceed the benefits realized or expected to be realized by the underlying fund from the investment in the underlying fund by the MFS fund-of-funds. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, these costs for the fund amounted to $227,233 and are included in “Shareholder servicing costs” in the Statement of Operations.

Administrator – MFS provides certain financial, legal, shareholder communications, compliance, and other administrative services to the fund. Under an administrative services agreement, the fund reimburses MFS the costs incurred to provide these services. The fund is charged an annual fixed amount of $17,500 plus a fee based on average daily net assets. The administrative services fee incurred for the six months ended November 30, 2017 was equivalent to an annual effective rate of 0.0205% of the fund’s average daily net assets.

Trustees’ and Officers’ Compensation – The fund pays compensation to independent Trustees in the form of a retainer, attendance fees, and additional compensation to Board and Committee chairpersons. The fund does not pay compensation directly to Trustees or officers of the fund who are also officers of the investment adviser, all of whom receive remuneration for their services to the fund from MFS. Certain officers and Trustees of the fund are officers or directors of MFS, MFD and MFSC.

Other – This fund and certain other funds managed by MFS (the funds) have entered into a service agreement (the ISO Agreement) which provides for payment of fees solely by the funds to Tarantino LLC in return for the provision of services of an Independent Senior Officer (ISO) for the funds. Frank L. Tarantino serves as the ISO and is an officer of the funds and the sole member of Tarantino LLC. The funds can terminate the ISO Agreement with Tarantino LLC at any time under the terms of the ISO Agreement. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fee paid by the fund under this agreement was $180 and is included in “Miscellaneous” expense in the Statement of Operations. MFS has agreed to bear all expenses associated with office space, other administrative support, and supplies provided to the ISO.

The fund invests in the MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio which is managed by MFS and seeks current income consistent with preservation of capital and liquidity. This money market fund does not pay a management fee to MFS.

On March 16, 2017, MFS purchased 3,450 shares of Class I for an aggregate amount of $32,603.

 

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On September 20, 2017, MFS purchased 1,485 shares of Class I for an aggregate amount of $14,301.

At November 30, 2017, MFS held approximately 75%, 100%, 100%, 96%, and 100% of the outstanding shares of Class I, Class R1, Class R2, Class R3, and Class R4, respectively.

(4) Portfolio Securities

For the six months ended November 30, 2017, purchases and sales of investments, other than purchased option transactions and short-term obligations, were as follows:

 

     Purchases      Sales  
U.S. Government securities      $3,170,300        $903,462  
Investments (non-U.S. Government securities)      $35,422,884        $40,578,866  

(5) Shares of Beneficial Interest

The fund’s Declaration of Trust permits the Trustees to issue an unlimited number of full and fractional shares of beneficial interest. Transactions in fund shares were as follows:

 

     Six months ended
11/30/17
     Year ended
5/31/17
 
     Shares      Amount      Shares      Amount  
Shares sold            

Class A

     29,731        $287,983        46,747        $443,515  

Class B

     967        9,172        2,648        24,942  

Class C

     6,168        58,578        23,691        224,511  

Class I

     1,661        16,000        32,644        308,850  

Class R3

     121        1,165        216        2,047  

Class R6

     758,347        7,274,218        1,141,738        10,766,898  
     796,995        $7,647,116        1,247,684        $11,770,763  
Shares issued to shareholders in reinvestment of distributions            

Class A

     1,091        $10,483        1,721        $16,263  

Class B

     51        479        30        274  

Class C

     122        1,162        88        814  

Class I

     457        4,402        718        6,798  

Class R1

     7        66        3        31  

Class R2

     20        195        20        188  

Class R3

     28        269        34        322  

Class R4

     34        329        48        449  

Class R6

     135,424        1,301,624        194,784        1,843,046  
     137,234        $1,319,009        197,446        $1,868,185  

 

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     Six months ended
11/30/17
     Year ended
5/31/17
 
     Shares      Amount      Shares      Amount  
Shares reacquired            

Class A

     (48,773      $(469,847      (109,211      $(1,034,541

Class B

     (9,111      (86,622      (4,541      (42,581

Class C

     (20,593      (196,652      (64,446      (603,329

Class I

     (7,755      (74,799      (33,242      (314,600

Class R3

                   (136      (1,290

Class R6

     (542,728      (5,245,010      (2,186,015      (20,864,635
     (628,960      $(6,072,930      (2,397,591      $(22,860,976
Net change            

Class A

     (17,951      $(171,381      (60,743      $(574,763

Class B

     (8,093      (76,971      (1,863      (17,365

Class C

     (14,303      (136,912      (40,667      (378,004

Class I

     (5,637      (54,397      120        1,048  

Class R1

     7        66        3        31  

Class R2

     20        195        20        188  

Class R3

     149        1,434        114        1,079  

Class R4

     34        329        48        449  

Class R6

     351,043        3,330,832        (849,493      (8,254,691
     305,269        $2,893,195        (952,461      $(9,222,028

Class T shares were not publicly available for sale during the period. Please see the fund’s prospectus for details.

The fund is one of several mutual funds in which certain MFS funds may invest. The MFS funds do not invest in the underlying funds for the purpose of exercising management or control. At the end of the period, the MFS Conservative Allocation Fund, the MFS Moderate Allocation Fund, the MFS Growth Allocation Fund, the MFS Lifetime Income Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2020 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2030 Fund, and the MFS Lifetime 2025 Fund were the owners of record of approximately 29%, 28%, 24%, 6%, 4%, 3%, and 2%, respectively, of the value of outstanding voting shares of the fund. In addition, the MFS Lifetime 2035 Fund, and the MFS Lifetime 2040 Fund were each the owners of record of less than 1% of the value of outstanding voting shares of the fund.

(6) Line of Credit

The fund and certain other funds managed by MFS participate in a $1.25 billion unsecured committed line of credit, subject to a $1 billion sublimit, provided by a syndication of banks under a credit agreement. Borrowings may be made for temporary financing needs. Interest is charged to each fund, based on its borrowings, generally at a rate equal to the higher of the Overnight Federal Reserve funds rate or daily one month LIBOR plus an agreed upon spread. A commitment fee, based on the average daily, unused portion of the committed line of credit, is allocated among the participating funds at the end of each calendar quarter. In addition, the fund and other funds managed by MFS have established unsecured uncommitted borrowing arrangements with certain banks for temporary financing needs. Interest is charged to

 

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each fund, based on its borrowings, at a rate equal to the Overnight Federal Reserve funds rate plus an agreed upon spread. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fund’s commitment fee and interest expense were $728 and $0, respectively, and are included in “Miscellaneous” expense in the Statement of Operations.

(7) Investments in Affiliated Issuers

An affiliated issuer may be considered one in which the fund owns 5% or more of the outstanding voting securities, or a company which is under common control. For the purposes of this report, the fund assumes the following to be affiliated issuers:

 

Affiliated Issuers          Beginning
Shares/Par
Amount
    Acquisitions
Shares/Par
Amount
    Dispositions
Shares/Par
Amount
    Ending
Shares/Par
Amount
 
MFS Institutional Money
Market Portfolio
      14,140,650       42,541,441       (40,650,386     16,031,705  
Affilated Issuers   Realized
Gain (Loss)
    Change in
Unrealized
Appreciation
(Depreciation)
    Capital Gain
Distributions
    Dividend
Income
    Ending
Value
 
MFS Institutional Money
Market Portfolio
    $(716     $(1,541     $—       $72,340       $16,030,101  

(8) Subsequent Event

On December 5, 2017, the Board of Trustees approved the liquidation of the fund on or about March 29, 2018. After December 22, 2017, the fund will be closed to all purchases except by existing investors and distribution reinvestment or other automatic investment plan programs. After March 22, 2018, the fund will be closed to all investment. MFS may authorize exceptions to this closure on a case-by-case basis. MFS Funds invested in the fund will be allowed to continue to purchase shares of the fund during the period leading up to the liquidation (including after March 22, 2018).

 

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BOARD REVIEW OF INVESTMENT ADVISORY AGREEMENT

The Investment Company Act of 1940 requires that both the full Board of Trustees and a majority of the non-interested (“independent”) Trustees, voting separately, annually approve the continuation of the Fund’s investment advisory agreement with MFS. The Trustees consider matters bearing on the Fund and its advisory arrangements at their meetings throughout the year, including a review of performance data at each regular meeting. In addition, the independent Trustees met several times over the course of three months beginning in May and ending in July, 2017 (“contract review meetings”) for the specific purpose of considering whether to approve the continuation of the investment advisory agreement for the Fund and the other investment companies that the Board oversees (the “MFS Funds”). The independent Trustees were assisted in their evaluation of the Fund’s investment advisory agreement by independent legal counsel, from whom they received separate legal advice and with whom they met separately from MFS during various contract review meetings. The independent Trustees were also assisted in this process by the MFS Funds’ Independent Senior Officer, a senior officer appointed by and reporting to the independent Trustees.

In connection with their deliberations regarding the continuation of the investment advisory agreement, the Trustees, including the independent Trustees, considered such information and factors as they believed, in light of the legal advice furnished to them and their own business judgment, to be relevant. The investment advisory agreement for the Fund was considered separately, although the Trustees also took into account the common interests of all MFS Funds in their review. As described below, the Trustees considered the nature, quality, and extent of the various investment advisory, administrative, and shareholder services performed by MFS under the existing investment advisory agreement and other arrangements with the Fund.

In connection with their contract review meetings, the Trustees received and relied upon materials that included, among other items: (i) information provided by Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (“Broadridge”), an independent third party, on the investment performance of the Fund for various time periods ended December 31, 2016 and the investment performance of a group of funds with substantially similar investment classifications/objectives (the “Lipper performance universe”), (ii) information provided by Broadridge on the Fund’s advisory fees and other expenses and the advisory fees and other expenses of comparable funds identified by Broadridge (the “Broadridge expense group”), (iii) information provided by MFS on the advisory fees of portfolios of other clients of MFS, including institutional separate accounts and other clients, (iv) information as to whether and to what extent applicable expense waivers, reimbursements or fee “breakpoints” are observed for the Fund, (v) information regarding MFS’ financial results and financial condition, including MFS’ and certain of its affiliates’ estimated profitability from services performed for the Fund and the MFS Funds as a whole, and compared to MFS’ institutional business, (vi) MFS’ views regarding the outlook for the mutual fund industry and the strategic business plans of MFS, (vii) descriptions of various functions performed by MFS for the Funds, such as compliance monitoring and portfolio trading practices, and (viii) information regarding the overall organization of MFS, including information about MFS’ senior management and other personnel providing investment advisory,

 

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administrative and other services to the Fund and the other MFS Funds. The comparative performance, fee and expense information prepared and provided by Broadridge was not independently verified and the independent Trustees did not independently verify any information provided to them by MFS.

The Trustees’ conclusion as to the continuation of the investment advisory agreement was based on a comprehensive consideration of all information provided to the Trustees and not the result of any single factor. Some of the factors that figured particularly in the Trustees’ deliberations are described below, although individual Trustees may have evaluated the information presented differently from one another, giving different weights to various factors. It is also important to recognize that the fee arrangements for the Fund and other MFS Funds are the result of years of review and discussion between the independent Trustees and MFS, that certain aspects of such arrangements may receive greater scrutiny in some years than in others, and that the Trustees’ conclusions may be based, in part, on their consideration of these same arrangements during the course of the year and in prior years.

Based on information provided by Broadridge and MFS, the Trustees reviewed the Fund’s total return investment performance as well as the performance of peer groups of funds over various time periods. The Trustees placed particular emphasis on the total return performance of the Fund’s Class A shares in comparison to the performance of funds in its Lipper performance universe over the three-year period ended December 31, 2016, which the Trustees believed was a long enough period to reflect differing market conditions. The total return performance of the Fund’s Class A shares was in the 5th quintile relative to the other funds in the universe for this three-year period (the 1st quintile being the best performers and the 5th quintile being the worst performers). The total return performance of the Fund’s Class A shares was in the 4th quintile for the one-year period and the 5th quintile for the five-year period ended December 31, 2016 relative to the Lipper performance universe. Because of the passage of time, these performance results may differ from the performance results for more recent periods, including those shown elsewhere in this report.

The Trustees expressed continued concern to MFS about the substandard investment performance of the Fund. In the course of their deliberations, the Trustees took into account information provided by MFS in connection with the contract review meetings, as well as during investment review meetings conducted with portfolio management personnel during the course of the year, as to MFS’ efforts to improve the Fund’s performance, including the replacement of a portfolio manager for the Fund effective February 1, 2017. In addition, the Trustees requested that they receive a separate update on the Fund’s performance at each of their regular meetings. After reviewing these and related factors, the Trustees concluded, within the context of their overall conclusions regarding the investment advisory agreement, that MFS’ responses and efforts and plans to improve investment performance were sufficient to support approval of the continuance of the investment advisory agreement for an additional one-year period, but that they would continue to closely monitor the performance of the Fund.

In assessing the reasonableness of the Fund’s advisory fee, the Trustees considered, among other information, the Fund’s advisory fee and the total expense ratio of the Fund’s Class A shares as a percentage of average daily net assets and the advisory fee

 

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and total expense ratios of peer groups of funds based on information provided by Broadridge. The Trustees considered that MFS currently observes an expense limitation for the Fund, which may not be changed without the Trustees’ approval. The Trustees also considered that, according to the data provided by Broadridge (which takes into account any fee reductions or expense limitations that were in effect during the Fund’s last fiscal year), the Fund’s effective advisory fee rate and total expense ratio were each lower than the Broadridge expense group median.

The Trustees also considered the advisory fees charged by MFS to any institutional separate accounts advised by MFS (“separate accounts”) and unaffiliated investment companies for which MFS serves as subadviser (“subadvised funds”) that have comparable investment strategies to the Fund, if any. In comparing these fees, the Trustees considered information provided by MFS as to the generally broader scope of services provided by MFS to the Fund, as well as the more extensive regulatory burdens imposed on MFS in managing the Fund, in comparison to separate accounts and subadvised funds. The Trustees also considered the higher demands placed on MFS’ investment personnel and trading infrastructure as a result of the daily cash in-flows and out-flows of the Fund in comparison to separate accounts.

The Trustees also considered whether the Fund may benefit from any economies of scale in the management of the Fund in the event of growth in assets of the Fund and/or growth in assets of the MFS Funds as a whole. They noted that the Fund’s advisory fee rate schedule is subject to contractual breakpoints that reduce the Fund’s advisory fee rate on average daily net assets over $1 billion and $2.5 billion. The Trustees also noted that MFS has agreed in writing to waive a portion of the management fees of certain MFS Funds, including the Fund, if the total combined assets of certain funds within the MFS Funds’ complex increase above agreed upon thresholds (the “group fee waiver”), enabling the Fund’s shareholders to share in the benefits from any economies of scale at the complex level. The group fee waiver is reviewed and renewed annually between the Board and MFS. The Trustees concluded that the breakpoints and the group fee waiver were sufficient to allow the Fund to benefit from economies of scale as its assets and overall complex assets grow.

The Trustees also considered information prepared by MFS relating to MFS’ costs and profits with respect to the Fund, the MFS Funds considered as a group, and other investment companies and accounts advised by MFS, as well as MFS’ methodologies used to determine and allocate its costs to the MFS Funds, the Fund and other accounts and products for purposes of estimating profitability.

After reviewing these and other factors described herein, the Trustees concluded, within the context of their overall conclusions regarding the investment advisory agreement, that the advisory fees charged to the Fund represent reasonable compensation in light of the services being provided by MFS to the Fund.

In addition, the Trustees considered MFS’ resources and related efforts to continue to retain, attract and motivate capable personnel to serve the Fund. The Trustees also considered current and developing conditions in the financial services industry, including the presence of large and well-capitalized companies which are spending, and appear to be prepared to continue to spend, substantial sums to engage personnel and to provide services to competing investment companies. In this regard, the

 

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Trustees also considered the financial resources of MFS and its ultimate parent, Sun Life Financial Inc. The Trustees also considered the advantages and possible disadvantages to the Fund of having an adviser that also serves other investment companies as well as other accounts.

The Trustees also considered the nature, quality, cost, and extent of administrative, transfer agency, and distribution services provided to the Fund by MFS and its affiliates under agreements and plans other than the investment advisory agreement, including any 12b-1 fees the Fund pays to MFS Fund Distributors, Inc., an affiliate of MFS. The Trustees also considered the nature, extent and quality of certain other services MFS performs or arranges for on the Fund’s behalf, which may include securities lending programs, directed expense payment programs, class action recovery programs, and MFS’ interaction with third-party service providers, principally custodians and sub-custodians. The Trustees concluded that the various non-advisory services provided by MFS and its affiliates on behalf of the Fund were satisfactory.

The Trustees also considered benefits to MFS from the use of the Fund’s portfolio brokerage commissions, if applicable, to pay for investment research and various other factors. Additionally, the Trustees considered so-called “fall-out benefits” to MFS such as reputational value derived from serving as investment manager to the Fund.

Based on their evaluation of factors that they deemed to be material, including those factors described above, the Board of Trustees, including the independent Trustees, concluded that the Fund’s investment advisory agreement with MFS should be continued for an additional one-year period, commencing August 1, 2017.

 

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PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND INFORMATION

MFS votes proxies on behalf of the fund pursuant to proxy voting policies and procedures that are available without charge, upon request, by calling 1-800-225-2606, by visiting mfs.com/proxyvoting, or by visiting the SEC’s Web site at http://www.sec.gov.

Information regarding how the fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the most recent twelve-month period ended June 30 is available by August 31 of each year without charge by visiting mfs.com/proxyvoting, or by visiting the SEC’s Web site at http://www.sec.gov.

QUARTERLY PORTFOLIO DISCLOSURE

The fund will file a complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission) for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-Q. A shareholder can obtain the quarterly portfolio holdings report at mfs.com. The fund’s Form N-Q is also available on the EDGAR database on the Commission’s Internet Web site at http://www.sec.gov, and may be reviewed and copied at the:

Public Reference Room

Securities and Exchange Commission

100 F Street, NE, Room 1580

Washington, D.C. 20549

Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling the Commission at 1-800-SEC-0330. Copies of the fund’s Form N-Q also may be obtained, upon payment of a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov or by writing the Public Reference Section at the above address.

FURTHER INFORMATION

From time to time, MFS may post important information about the fund or the MFS funds on the MFS web site (mfs.com). This information is available at https://www.mfs.com/en-us/what-we-do/announcements.html or at mfs.com/openendfunds by choosing the fund’s name.

 

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INFORMATION ABOUT FUND CONTRACTS AND LEGAL CLAIMS

The fund has entered into contractual arrangements with an investment adviser, administrator, distributor, shareholder servicing agent, 529 program manager (if applicable), and custodian who each provide services to the fund. Unless expressly stated otherwise, shareholders are not parties to, or intended beneficiaries of these contractual arrangements, and these contractual arrangements are not intended to create any shareholder right to enforce them against the service providers or to seek any remedy under them against the service providers, either directly or on behalf of the fund.

Under the Trust’s By-Laws and Declaration of Trust, any claims asserted against or on behalf of the MFS Funds, including claims against Trustees and Officers, must be brought in state and federal courts located within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

PROVISION OF FINANCIAL REPORTS AND SUMMARY PROSPECTUSES

The fund produces financial reports every six months and updates its summary prospectus and prospectus annually. To avoid sending duplicate copies of materials to households, only one copy of the fund’s annual and semiannual report and summary prospectus may be mailed to shareholders having the same last name and residential address on the fund’s records. However, any shareholder may contact MFSC (please see back cover for address and telephone number) to request that copies of these reports and summary prospectuses be sent personally to that shareholder.

 

59


Table of Contents

LOGO

 

Save paper with eDelivery.

 

LOGO

MFS® will send you prospectuses,

reports, and proxies directly via e-mail so you will get information faster with less mailbox clutter.

To sign up:

1. Go to mfs.com.

2. Log in via MFS® Access.

3. Select eDelivery.

If you own your MFS fund shares through a financial institution or a retirement plan, MFS® TALK, MFS® Access, or eDelivery may not be available to you.

 

CONTACT

WEB SITE

mfs.com

MFS TALK

1-800-637-8255

24 hours a day

ACCOUNT SERVICE AND LITERATURE

Shareholders

1-800-225-2606

Financial advisors

1-800-343-2829

Retirement plan services

1-800-637-1255

MAILING ADDRESS

MFS Service Center, Inc.

P.O. Box 55824

Boston, MA 02205-5824

OVERNIGHT MAIL

MFS Service Center, Inc.

c/o DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc.

30 Dan Road

Canton, MA 02021-2809

 


Table of Contents

SEMIANNUAL REPORT

November 30, 2017

 

LOGO

 

MFS® EMERGING MARKETS

EQUITY FUND

 

LOGO

 

FEM-SEM

 


Table of Contents

MFS® EMERGING MARKETS EQUITY FUND

 

CONTENTS

 

Letter from the Executive Chairman     1  
Portfolio composition     2  
Expense table     4  
Portfolio of investments     6  
Statement of assets and liabilities     11  
Statement of operations     13  
Statements of changes in net assets     14  
Financial highlights     15  
Notes to financial statements     24  
Board review of investment advisory agreement     36  
Proxy voting policies and information     40  
Quarterly portfolio disclosure     40  
Further information     40  
Information about fund contracts and legal claims     41  
Provision of financial reports and summary prospectuses     41  
Contact information    back cover  

The report is prepared for the general information of shareholders.

It is authorized for distribution to prospective investors only when preceded or accompanied by a current prospectus.

 

NOT FDIC INSURED MAY LOSE VALUE NO BANK GUARANTEE



Table of Contents

LOGO

 

LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN

 

Dear Shareholders:

Most markets have proved resilient over the past year, despite uncertainty accompanying a new presidential administration in the United States and unease over

ongoing negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union regarding Brexit. U.S. share prices have reached new highs in recent months although the U.S. Federal Reserve has continued to gradually hike interest rates and has begun to shrink its balance sheet.

Globally, we’ve experienced a synchronized upturn in economic growth for more than a year. Despite the improvement in economic activity, there are few immediate signs of worrisome inflation amid muted wage gains around the world. Emerging market economies have been boosted in part by a weaker

U.S. dollar and are recovering despite lingering concerns over the potential for restrictive U.S. trade policies. Commodity markets have recovered somewhat in response to solid global demand and robust global trade, though not enough to rekindle inflation fears.

At MFS®, we believe having a disciplined, long-term investment approach through a full market cycle is essential to capturing the best opportunities while also managing risk. In our view, such a strategy, along with the professional guidance of a financial advisor, will help you reach your investment objectives.

Respectfully,

 

LOGO

Robert J. Manning

Executive Chairman

MFS Investment Management

January 16, 2018

The opinions expressed in this letter are subject to change and may not be relied upon for investment advice. No forecasts can be guaranteed.

 

1


Table of Contents

PORTFOLIO COMPOSITION

 

Portfolio structure

 

LOGO

 

Top ten holdings  
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.     5.4%  
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., ADR     5.2%  
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd.     4.4%  
Baidu, Inc., ADR     3.0%  
Tencent Holdings Ltd.     2.9%  
Housing Development Finance Corp. Ltd.     2.7%  
Yum China Holdings, Inc.     2.6%  
LUKOIL PJSC, ADR     2.1%  
China Construction Bank     2.1%  
Banco Bradesco S.A., ADR     2.0%  
Equity sectors  
Technology     26.5%  
Financial Services     23.7%  
Special Products & Services     8.5%  
Consumer Staples     7.8%  
Leisure     5.8%  
Retailing     5.6%  
Basic Materials     4.4%  
Autos & Housing     4.0%  
Energy     4.0%  
Utilities & Communications     2.0%  
Industrial Goods & Services     1.8%  
Transportation     1.7%  
Health Care     0.8%  
Issuer country weightings (x)  
China     23.5%  
South Korea     11.5%  
India     8.7%  
Brazil     8.5%  
United States     6.7%  
Taiwan     6.6%  
Hong Kong     6.4%  
South Africa     5.4%  
Mexico     4.6%  
Other Countries     18.1%  
Currency exposure weightings (y)  
Hong Kong Dollar     14.9%  
United States Dollar     12.1%  
Chinese Renminbi     11.6%  
South Korean Won     11.5%  
Brazilian Real     8.5%  
Indian Rupee     7.6%  
Taiwan Dollar     6.6%  
South African Rand     5.4%  
Mexican Peso     4.6%  
Other Currencies     17.2%  
 

 

2


Table of Contents

Portfolio Composition – continued

 

(x) Represents the portfolio’s exposure to issuer countries as a percentage of a portfolio’s net assets. For purposes of this presentation, United States includes Cash & Cash Equivalents.
(y) Represents the portfolio’s exposure to a particular currency as a percentage of a portfolio’s net assets. For purposes of this presentation, United States Dollar includes Cash & Cash Equivalents.

Cash & Cash Equivalents includes any cash, investments in money market funds, short-term securities, and other assets less liabilities. Please see the Statement of Assets and Liabilities for additional information related to the fund’s cash position and other assets and liabilities.

Percentages are based on net assets as of November 30, 2017.

The portfolio is actively managed and current holdings may be different.

 

3


Table of Contents

EXPENSE TABLE

Fund expenses borne by the shareholders during the period, June 1, 2017 through November 30, 2017

As a shareholder of the fund, you incur two types of costs: (1) transaction costs, including sales charges (loads) on certain purchase or redemption payments, and (2) ongoing costs, including management fees; distribution and service (12b-1) fees; and other fund expenses. This example is intended to help you understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the fund and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds.

The example is based on an investment of $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period June 1, 2017 through November 30, 2017.

The expenses include the payment of a portion of the transfer-agent-related expenses of MFS funds that invest in the fund. For further information, please see the Notes to Financial Statements.

Actual Expenses

The first line for each share class in the following table provides information about actual account values and actual expenses. You may use the information in this line, together with the amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you paid over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000 = 8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first line under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid During Period” to estimate the expenses you paid on your account during this period.

Hypothetical Example for Comparison Purposes

The second line for each share class in the following table provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the fund’s actual expense ratio and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses, which is not the fund’s actual return. The hypothetical account values and expenses may not be used to estimate the actual ending account balance or expenses you paid for the period. You may use this information to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the fund and other funds. To do so, compare this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of the other funds.

Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only and do not reflect any transactional costs, such as sales charges (loads). Therefore, the second line for each share class in the table is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds. In addition, if these transactional costs were included, your costs would have been higher.

 

4


Table of Contents

Expense Table – continued

 

Share
Class
       Annualized
Expense
Ratio
    Beginning
Account Value
6/01/17
    Ending
Account Value
11/30/17
    Expenses
Paid During
Period (p)
6/01/17-11/30/17
 
A   Actual     1.51%       $1,000.00       $1,115.42       $8.01  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.51%       $1,000.00       $1,017.50       $7.64  
B   Actual     2.27%       $1,000.00       $1,111.51       $12.02  
  Hypothetical (h)     2.27%       $1,000.00       $1,013.69       $11.46  
C   Actual     2.27%       $1,000.00       $1,111.27       $12.01  
  Hypothetical (h)     2.27%       $1,000.00       $1,013.69       $11.46  
I   Actual     1.27%       $1,000.00       $1,116.84       $6.74  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.27%       $1,000.00       $1,018.70       $6.43  
R1   Actual     2.27%       $1,000.00       $1,111.48       $12.02  
  Hypothetical (h)     2.27%       $1,000.00       $1,013.69       $11.46  
R2   Actual     1.77%       $1,000.00       $1,114.31       $9.38  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.77%       $1,000.00       $1,016.19       $8.95  
R3   Actual     1.52%       $1,000.00       $1,115.59       $8.06  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.52%       $1,000.00       $1,017.45       $7.69  
R4   Actual     1.27%       $1,000.00       $1,116.91       $6.74  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.27%       $1,000.00       $1,018.70       $6.43  
R6   Actual     1.18%       $1,000.00       $1,117.46       $6.26  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.18%       $1,000.00       $1,019.15       $5.97  

 

(h) 5% class return per year before expenses.
(p) “Expenses Paid During Period” are equal to each class’s annualized expense ratio, as shown above, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/365 (to reflect the one-half year period). Expenses paid do not include any applicable sales charges (loads). If these transaction costs had been included, your costs would have been higher.

Notes to Expense Table

Each class with a Rule 12b-1 service fee is subject to a rebate of a portion of such fee. Such rebates are included in the expense ratios above and are outside of the expense limitation arrangement. For Class A shares, this rebate reduced the expense ratio above by 0.01%. See Note 3 in the Notes to Financial Statements for additional information.

Changes to the fund’s fee arrangements occurred during the six month period. Had these fee changes been in effect throughout the entire six month period, the annualized expense ratios, the actual expenses paid during the period, and the hypothetical expenses paid during the period would have been approximately 1.41%, $7.48, and $7.13 for Class A, 2.17%, $11.49, and $10.96 for Class B, 2.17%, $11.49, and $10.96 for Class C, 1.17%, $6.21, and $5.92 for Class I, 2.17%, $11.49, and $10.96 for Class R1, 1.67%, $8.85, and $8.44 for Class R2, 1.42%, $7.53, and $7.18 for Class R3, 1.17%, $6.21, and $5.92 for Class R4, and 1.08%, $5.73, and $5.47 for Class R6, respectively. For further information about the fund’s fee arrangements and changes to those fee arrangements, please see Note 3 in the Notes to Financial Statements.

 

5


Table of Contents

PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS

11/30/17 (unaudited)

The Portfolio of Investments is a complete list of all securities owned by your fund. It is categorized by broad-based asset classes.

 

Common Stocks - 96.6%                 
Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Airlines - 0.9%                 
Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste S.A. de C.V., ADR      64,723     $ 11,592,537  
Alcoholic Beverages - 2.3%                 
AmBev S.A., ADR      2,343,224     $ 14,504,557  
China Resources Enterprise Ltd.      5,720,000       15,800,091  
    

 

 

 
             $ 30,304,648  
Apparel Manufacturers - 0.6%                 
Stella International Holdings      5,459,000     $ 8,337,896  
Automotive - 1.3%                 
Kia Motors Corp.      228,719     $ 7,072,267  
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.      454,835       9,921,653  
    

 

 

 
             $ 16,993,920  
Business Services - 2.1%                 
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp., “A”      325,927     $ 23,558,003  
GMexico Transportes S.A.B. de C.V (a)      2,793,100       4,670,367  
Novus Holdings Ltd.      31,887       15,415  
    

 

 

 
             $ 28,243,785  
Cable TV - 1.9%                 
Naspers Ltd.      95,146     $ 25,583,001  
Computer Software - Systems - 2.2%                 
EPAM Systems, Inc. (a)      124,980     $ 12,677,971  
Globant S.A. (a)(l)      232,568       9,302,720  
Linx S.A.      1,163,600       7,393,692  
    

 

 

 
             $ 29,374,383  
Construction - 1.4%                 
PT Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa Tbk      5,464,200     $ 7,443,286  
Techtronic Industries Co. Ltd.      1,954,500       11,321,736  
    

 

 

 
             $ 18,765,022  
Consumer Products - 0.9%                 
Dabur India Ltd.      2,277,491     $ 12,160,982  

 

6


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Common Stocks - continued                 
Consumer Services - 6.4%                 
51job, Inc., ADR (a)      197,676     $ 11,366,370  
China Maple Leaf Educational Systems      8,657,000       9,233,535  
Ctrip.com International Ltd., ADR (a)      451,271       20,794,568  
Kroton Educacional S.A.      2,771,200       15,339,823  
MakeMyTrip Ltd. (a)      460,843       14,009,627  
SEEK Ltd.      980,182       13,806,255  
    

 

 

 
             $ 84,550,178  
Containers - 0.6%                 
Lock & Lock Co. Ltd.      271,794     $ 7,301,341  
Electrical Equipment - 1.7%                 
Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd.      4,636,185     $ 6,662,750  
LS Industrial Systems Co. Ltd.      290,843       16,420,800  
    

 

 

 
             $ 23,083,550  
Electronics - 11.0%                 
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.      30,625     $ 71,953,848  
Silicon Motion Technology Corp., ADR      282,500       14,622,200  
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd.      7,808,695       58,837,270  
    

 

 

 
             $ 145,413,318  
Energy - Independent - 1.0%                 
Gran Tierra Energy, Inc. (a)      3,099,430     $ 6,942,877  
Ultrapar Participacoes S.A.      291,640       6,254,297  
    

 

 

 
             $ 13,197,174  
Energy - Integrated - 2.5%                 
LUKOIL PJSC, ADR      504,246     $ 28,010,865  
YPF S.A., ADR      255,394       5,794,890  
    

 

 

 
             $ 33,805,755  
Food & Beverages - 4.1%                 
AVI Ltd.      2,119,276     $ 15,535,692  
BRF S.A. (a)      783,310       9,207,951  
Orion Corp. (a)      151,768       15,927,216  
Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp.      9,042,000       14,216,854  
    

 

 

 
             $ 54,887,713  
Food & Drug Stores - 2.3%                 
Clicks Group Ltd.      926,049     $ 11,707,447  
Dairy Farm International Holdings Ltd.      1,295,400       10,400,611  
Eurocash S.A.      1,033,683       8,047,941  
    

 

 

 
             $ 30,155,999  

 

7


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Common Stocks - continued                 
Forest & Paper Products - 1.3%                 
Fibria Celulose S.A.      930,207     $ 12,835,831  
Suzano Papel e Celulose      763,700       4,085,105  
    

 

 

 
             $ 16,920,936  
Furniture & Appliances - 1.3%                 
Coway Co. Ltd.      202,104     $ 17,810,038  
Gaming & Lodging - 0.2%                 
Genting Berhad      1,395,900     $ 3,003,771  
General Merchandise - 0.3%                 
S.A.C.I. Falabella      532,227     $ 4,458,177  
Insurance - 2.1%                 
AIA Group Ltd.      2,660,200     $ 21,683,083  
Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co. Ltd.      24,808       5,927,020  
    

 

 

 
             $ 27,610,103  
Internet - 11.9%                 
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., ADR (a)      390,872     $ 69,215,613  
Baidu, Inc., ADR (a)      167,028       39,849,540  
NAVER Corp.      13,684       10,085,547  
Tencent Holdings Ltd.      746,400       38,528,496  
    

 

 

 
             $ 157,679,196  
Major Banks - 3.4%                 
China Construction Bank      31,498,490     $ 27,592,550  
Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, “H”      21,858,000       17,141,098  
    

 

 

 
             $ 44,733,648  
Metals & Mining - 1.3%                 
Vale S.A., ADR      1,562,195     $ 16,715,486  
Network & Telecom - 1.4%                 
VTech Holdings Ltd.      1,329,400     $ 19,098,056  
Oil Services - 0.4%                 
Lamprell PLC (a)      6,324,250     $ 5,815,984  
Other Banks & Diversified Financials - 16.5%                 
Banco Bradesco S.A., ADR      2,720,125     $ 26,630,024  
Barclays Africa Group Ltd.      606,870       6,981,549  
Credicorp Ltd.      45,432       9,587,515  
E.Sun Financial Holding Co. Ltd.      22,565,631       13,980,380  

 

8


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Common Stocks - continued                 
Other Banks & Diversified Financials - continued                 
Grupo Financiero Banorte S.A. de C.V.      1,610,803     $ 9,447,779  
Grupo Financiero Inbursa S.A. de C.V.      9,025,584       15,944,182  
Housing Development Finance Corp. Ltd.      1,368,215       35,557,039  
Kasikornbank Co. Ltd.      2,468,000       17,198,799  
Komercni Banka A.S.      106,230       4,452,489  
Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd.      349,959       5,446,964  
Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co.      4,184,620       7,976,256  
PT Bank Central Asia Tbk      5,155,000       7,755,748  
Public Bank Berhad      2,332,051       11,353,523  
Sberbank of Russia      3,622,767       13,902,973  
Shriram Transport Finance Co. Ltd.      1,040,666       21,535,166  
Turkiye Sinai Kalkinma Bankasi A.S.      15,739,450       5,426,149  
Union National Bank      4,971,012       5,264,698  
    

 

 

 
             $ 218,441,233  
Pharmaceuticals - 0.7%                 
Genomma Lab Internacional S.A., “B” (a)      8,367,351     $ 9,914,120  
Real Estate - 1.8%                 
Aldar Properties PJSC      9,220,011     $ 5,522,468  
Concentradora Fibra Hotelera Mexicana S.A. de C.V., REIT      4,976,310       3,231,171  
Hang Lung Properties Ltd.      6,219,000       14,676,552  
    

 

 

 
             $ 23,430,191  
Restaurants - 3.7%                 
Alsea S.A.B. de C.V.      1,771,535     $ 5,855,002  
Jollibee Foods Corp.      1,607,680       7,792,098  
Yum China Holdings, Inc.      857,425       35,008,663  
    

 

 

 
             $ 48,655,763  
Specialty Chemicals - 1.3%                 
Astra Argo Lestari      6,676,000     $ 6,845,281  
PTT Global Chemical PLC      4,226,100       10,287,047  
    

 

 

 
             $ 17,132,328  
Specialty Stores - 2.4%                 
Dufry AG (a)      126,722     $ 18,240,239  
JD.com, Inc., ADR (a)      345,861       12,952,495  
    

 

 

 
             $ 31,192,734  
Telecommunications - Wireless - 0.7%                 
Mobile TeleSystems PJSC, ADR      908,930     $ 9,425,604  

 

9


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Common Stocks - continued                 
Telephone Services - 0.5%                 
PT XL Axiata Tbk (a)      29,746,450     $ 6,773,552  
Tobacco - 0.5%                 
PT Hanjaya Mandala Sampoerna Tbk      21,849,500     $ 6,623,019  
Trucking - 0.9%                 
Emergent Capital, Inc.      690,971     $ 11,450,520  
Utilities - Electric Power - 0.8%                 
CESC Ltd.      673,457     $ 10,631,490  
Total Common Stocks (Identified Cost, $979,576,917)            $ 1,281,267,151  
Investment Companies (h) - 2.5%                 
Money Market Funds - 2.5%                 
MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio, 1.19% (v)
(Identified Cost, $32,663,362)
     32,665,949     $ 32,662,683  
Collateral for Securities Loaned - 0.2%                 
State Street Navigator Securities Lending Government Money Market Portfolio, 1.04% (j) (Identified Cost, $3,267,783)      3,267,783     $ 3,267,783  
Other Assets, Less Liabilities - 0.7%              9,797,949  
Net Assets - 100.0%            $ 1,326,995,566  

 

(a) Non-income producing security.
(h) An affiliated issuer may be considered one in which the fund owns 5% or more of the outstanding voting securities, or a company which is under common control. At period end, the aggregate values of the fund’s investments in affiliated issuers and in unaffiliated issuers were $32,662,683 and $1,284,534,934, respectively.
(j) The rate quoted is the annualized seven-day yield of the fund at period end.
(l) A portion of this security is on loan.
(v) Affiliated issuer that is available only to investment companies managed by MFS. The rate quoted for the MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio is the annualized seven-day yield of the fund at period end.

The following abbreviations are used in this report and are defined:

 

ADR   American Depositary Receipt
PJSC   Public Joint Stock Company
PLC   Public Limited Company
REIT   Real Estate Investment Trust

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

10


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Financial Statements

 

STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

At 11/30/17 (unaudited)

This statement represents your fund’s balance sheet, which details the assets and liabilities comprising the total value of the fund.

 

Assets         

Investments in unaffiliated issuers, at value, including $3,207,640 of securities on loan (identified cost, $982,844,700)

     $1,284,534,934  

Investments in affiliated issuers, at value (identified cost, $32,663,362)

     32,662,683  

Cash

     17,027  

Foreign currency, at value (identified cost, $86,083)

     86,839  

Receivables for

  

Investments sold

     10,751,935  

Fund shares sold

     13,411,367  

Interest and dividends

     220,679  

Total assets

     $1,341,685,464  
Liabilities         

Payables for

  

Investments purchased

     $7,712,834  

Fund shares reacquired

     218,661  

Collateral for securities loaned, at value

     3,267,783  

Payable to affiliates

  

Investment adviser

     72,212  

Shareholder servicing costs

     307,150  

Distribution and service fees

     1,840  

Payable for independent Trustees’ compensation

     876  

Deferred country tax expense payable

     2,578,600  

Accrued expenses and other liabilities

     529,942  

Total liabilities

     $14,689,898  

Net assets

     $1,326,995,566  
Net assets consist of         

Paid-in capital

     $1,107,089,012  

Unrealized appreciation (depreciation) (net of $2,237,568 deferred country tax)

     299,453,226  

Accumulated net realized gain (loss)

     (83,851,213

Undistributed net investment income

     4,304,541  

Net assets

     $1,326,995,566  

Shares of beneficial interest outstanding

     37,500,063  

 

11


Table of Contents

Statement of Assets and Liabilities (unaudited) – continued

 

 

     Net assets      Shares
outstanding
     Net asset value
per share (a)
 

Class A

     $139,918,920        4,126,043        $33.91  

Class B

     5,906,662        188,813        31.28  

Class C

     23,823,231        779,794        30.55  

Class I

     39,421,550        1,102,970        35.74  

Class R1

     499,841        16,498        30.30  

Class R2

     5,459,331        176,188        30.99  

Class R3

     2,502,791        74,113        33.77  

Class R4

     6,691,666        197,929        33.81  

Class R6

     1,102,771,574        30,837,715        35.76  

 

(a) Maximum offering price per share was equal to the net asset value per share for all share classes, except for Class A, for which the maximum offering price per share was $35.98 [100 / 94.25 x $33.91]. On sales of $50,000 or more, the maximum offering price of Class A shares is reduced. A contingent deferred sales charge may be imposed on redemptions of Class A, Class B, and Class C shares. Redemption price per share was equal to the net asset value per share for Classes I, R1, R2, R3, R4, and R6. Net asset value per share is calculated using actual net assets and shares outstanding rather than amounts that have been rounded for presentation purposes.

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

12


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Financial Statements

 

STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS

Six months ended 11/30/17 (unaudited)

This statement describes how much your fund earned in investment income and accrued in expenses. It also describes any gains and/or losses generated by fund operations.

 

Net investment income (loss)         

Income

  

Dividends

     $11,383,807  

Dividends from affiliated issuers

     126,796  

Income on securities loaned

     2,881  

Foreign taxes withheld

     (1,192,155

Total investment income

     $10,321,329  

Expenses

  

Management fee

     $5,899,925  

Distribution and service fees

     325,831  

Shareholder servicing costs

     754,462  

Administrative services fee

     99,405  

Independent Trustees’ compensation

     8,550  

Custodian fee

     290,101  

Shareholder communications

     19,053  

Audit and tax fees

     51,458  

Legal fees

     5,417  

Miscellaneous

     93,280  

Total expenses

     $7,547,482  

Reduction of expenses by investment adviser and distributor

     (55,127

Net expenses

     $7,492,355  

Net investment income (loss)

     $2,828,974  
Realized and unrealized gain (loss)         

Realized gain (loss) (identified cost basis)

  

Unaffiliated issuers (net of $ 87,329 country tax)

     $11,018,828  

Affiliated issuers

     (1,246

Foreign currency

     (84,387

Net realized gain (loss)

     $10,933,195  

Change in unrealized appreciation (depreciation)

  

Unaffiliated issuers (net of $ 1,191,503 increase in deferred country tax)

     $115,405,065  

Affiliated issuers

     (2,418

Translation of assets and liabilities in foreign currencies

     (2,207

Net unrealized gain (loss)

     $115,400,440  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     $126,333,635  

Change in net assets from operations

     $129,162,609  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

13


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

 

STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN NET ASSETS

These statements describe the increases and/or decreases in net assets resulting from operations, any distributions, and any shareholder transactions.

 

Change in net assets   

Six months ended
11/30/17

(unaudited)

    

Year ended
5/31/17

 
From operations                  

Net investment income (loss)

     $2,828,974        $6,683,130  

Net realized gain (loss)

     10,933,195        (15,602,645

Net unrealized gain (loss)

     115,400,440        222,856,819  

Change in net assets from operations

     $129,162,609        $213,937,304  
Distributions declared to shareholders                  

From net investment income

     $—        $(6,355,094

Change in net assets from fund share transactions

     $131,413,391        $100,060,677  

Total change in net assets

     $260,576,000        $307,642,887  
Net assets                  

At beginning of period

     1,066,419,566        758,776,679  

At end of period (including undistributed net investment income of $4,304,541 and $1,475,567, respectively)

     $1,326,995,566        $1,066,419,566  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

14


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

 

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

The financial highlights table is intended to help you understand the fund’s financial performance for the semiannual period and the past 5 fiscal years. Certain information reflects financial results for a single fund share. The total returns in the table represent the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the fund share class (assuming reinvestment of all distributions) held for the entire period.

 

    Six months
ended
11/30/17
(unaudited)
    Year ended  
Class A     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning
of period

    $30.39       $24.05       $27.87       $30.60       $30.76       $27.61  
Income (loss) from investment operations                          

Net investment income (loss) (d)

    $0.03       $0.16 (c)      $0.16       $0.12       $0.13       $0.18  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    3.49       6.32       (3.95     (1.98     (0.17     3.22  

Total from investment operations

    $3.52       $6.48       $(3.79     $(1.86     $(0.04     $3.40  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                          

From net investment income

    $—       $(0.14     $(0.03     $(0.20     $(0.12     $(0.25

From net realized gain

                      (0.67            

Total distributions declared
to shareholders

    $—       $(0.14     $(0.03     $(0.87     $(0.12     $(0.25

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $33.91       $30.39       $24.05       $27.87       $30.60       $30.76  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    11.58 (n)      27.04 (c)      (13.59     (5.90     (0.11     12.31  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                         

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    1.53 (a)      1.63 (c)      1.73       1.69       1.69       1.69  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    1.51 (a)      1.61 (c)      1.70       1.66       1.67       1.68  

Net investment income (loss)

    0.21 (a)(l)      0.60 (c)      0.64       0.40       0.43       0.59  

Portfolio turnover

    14 (n)      43       55       38       44       35  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $139,919       $116,512       $114,533       $132,361       $161,724       $223,707  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

15


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class B     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning
of period

    $28.15       $22.32       $26.03       $28.63       $28.88       $25.91  
Income (loss) from investment operations                          

Net investment income (loss) (d)

    $(0.08     $(0.05 )(c)      $(0.01     $(0.10     $(0.08     $(0.05

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    3.21       5.88       (3.70     (1.83     (0.17     3.02  

Total from investment operations

    $3.13       $5.83       $(3.71     $(1.93     $(0.25     $2.97  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                          

From net realized gain

    $—       $—       $—       $(0.67     $—       $—  

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $31.28       $28.15       $22.32       $26.03       $28.63       $28.88  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    11.12 (n)      26.12 (c)      (14.25     (6.60     (0.87     11.46  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                         

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    2.28 (a)      2.38 (c)      2.48       2.44       2.44       2.44  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    2.27 (a)      2.37 (c)      2.45       2.42       2.42       2.43  

Net investment income (loss)

    (0.51 )(a)(l)      (0.20 )(c)      (0.03     (0.36     (0.30     (0.19

Portfolio turnover

    14 (n)      43       55       38       44       35  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $5,907       $5,786       $5,777       $9,026       $12,251       $17,777  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

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Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class C     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning
of period

    $27.49       $21.80       $25.42       $27.98       $28.22       $25.33  
Income (loss) from investment operations                          

Net investment income (loss) (d)

    $(0.08     $(0.05 )(c)      $(0.01     $(0.10     $(0.08     $(0.05

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    3.14       5.74       (3.61     (1.79     (0.16     2.95  

Total from investment operations

    $3.06       $5.69       $(3.62     $(1.89     $(0.24     $2.90  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                          

From net investment income

    $—       $—       $—       $—       $—       $(0.01

From net realized gain

                      (0.67            

Total distributions declared
to shareholders

    $—       $—       $—       $(0.67     $—       $(0.01

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $30.55       $27.49       $21.80       $25.42       $27.98       $28.22  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    11.13 (n)      26.10 (c)      (14.24     (6.62     (0.85     11.46  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                         

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    2.28 (a)      2.38 (c)      2.48       2.44       2.44       2.44  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    2.27 (a)      2.37 (c)      2.45       2.42       2.42       2.43  

Net investment income (loss)

    (0.51 )(a)(l)      (0.21 )(c)      (0.04     (0.37     (0.29     (0.18

Portfolio turnover

    14 (n)      43       55       38       44       35  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $23,823       $22,567       $20,132       $30,000       $37,532       $44,562  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

17


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class I     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning
of period

    $32.00       $25.31       $29.31       $32.16       $32.33       $29.01  
Income (loss) from investment operations                          

Net investment income (loss) (d)

    $0.08       $0.21 (c)      $0.30       $0.18       $0.24       $0.37  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    3.66       6.69       (4.22     (2.07     (0.20     3.29  

Total from investment operations

    $3.74       $6.90       $(3.92     $(1.89     $0.04       $3.66  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                          

From net investment income

    $—       $(0.21     $(0.08     $(0.29     $(0.21     $(0.34

From net realized gain

                      (0.67            

Total distributions declared
to shareholders

    $—       $(0.21     $(0.08     $(0.96     $(0.21     $(0.34

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $35.74       $32.00       $25.31       $29.31       $32.16       $32.33  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    11.69 (n)      27.41 (c)      (13.38     (5.70     0.13       12.59  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                         

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    1.28 (a)      1.38 (c)      1.47       1.44       1.44       1.44  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    1.27 (a)      1.36 (c)      1.45       1.42       1.42       1.43  

Net investment income (loss)

    0.45 (a)(l)      0.74 (c)      1.18       0.59       0.76       1.17  

Portfolio turnover

    14 (n)      43       55       38       44       35  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $39,422       $33,855       $19,942       $50,613       $58,251       $43,387  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

18


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R1     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning
of period

    $27.26       $21.62       $25.21       $27.84       $28.14       $25.33  
Income (loss) from investment operations                          

Net investment income (loss) (d)

    $(0.08     $(0.05 )(c)      $(0.00 )(w)      $(0.13     $(0.09     $(0.03

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    3.12       5.69       (3.59     (1.76     (0.17     2.95  

Total from investment operations

    $3.04       $5.64       $(3.59     $(1.89     $(0.26     $2.92  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                          

From net investment income

    $—       $—       $—       $(0.07     $(0.04     $(0.11

From net realized gain

                      (0.67            

Total distributions declared
to shareholders

    $—       $—       $—       $(0.74     $(0.04     $(0.11

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $30.30       $27.26       $21.62       $25.21       $27.84       $28.14  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    11.15 (n)      26.09 (c)      (14.24     (6.63     (0.91     11.53  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                         

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    2.28 (a)      2.38 (c)      2.48       2.45       2.44       2.44  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    2.27 (a)      2.37 (c)      2.46       2.42       2.42       2.42  

Net investment income (loss)

    (0.52 )(a)(l)      (0.23 )(c)      (0.02     (0.49     (0.32     (0.12

Portfolio turnover

    14 (n)      43       55       38       44       35  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $500       $457       $376       $574       $458       $704  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

19


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R2     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning
of period

    $27.81       $22.05       $25.61       $28.25       $28.47       $25.62  
Income (loss) from investment operations                          

Net investment income (loss) (d)

    $(0.01     $0.05 (c)      $0.06       $0.00 (w)      $0.05       $0.09  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    3.19       5.82       (3.59     (1.79     (0.16     3.00  

Total from investment operations

    $3.18       $5.87       $(3.53     $(1.79     $(0.11     $3.09  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                          

From net investment income

    $—       $(0.11     $(0.03     $(0.18     $(0.11     $(0.24

From net realized gain

                      (0.67            

Total distributions declared
to shareholders

    $—       $(0.11     $(0.03     $(0.85     $(0.11     $(0.24

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $30.99       $27.81       $22.05       $25.61       $28.25       $28.47  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    11.43 (n)      26.72 (c)      (13.80     (6.16     (0.38     12.03  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                         

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    1.78 (a)      1.88 (c)      1.98       1.95       1.94       1.94  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    1.77 (a)      1.87 (c)      1.96       1.93       1.92       1.93  

Net investment income (loss)

    (0.05 )(a)(l)      0.21 (c)      0.27       0.02       0.19       0.30  

Portfolio turnover

    14 (n)      43       55       38       44       35  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $5,459       $4,643       $3,358       $1,781       $1,096       $803  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

20


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R3     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning
of period

    $30.27       $23.94       $27.70       $30.45       $30.62       $27.48  
Income (loss) from investment operations                          

Net investment income (loss) (d)

    $0.03       $0.16 (c)      $0.24       $0.10       $0.13       $0.18  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    3.47       6.29       (4.00     (1.96     (0.16     3.21  

Total from investment operations

    $3.50       $6.45       $(3.76     $(1.86     $(0.03     $3.39  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                          

From net investment income

    $—       $(0.12     $—       $(0.22     $(0.14     $(0.25

From net realized gain

                      (0.67            

Total distributions declared
to shareholders

    $—       $(0.12     $—       $(0.89     $(0.14     $(0.25

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $33.77       $30.27       $23.94       $27.70       $30.45       $30.62  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    11.56 (n)      27.06 (c)      (13.57     (5.93     (0.10     12.31  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                         

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    1.53 (a)      1.63 (c)      1.72       1.70       1.69       1.69  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    1.52 (a)      1.62 (c)      1.70       1.67       1.67       1.68  

Net investment income (loss)

    0.19 (a)(l)      0.61 (c)      0.97       0.33       0.45       0.59  

Portfolio turnover

    14 (n)      43       55       38       44       35  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $2,503       $2,072       $1,947       $4,674       $4,201       $3,448  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

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Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R4     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning
of period

    $30.26       $23.96       $27.77       $30.52       $30.70       $27.56  
Income (loss) from investment operations                          

Net investment income (loss) (d)

    $0.06       $0.21 (c)      $0.22       $0.18       $0.21       $0.26  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    3.49       6.30       (3.93     (1.98     (0.18     3.22  

Total from investment operations

    $3.55       $6.51       $(3.71     $(1.80     $0.03       $3.48  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                          

From net investment income

    $—       $(0.21     $(0.10     $(0.28     $(0.21     $(0.34

From net realized gain

                      (0.67            

Total distributions declared
to shareholders

    $—       $(0.21     $(0.10     $(0.95     $(0.21     $(0.34

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $33.81       $30.26       $23.96       $27.77       $30.52       $30.70  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    11.73 (n)      27.32 (c)      (13.35     (5.68     0.11       12.60  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                         

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    1.28 (a)      1.38 (c)      1.48       1.44       1.44       1.44  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    1.27 (a)      1.37 (c)      1.46       1.42       1.42       1.43  

Net investment income (loss)

    0.40 (a)(l)      0.77 (c)      0.90       0.61       0.72       0.84  

Portfolio turnover

    14 (n)      43       55       38       44       35  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $6,692       $4,817       $3,940       $4,487       $5,023       $4,693  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

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Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R6     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning
of period

    $32.00       $25.32       $29.34       $32.19       $32.36       $29.01  
Income (loss) from investment operations                          

Net investment income (loss) (d)

    $0.09       $0.24 (c)      $0.25       $0.22       $0.25       $0.29  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    3.67       6.67       (4.14     (2.09     (0.19     3.40  

Total from investment operations

    $3.76       $6.91       $(3.89     $(1.87     $0.06       $3.69  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                          

From net investment income

    $—       $(0.23     $(0.13     $(0.31     $(0.23     $(0.34

From net realized gain

                      (0.67            

Total distributions declared
to shareholders

    $—       $(0.23     $(0.13     $(0.98     $(0.23     $(0.34

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $35.76       $32.00       $25.32       $29.34       $32.19       $32.36  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    11.75 (n)      27.49 (c)      (13.25     (5.60     0.21       12.70  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                         

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    1.19 (a)      1.28 (c)      1.36       1.35       1.34       1.36  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    1.18 (a)      1.26 (c)      1.34       1.32       1.32       1.34  

Net investment income (loss)

    0.54 (a)(l)      0.86 (c)      0.99       0.70       0.79       0.89  

Portfolio turnover

    14 (n)      43       55       38       44       35  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

    $1,102,772       $875,711       $588,772       $565,813       $536,021       $403,055  

 

(a) Annualized.
(c) Amount reflects a one-time reimbursement of expenses by the custodian (or former custodian) without which net investment income and performance would be lower and expenses would be higher.
(d) Per share data is based on average shares outstanding.
(f) Ratios do not reflect reductions from fees paid indirectly, if applicable.
(l) Recognition of net investment income by the fund my be affected by the timing of the declaration of dividends by companies in which the fund invests and the actual annual net investment income ratio may differ.
(n) Not annualized.
(r) Certain expenses have been reduced without which performance would have been lower.
(s) From time to time the fund may receive proceeds from litigation settlements, without which performance would be lower.
(t) Total returns do not include any applicable sales charges.
(w) Per share amount was less than $0.01.
(x) The net asset values and total returns have been calculated on net assets which include adjustments made in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles required at period end for financial reporting purposes.

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

23


Table of Contents

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(unaudited)

(1) Business and Organization

MFS Emerging Markets Equity Fund (the fund) is a diversified series of MFS Series Trust X (the trust). The trust is organized as a Massachusetts business trust and is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, as an open-end management investment company.

The fund is an investment company and accordingly follows the investment company accounting and reporting guidance of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification Topic 946 Financial Services – Investment Companies.

(2) Significant Accounting Policies

General – The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of increases and decreases in net assets from operations during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. In the preparation of these financial statements, management has evaluated subsequent events occurring after the date of the fund’s Statement of Assets and Liabilities through the date that the financial statements were issued. The fund invests in foreign securities, including securities of emerging market issuers. Investments in foreign securities are vulnerable to the effects of changes in the relative values of the local currency and the U.S. dollar and to the effects of changes in each country’s legal, political, and economic environment. The markets of emerging markets countries are generally more volatile than the markets of developed countries with more mature economies. All of the risks of investing in foreign securities previously described are heightened when investing in emerging markets countries.

In October 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released its Final Rule on Investment Company Reporting Modernization (the “Rule”). The Rule, which introduced two new regulatory reporting forms for investment companies – Form N-PORT and Form N-CEN – also contained amendments to Regulation S-X which impact financial statement presentation, particularly the presentation of derivative investments, for all reporting periods ending after August 1, 2017. The fund has adopted the Rule’s Regulation S-X amendments and believes that the fund’s financial statements are in compliance with those amendments.

Balance Sheet Offsetting – The fund’s accounting policy with respect to balance sheet offsetting is that, absent an event of default by the counterparty or a termination of the agreement, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) Master Agreement, or similar agreement, does not result in an offset of reported amounts of financial assets and financial liabilities in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities across transactions between the fund and the applicable counterparty. The fund’s right to setoff may be restricted or prohibited by the bankruptcy or insolvency laws of the particular jurisdiction to which a specific master netting agreement counterparty is subject. Balance sheet offsetting disclosures, to the extent applicable to the fund, have

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

been included in the fund’s Significant Accounting Policies note under the captions for each of the fund’s in-scope financial instruments and transactions.

Investment Valuations – Equity securities, including restricted equity securities, are generally valued at the last sale or official closing price on their primary market or exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Equity securities, for which there were no sales reported that day, are generally valued at the last quoted daily bid quotation on their primary market or exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Short-term instruments with a maturity at issuance of 60 days or less may be valued at amortized cost, which approximates market value. Open-end investment companies are generally valued at net asset value per share. Securities and other assets generally valued on the basis of information from a third-party pricing service may also be valued at a broker/dealer bid quotation. Values obtained from third-party pricing services can utilize both transaction data and market information such as yield, quality, coupon rate, maturity, type of issue, trading characteristics, and other market data. The values of foreign securities and other assets and liabilities expressed in foreign currencies are converted to U.S. dollars using the mean of bid and asked prices for rates provided by a third-party pricing service.

The Board of Trustees has delegated primary responsibility for determining or causing to be determined the value of the fund’s investments (including any fair valuation) to the adviser pursuant to valuation policies and procedures approved by the Board. If the adviser determines that reliable market quotations are not readily available, investments are valued at fair value as determined in good faith by the adviser in accordance with such procedures under the oversight of the Board of Trustees. Under the fund’s valuation policies and procedures, market quotations are not considered to be readily available for most types of debt instruments and floating rate loans and many types of derivatives. These investments are generally valued at fair value based on information from third-party pricing services. In addition, investments may be valued at fair value if the adviser determines that an investment’s value has been materially affected by events occurring after the close of the exchange or market on which the investment is principally traded (such as foreign exchange or market) and prior to the determination of the fund’s net asset value, or after the halting of trading of a specific security where trading does not resume prior to the close of the exchange or market on which the security is principally traded. Events that occur on a frequent basis after foreign markets close (such as developments in foreign markets and significant movements in the U.S. markets) and prior to the determination of the fund’s net asset value may be deemed to have a material effect on the value of securities traded in foreign markets. Accordingly, the fund’s foreign equity securities may often be valued at fair value. The adviser generally relies on third-party pricing services or other information (such as the correlation with price movements of similar securities in the same or other markets; the type, cost and investment characteristics of the security; the business and financial condition of the issuer; and trading and other market data) to assist in determining whether to fair value and at what value to fair value an investment. The value of an investment for purposes of calculating the fund’s net asset value can differ depending on the source and method used to determine value. When fair valuation is used, the value of an investment used to determine the fund’s net asset value may differ from quoted or published prices for the same investment. There can be no assurance that

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

the fund could obtain the fair value assigned to an investment if it were to sell the investment at the same time at which the fund determines its net asset value per share.

Various inputs are used in determining the value of the fund’s assets or liabilities. These inputs are categorized into three broad levels. In certain cases, the inputs used to measure fair value may fall into different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In such cases, an investment’s level within the fair value hierarchy is based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement. The fund’s assessment of the significance of a particular input to the fair value measurement in its entirety requires judgment, and considers factors specific to the investment. Level 1 includes unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. Level 2 includes other significant observable market-based inputs (including quoted prices for similar securities, interest rates, prepayment speed, and credit risk). Level 3 includes unobservable inputs, which may include the adviser’s own assumptions in determining the fair value of investments. The following is a summary of the levels used as of November 30, 2017 in valuing the fund’s assets or liabilities:

 

Financial Instruments    Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  
Equity Securities:            

China

     $203,404,103        $108,295,770        $—        $311,699,873  

South Korea

     30,809,325        121,688,753               152,498,078  

India

     71,649,301        44,276,370               115,925,671  

Brazil

     112,966,766                      112,966,766  

Taiwan

     73,459,469        13,980,380               87,439,849  

Hong Kong

     19,098,056        66,419,879               85,517,935  

South Africa

     71,273,624                      71,273,624  

Mexico

     60,655,157                      60,655,157  

Russia

     37,436,470        13,902,973               51,339,443  

Other Countries

     172,459,850        59,490,905               231,950,755  
Mutual Funds      35,930,466                      35,930,466  
Total      $889,142,587        $428,055,030        $—        $1,317,197,617  

For further information regarding security characteristics, see the Portfolio of Investments.

Of the level 2 investments presented above, equity investments amounting to $373,973,704 would have been considered level 1 investments at the beginning of the period. The primary reason for changes in the classifications between levels 1 and 2 occurs when foreign equity securities are fair valued using other observable market-based inputs in place of the closing exchange price due to events occurring after the close of the exchange or market on which the investment is principally traded. The fund’s foreign equity securities may often be valued using other observable market-based inputs. The fund’s policy is to recognize transfers between the levels as of the end of the period.

Foreign Currency Translation – Purchases and sales of foreign investments, income, and expenses are converted into U.S. dollars based upon currency exchange rates prevailing on the respective dates of such transactions or on the reporting date for foreign denominated receivables and payables. Gains and losses attributable to foreign currency exchange rates on sales of securities are recorded for financial statement

 

26


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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

purposes as net realized gains and losses on investments. Gains and losses attributable to foreign exchange rate movements on receivables, payables, income and expenses are recorded for financial statement purposes as foreign currency transaction gains and losses. That portion of both realized and unrealized gains and losses on investments that results from fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates is not separately disclosed.

Security Loans – Under its Securities Lending Agency Agreement with the fund, State Street Bank and Trust Company (“State Street”), as lending agent, loans the securities of the fund to certain qualified institutions (the “Borrowers”) approved by the fund. Security loans can be terminated at the discretion of either the lending agent or the fund and the related securities must be returned within the earlier of the standard trade settlement period for such securities or within three business days. The loans are collateralized by cash and/or U.S. Treasury and federal agency obligations in an amount typically at least equal to the market value of the securities loaned. On loans collateralized by cash, the cash collateral is invested in a money market fund. The market value of the loaned securities is determined at the close of business of the fund and any additional required collateral is delivered to the fund on the next business day. State Street provides the fund with indemnification against Borrower default. In the event of Borrower default, State Street will, for the benefit of the fund, either purchase securities identical to those loaned or, when such purchase is commercially impracticable, pay the fund the market value of the loaned securities. In return, State Street assumes the fund’s rights to the related collateral. If the collateral value is less than the cost to purchase identical securities, State Street is responsible for the shortfall, but only to the extent that such shortfall is not due to a decline in collateral value resulting from collateral reinvestment for which the fund bears the risk of loss. At period end, the fund had investment securities on loan, all of which were classified as equity securities in the fund’s Portfolio of Investments, with a fair value of $3,207,640. The fair value of the fund’s investment securities on loan and a related liability of $3,267,783 for cash collateral received on securities loaned are both presented gross in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. The collateral on securities loaned exceeded the value of securities on loan at period end. The liability for cash collateral for securities loaned is carried at fair value, which is categorized as level 2 within the fair value hierarchy. A portion of the income generated upon investment of the collateral is remitted to the Borrowers, and the remainder is allocated between the fund and the lending agent. On loans collateralized by U.S. Treasury and/or federal agency obligations, a fee is received from the Borrower, and is allocated between the fund and the lending agent. Income from securities lending is separately reported in the Statement of Operations. The dividend and interest income earned on the securities loaned is accounted for in the same manner as other dividend and interest income.

Indemnifications – Under the fund’s organizational documents, its officers and Trustees may be indemnified against certain liabilities and expenses arising out of the performance of their duties to the fund. Additionally, in the normal course of business, the fund enters into agreements with service providers that may contain indemnification clauses. The fund’s maximum exposure under these agreements is unknown as this would involve future claims that may be made against the fund that have not yet occurred.

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

Investment Transactions and Income – Investment transactions are recorded on the trade date. Dividends received in cash are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Certain dividends from foreign securities will be recorded when the fund is informed of the dividend if such information is obtained subsequent to the ex-dividend date. Dividend payments received in additional securities are recorded on the ex-dividend date in an amount equal to the value of the security on such date.

The fund may receive proceeds from litigation settlements. Any proceeds received from litigation involving portfolio holdings are reflected in the Statement of Operations in realized gain/loss if the security has been disposed of by the fund or in unrealized gain/loss if the security is still held by the fund. Any other proceeds from litigation not related to portfolio holdings are reflected as other income in the Statement of Operations.

Tax Matters and Distributions – The fund intends to qualify as a regulated investment company, as defined under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code, and to distribute all of its taxable income, including realized capital gains. As a result, no provision for federal income tax is required. The fund’s federal tax returns, when filed, will remain subject to examination by the Internal Revenue Service for a three year period. Management has analyzed the fund’s tax positions taken on federal and state tax returns for all open tax years and does not believe that there are any uncertain tax positions that require recognition of a tax liability. Foreign taxes, if any, have been accrued by the fund in the accompanying financial statements in accordance with the applicable foreign tax law. Foreign income taxes may be withheld by certain countries in which the fund invests. Additionally, capital gains realized by the fund on securities issued in or by certain foreign countries may be subject to capital gains tax imposed by those countries.

Distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Income and capital gain distributions are determined in accordance with income tax regulations, which may differ from U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Certain capital accounts in the financial statements are periodically adjusted for permanent differences in order to reflect their tax character. These adjustments have no impact on net assets or net asset value per share. Temporary differences which arise from recognizing certain items of income, expense, gain or loss in different periods for financial statement and tax purposes will reverse at some time in the future. Distributions in excess of net investment income or net realized gains are temporary overdistributions for financial statement purposes resulting from differences in the recognition or classification of income or distributions for financial statement and tax purposes.

Book/tax differences primarily relate to wash sale loss deferrals.

The tax character of distributions declared to shareholders for the last fiscal year is as follows:

 

     Year ended
5/31/17
 
Ordinary income (including any
short-term capital gains)
     $6,355,094  

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

The federal tax cost and the tax basis components of distributable earnings were as follows:

 

As of 11/30/17       
Cost of investments      $1,026,017,756  
Gross appreciation      324,775,028  
Gross depreciation      (33,595,167
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation)      $291,179,861  
As of 5/31/17       
Undistributed ordinary income      1,497,486  
Capital loss carryforwards      (83,933,682
Other temporary differences      (1,405,570
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation)      174,585,711  

The aggregate cost above includes prior fiscal year end tax adjustments, if applicable.

As of May 31, 2017, the fund had capital loss carryforwards available to offset future realized gains. These net capital losses may be carried forward indefinitely and their character is retained as short-term and/or long-term losses. Such losses are characterized as follows:

 

Long-Term      $(83,933,682

Multiple Classes of Shares of Beneficial Interest – The fund offers multiple classes of shares, which differ in their respective distribution and service fees. The fund’s income, realized and unrealized gain (loss), and common expenses are allocated to shareholders based on the daily net assets of each class. Dividends are declared separately for each class. Differences in per share dividend rates are generally due to differences in separate class expenses. Class B shares will convert to Class A shares approximately eight years after purchase. Effective April 23, 2018, Class C shares will convert to Class A shares approximately ten years after purchase. Any shares with an original purchase date of April 30, 2008 or earlier will automatically convert to Class A shares on April 23, 2018. The fund’s distributions declared to shareholders as reported in the Statements of Changes in Net Assets are presented by class as follows:

 

     From net investment
income
 
     Six months
ended
11/30/17
     Year
ended
5/31/17
 
Class A      $—        $548,688  
Class I             176,499  
Class R2             19,119  
Class R3             7,343  
Class R4             32,256  
Class R6             5,571,189  
Total      $—        $6,355,094  

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

(3) Transactions with Affiliates

Investment Adviser – The fund has an investment advisory agreement with MFS to provide overall investment management and related administrative services and facilities to the fund. The management fee is computed daily and paid monthly at the following annual rates based on the fund’s average daily net assets:

 

Up to $500 million      1.05
In excess of $500 million and up to $1 billion      0.95
In excess of $1 billion and up to $4 billion      0.90
In excess of $4 billion      0.85

MFS has agreed in writing to reduce its management fee by a specified amount if certain MFS mutual fund assets exceed thresholds agreed to by MFS and the fund’s Board of Trustees. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, this management fee reduction amounted to $49,221, which is included in the reduction of total expenses in the Statement of Operations. The management fee incurred for the six months ended November 30, 2017 was equivalent to an annual effective rate of 0.97% of the fund’s average daily net assets.

The investment adviser has agreed in writing to pay a portion of the fund’s total annual operating expenses, excluding interest, taxes, extraordinary expenses, brokerage and transaction costs, and investment-related expenses, such that total fund operating expenses do not exceed the following rates annually of each class’s average daily net assets:

 

Classes  
A   B     C     I     R1     R2     R3     R4     R6  
1.65%     2.40%       2.40%       1.40%       2.40%       1.90%       1.65%       1.40%       1.29%  

This written agreement will continue until modified by the fund’s Board of Trustees, but such agreement will continue at least until September 30, 2018. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fund’s actual operating expenses did not exceed the limit and therefore, the investment adviser did not pay any portion of the fund’s expenses related to this agreement.

Distributor – MFS Fund Distributors, Inc. (MFD), a wholly-owned subsidiary of MFS, as distributor, received $18,391 for the six months ended November 30, 2017, as its portion of the initial sales charge on sales of Class A shares of the fund.

The Board of Trustees has adopted a distribution plan for certain share classes pursuant to Rule 12b-1 of the Investment Company Act of 1940.

The fund’s distribution plan provides that the fund will pay MFD for services provided by MFD and financial intermediaries in connection with the distribution and servicing of certain share classes. One component of the plan is a distribution fee paid to MFD and another component of the plan is a service fee paid to MFD. MFD may subsequently pay all, or a portion, of the distribution and/or service fees to financial intermediaries.

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

Distribution Plan Fee Table:

 

     Distribution
Fee Rate (d)
     Service
Fee Rate (d)
     Total
Distribution
Plan (d)
     Annual
Effective
Rate (e)
     Distribution
and Service
Fee
 
Class A             0.25%        0.25%        0.24%        $160,787  
Class B      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        29,807  
Class C      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        117,327  
Class R1      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        2,416  
Class R2      0.25%        0.25%        0.50%        0.50%        12,620  
Class R3             0.25%        0.25%        0.25%        2,874  
Total Distribution and Service Fees              $325,831  

 

(d) In accordance with the distribution plan for certain classes, the fund pays distribution and/or service fees equal to these annual percentage rates of each class’s average daily net assets. The distribution and service fee rates disclosed by class represent the current rates in effect at the end of the reporting period. Any rate changes, if applicable, are detailed below.
(e) The annual effective rates represent actual fees incurred under the distribution plan for the six months ended November 30, 2017 based on each class’s average daily net assets. MFD has voluntarily agreed to rebate a portion of each class’s 0.25% service fee attributable to accounts for which MFD retains the 0.25% service fee except for accounts attributable to MFS or its affiliates’ seed money. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, this rebate amounted to $5,760, $28, and $118 for Class A, Class B, and Class C, respectively, and is included in the reduction of total expenses in the Statement of Operations.

Certain Class A shares are subject to a contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) in the event of a shareholder redemption within 18 months of purchase. Class C and Class 529C shares are subject to a CDSC in the event of a shareholder redemption within 12 months of purchase. Class B and Class 529B shares are subject to a CDSC in the event of a shareholder redemption within six years of purchase. All contingent deferred sales charges are paid to MFD and during the six months ended November 30, 2017, were as follows:

 

     Amount  
Class A      $130  
Class B      3,451  
Class C      341  

Shareholder Servicing Agent – MFS Service Center, Inc. (MFSC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of MFS, receives a fee from the fund for its services as shareholder servicing agent calculated as a percentage of the average daily net assets of the fund as determined periodically under the supervision of the fund’s Board of Trustees. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fee was $50,261, which equated to 0.0084% annually of the fund’s average daily net assets. MFSC also receives payment from the fund for out-of-pocket expenses, sub-accounting and other shareholder servicing costs which may be paid to affiliated and unaffiliated service providers. Class R6 shares do not incur sub-accounting fees. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, these out-of-pocket expenses, sub-accounting and other shareholder servicing costs amounted to $131,754.

Under a Special Servicing Agreement among MFS, certain MFS funds which invest in other MFS funds (“MFS fund-of-funds”) and certain underlying funds in which a MFS

 

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fund-of-funds invests (“underlying funds”), each underlying fund may pay a portion of each MFS fund-of-fund’s transfer agent-related expenses, including sub-accounting fees payable to financial intermediaries, to the extent such payments do not exceed the benefits realized or expected to be realized by the underlying fund from the investment in the underlying fund by the MFS fund-of-fund. For the period June 1, 2017 through September 30, 2017, these costs for the fund amounted to $572,447 and are included in “Shareholder servicing costs” in the Statement of Operations. Effective October 1, 2017, the fund no longer participates in this agreement.

Administrator – MFS provides certain financial, legal, shareholder communications, compliance, and other administrative services to the fund. Under an administrative services agreement, the fund reimburses MFS the costs incurred to provide these services. The fund is charged an annual fixed amount of $17,500 plus a fee based on average daily net assets. The administrative services fee incurred for the six months ended November 30, 2017 was equivalent to an annual effective rate of 0.0166% of the fund’s average daily net assets.

Trustees’ and Officers’ Compensation – The fund pays compensation to independent Trustees in the form of a retainer, attendance fees, and additional compensation to Board and Committee chairpersons. The fund does not pay compensation directly to Trustees or officers of the fund who are also officers of the investment adviser, all of whom receive remuneration for their services to the fund from MFS. Certain officers and Trustees of the fund are officers or directors of MFS, MFD, and MFSC.

Prior to December 31, 2001, the fund had an unfunded defined benefit plan (“DB plan”) for independent Trustees. As of December 31, 2001, the Board took action to terminate the DB plan with respect to then-current and any future independent Trustees, such that the DB plan covers only certain of those former independent Trustees who retired on or before December 31, 2001. The DB plan resulted in a pension expense of $62 and is included in “Independent Trustees’ compensation” in the Statement of Operations for the six months ended November 30, 2017. The liability for deferred retirement benefits payable to certain independent Trustees under the DB plan amounted to $788 at November 30, 2017, and is included in “Payable for independent Trustees’ compensation” in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities.

Other – This fund and certain other funds managed by MFS (the funds) have entered into a service agreement (the ISO Agreement) which provides for payment of fees solely by the funds to Tarantino LLC in return for the provision of services of an Independent Senior Officer (ISO) for the funds. Frank L. Tarantino serves as the ISO and is an officer of the funds and the sole member of Tarantino LLC. The funds can terminate the ISO Agreement with Tarantino LLC at any time under the terms of the ISO Agreement. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fee paid by the fund under this agreement was $1,005 and is included in “Miscellaneous” expense in the Statement of Operations. MFS has agreed to bear all expenses associated with office space, other administrative support, and supplies provided to the ISO.

The fund invests in the MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio which is managed by MFS and seeks current income consistent with preservation of capital and liquidity. This money market fund does not pay a management fee to MFS.

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

On August 15, 2017, MFS redeemed 576 shares of Class R1 for an aggregate amount of $16,430. On March 16, 2017, MFS purchased 9,315 shares of Class I for an aggregate amount of $277,109.

The fund is permitted to engage in purchase and sale transactions with funds and accounts for which MFS serves as investment adviser or sub-adviser (“cross-trades”) pursuant to a policy adopted by the Board of Trustees. This policy has been designed to ensure that cross-trades conducted by the fund comply with Rule 17a-7 under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Under this policy, cross-trades are effected at current market prices with no remuneration paid in connection with the transaction. During the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fund engaged in purchase and sale transactions pursuant to this policy, which amounted to $707,209 and $397,123, respectively. The sales transactions resulted in net realized gains (losses) of $153,363.

(4) Portfolio Securities

For the six months ended November 30, 2017, purchases and sales of investments, other than short-term obligations, aggregated $269,059,564 and $162,026,285, respectively.

(5) Shares of Beneficial Interest

The fund’s Declaration of Trust permits the Trustees to issue an unlimited number of full and fractional shares of beneficial interest. Transactions in fund shares were as follows:

 

     Six months ended
11/30/17
     Year ended
5/31/17
 
     Shares      Amount      Shares      Amount  
Shares sold            

Class A

     669,834        $22,049,716        1,147,500        $30,685,731  

Class B

     14,724        443,735        24,067        597,251  

Class C

     51,997        1,527,374        184,921        4,600,088  

Class I

     195,816        6,753,372        702,359        20,016,658  

Class R1

     947        27,524        2,581        61,529  

Class R2

     30,888        928,009        76,975        1,888,536  

Class R3

     21,555        703,390        46,960        1,285,824  

Class R4

     49,220        1,602,185        29,037        776,013  

Class R6

     4,368,899        150,746,949        7,044,813        201,745,590  
     5,403,880        $184,782,254        9,259,213        $261,657,220  
Shares issued to shareholders in reinvestment of distributions            

Class A

            $—        21,101        $537,032  

Class I

                   6,251        167,279  

Class R2

                   790        18,416  

Class R3

                   290        7,343  

Class R4

                   1,274        32,256  

Class R6

                   204,365        5,466,765  
            $—        234,071        $6,229,091  

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

     Six months ended
11/30/17
     Year ended
5/31/17
 
     Shares      Amount      Shares      Amount  
Shares reacquired            

Class A

     (377,363      $(12,277,992      (2,096,903      $(55,681,660

Class B

     (31,481      (950,812      (77,268      (1,923,726

Class C

     (93,237      (2,725,494      (287,374      (7,066,595

Class I

     (150,968      (5,109,755      (438,262      (12,230,945

Class R1

     (1,213      (34,561      (3,200      (76,704

Class R2

     (21,669      (637,284      (63,079      (1,572,551

Class R3

     (15,891      (514,561      (60,122      (1,586,389

Class R4

     (10,465      (337,593      (35,612      (962,625

Class R6

     (899,645      (30,780,811      (3,136,682      (86,724,439
     (1,601,932      $(53,368,863      (6,198,502      $(167,825,634
Net change            

Class A

     292,471        $9,771,724        (928,302      $(24,458,897

Class B

     (16,757      (507,077      (53,201      (1,326,475

Class C

     (41,240      (1,198,120      (102,453      (2,466,507

Class I

     44,848        1,643,617        270,348        7,952,992  

Class R1

     (266      (7,037      (619      (15,175

Class R2

     9,219        290,725        14,686        334,401  

Class R3

     5,664        188,829        (12,872      (293,222

Class R4

     38,755        1,264,592        (5,301      (154,356

Class R6

     3,469,254        119,966,138        4,112,496        120,487,916  
     3,801,948        $131,413,391        3,294,782        $100,060,677  

Class T shares were not publicly available for sale during the period. Please see the fund’s prospectus for details.

The fund is one of several mutual funds in which the MFS funds may invest. The MFS funds do not invest in the underlying funds for the purpose of exercising management or control. At the end of the period, the MFS International Diversification Fund, the MFS Growth Allocation Fund, and the MFS Aggressive Growth Allocation Fund were the owners of record of approximately 74%, 4%, and 3%, respectively, of the value of outstanding voting shares of the fund. In addition, the MFS Lifetime 2030 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2035 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2040 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2045 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2050 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2055 Fund and the MFS Lifetime 2060 Fund were each owners of record of less than 1% of the value of the outstanding voting shares of the fund.

(6) Line of Credit

The fund and certain other funds managed by MFS participate in a $1.25 billion unsecured committed line of credit, subject to a $1 billion sublimit, provided by a syndication of banks under a credit agreement. Borrowings may be made for temporary financing needs. Interest is charged to each fund, based on its borrowings, generally at a rate equal to the higher of the Overnight Federal Reserve funds rate or daily one month LIBOR plus an agreed upon spread. A commitment fee, based on the average daily, unused portion of the committed line of credit, is allocated among the

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

participating funds at the end of each calendar quarter. In addition, the fund and other funds managed by MFS have established unsecured uncommitted borrowing arrangements with certain banks for temporary financing needs. Interest is charged to each fund, based on its borrowings, at a rate equal to the Overnight Federal Reserve funds rate plus an agreed upon spread. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fund’s commitment fee and interest expense were $3,390 and $0, respectively, and are included in “Miscellaneous” expense in the Statement of Operations.

(7) Investments in Affiliated Issuers

An affiliated issuer may be considered one in which the fund owns 5% or more of the outstanding voting securities, or a company which is under common control. For the purposes of this report, the fund assumes the following to be affiliated issuers:

 

Affiliated Issuers          Beginning
Shares/Par
Amount
    Acquisitions
Shares/Par
Amount
    Dispositions
Shares/Par
Amount
    Ending
Shares/Par
Amount
 
MFS Institutional Money
Market Portfolio
      19,889,594       154,260,623       (141,484,268     32,665,949  
Affiliated Issuers   Realized
Gain (Loss)
    Change in
Unrealized
Appreciation
(Depreciation)
    Capital Gain
Distributions
    Dividend
Income
    Ending
Value
 
MFS Institutional Money
Market Portfolio
    $(1,246     $(2,418     $—       $126,796       $32,662,683  

 

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BOARD REVIEW OF INVESTMENT ADVISORY AGREEMENT

The Investment Company Act of 1940 requires that both the full Board of Trustees and a majority of the non-interested (“independent”) Trustees, voting separately, annually approve the continuation of the Fund’s investment advisory agreement with MFS. The Trustees consider matters bearing on the Fund and its advisory arrangements at their meetings throughout the year, including a review of performance data at each regular meeting. In addition, the independent Trustees met several times over the course of three months beginning in May and ending in July, 2017 (“contract review meetings”) for the specific purpose of considering whether to approve the continuation of the investment advisory agreement for the Fund and the other investment companies that the Board oversees (the “MFS Funds”). The independent Trustees were assisted in their evaluation of the Fund’s investment advisory agreement by independent legal counsel, from whom they received separate legal advice and with whom they met separately from MFS during various contract review meetings. The independent Trustees were also assisted in this process by the MFS Funds’ Independent Senior Officer, a senior officer appointed by and reporting to the independent Trustees.

In connection with their deliberations regarding the continuation of the investment advisory agreement, the Trustees, including the independent Trustees, considered such information and factors as they believed, in light of the legal advice furnished to them and their own business judgment, to be relevant. The investment advisory agreement for the Fund was considered separately, although the Trustees also took into account the common interests of all MFS Funds in their review. As described below, the Trustees considered the nature, quality, and extent of the various investment advisory, administrative, and shareholder services performed by MFS under the existing investment advisory agreement and other arrangements with the Fund.

In connection with their contract review meetings, the Trustees received and relied upon materials that included, among other items: (i) information provided by Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (“Broadridge”), an independent third party, on the investment performance of the Fund for various time periods ended December 31, 2016 and the investment performance of a group of funds with substantially similar investment classifications/objectives (the “Lipper performance universe”), (ii) information provided by Broadridge on the Fund’s advisory fees and other expenses and the advisory fees and other expenses of comparable funds identified by Broadridge (the “Broadridge expense group”), (iii) information provided by MFS on the advisory fees of portfolios of other clients of MFS, including institutional separate accounts and other clients, (iv) information as to whether and to what extent applicable expense waivers, reimbursements or fee “breakpoints” are observed for the Fund, (v) information regarding MFS’ financial results and financial condition, including MFS’ and certain of its affiliates’ estimated profitability from services performed for the Fund and the MFS Funds as a whole, and compared to MFS’ institutional business, (vi) MFS’ views regarding the outlook for the mutual fund industry and the strategic business plans of MFS, (vii) descriptions of various functions performed by MFS for the Funds, such as compliance monitoring and portfolio trading practices, and (viii) information regarding the overall organization of MFS, including information about MFS’ senior management and other personnel providing investment advisory,

 

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Board Review of Investment Advisory Agreement – continued

 

administrative and other services to the Fund and the other MFS Funds. The comparative performance, fee and expense information prepared and provided by Broadridge was not independently verified and the independent Trustees did not independently verify any information provided to them by MFS.

The Trustees’ conclusion as to the continuation of the investment advisory agreement was based on a comprehensive consideration of all information provided to the Trustees and not the result of any single factor. Some of the factors that figured particularly in the Trustees’ deliberations are described below, although individual Trustees may have evaluated the information presented differently from one another, giving different weights to various factors. It is also important to recognize that the fee arrangements for the Fund and other MFS Funds are the result of years of review and discussion between the independent Trustees and MFS, that certain aspects of such arrangements may receive greater scrutiny in some years than in others, and that the Trustees’ conclusions may be based, in part, on their consideration of these same arrangements during the course of the year and in prior years.

Based on information provided by Broadridge and MFS, the Trustees reviewed the Fund’s total return investment performance as well as the performance of peer groups of funds over various time periods. The Trustees placed particular emphasis on the total return performance of the Fund’s Class A shares in comparison to the performance of funds in its Lipper performance universe over the three-year period ended December 31, 2016, which the Trustees believed was a long enough period to reflect differing market conditions. The total return performance of the Fund’s Class A shares was in the 4th quintile relative to the other funds in the universe for this three-year period (the 1st quintile being the best performers and the 5th quintile being the worst performers). The total return performance of the Fund’s Class A shares was in the 3rd quintile for the one-year period and the 5th quintile for the five-year period ended December 31, 2016 relative to the Lipper performance universe. Because of the passage of time, these performance results may differ from the performance results for more recent periods, including those shown elsewhere in this report.

The Trustees expressed continued concern to MFS about the substandard investment performance of the Fund. In the course of their deliberations, the Trustees took into account information provided by MFS in connection with the contract review meetings, including more recent performance information, as well as during investment review meetings conducted with portfolio management personnel during the course of the year, as to MFS’ efforts to improve the Fund’s performance, including assigning an additional portfolio manager for the Fund effective July 1, 2017. In addition, the Trustees requested that they receive a separate update on the Fund’s performance at each of their regular meetings. After reviewing these and related factors, the Trustees concluded, within the context of their overall conclusions regarding the investment advisory agreement, that MFS’ responses and efforts and plans to improve investment performance were sufficient to support approval of the continuance of the investment advisory agreement for an additional one-year period, but that they would continue to closely monitor the performance of the Fund.

In assessing the reasonableness of the Fund’s advisory fee, the Trustees considered, among other information, the Fund’s advisory fee and the total expense ratio of the Fund’s Class A shares as a percentage of average daily net assets and the advisory fee

 

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Board Review of Investment Advisory Agreement – continued

 

and total expense ratios of peer groups of funds based on information provided by Broadridge. The Trustees considered that MFS currently observes an expense limitation for the Fund, which may not be changed without the Trustees’ approval. The Trustees also considered that, according to the data provided by Broadridge (which takes into account any fee reductions or expense limitations that were in effect during the Fund’s last fiscal year), the Fund’s effective advisory fee rate was approximately at the Broadridge expense group median and the Fund’s total expense ratio was higher than the Broadridge expense group median.

The Trustees also considered the advisory fees charged by MFS to any institutional separate accounts advised by MFS (“separate accounts”) and unaffiliated investment companies for which MFS serves as subadviser (“subadvised funds”) that have comparable investment strategies to the Fund, if any. In comparing these fees, the Trustees considered information provided by MFS as to the generally broader scope of services provided by MFS to the Fund, as well as the more extensive regulatory burdens imposed on MFS in managing the Fund, in comparison to separate accounts and subadvised funds. The Trustees also considered the higher demands placed on MFS’ investment personnel and trading infrastructure as a result of the daily cash in-flows and out-flows of the Fund in comparison to separate accounts.

The Trustees also considered whether the Fund may benefit from any economies of scale in the management of the Fund in the event of growth in assets of the Fund and/or growth in assets of the MFS Funds as a whole. They noted that the Fund’s advisory fee rate schedule is subject to contractual breakpoints that reduce the Fund’s advisory fee rate on average daily net assets over $500 million, $1 billion and $4 billion. The Trustees also noted that MFS has agreed in writing to waive a portion of the management fees of certain MFS Funds, including the Fund, if the total combined assets of certain funds within the MFS Funds’ complex increase above agreed upon thresholds (the “group fee waiver”), enabling the Fund’s shareholders to share in the benefits from any economies of scale at the complex level. The group fee waiver is reviewed and renewed annually between the Board and MFS. The Trustees concluded that the breakpoints and the group fee waiver were sufficient to allow the Fund to benefit from economies of scale as its assets and overall complex assets grow.

The Trustees also considered information prepared by MFS relating to MFS’ costs and profits with respect to the Fund, the MFS Funds considered as a group, and other investment companies and accounts advised by MFS, as well as MFS’ methodologies used to determine and allocate its costs to the MFS Funds, the Fund and other accounts and products for purposes of estimating profitability.

After reviewing these and other factors described herein, the Trustees concluded, within the context of their overall conclusions regarding the investment advisory agreement, that the advisory fees charged to the Fund represent reasonable compensation in light of the services being provided by MFS to the Fund.

In addition, the Trustees considered MFS’ resources and related efforts to continue to retain, attract and motivate capable personnel to serve the Fund. The Trustees also considered current and developing conditions in the financial services industry, including the presence of large and well-capitalized companies which are spending, and appear to be prepared to continue to spend, substantial sums to engage personnel

 

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Board Review of Investment Advisory Agreement – continued

 

and to provide services to competing investment companies. In this regard, the Trustees also considered the financial resources of MFS and its ultimate parent, Sun Life Financial Inc. The Trustees also considered the advantages and possible disadvantages to the Fund of having an adviser that also serves other investment companies as well as other accounts.

The Trustees also considered the nature, quality, cost, and extent of administrative, transfer agency, and distribution services provided to the Fund by MFS and its affiliates under agreements and plans other than the investment advisory agreement, including any 12b-1 fees the Fund pays to MFS Fund Distributors, Inc., an affiliate of MFS. The Trustees also considered the nature, extent and quality of certain other services MFS performs or arranges for on the Fund’s behalf, which may include securities lending programs, directed expense payment programs, class action recovery programs, and MFS’ interaction with third-party service providers, principally custodians and sub-custodians. The Trustees concluded that the various non-advisory services provided by MFS and its affiliates on behalf of the Fund were satisfactory.

The Trustees also considered benefits to MFS from the use of the Fund’s portfolio brokerage commissions, if applicable, to pay for investment research and various other factors. Additionally, the Trustees considered so-called “fall-out benefits” to MFS such as reputational value derived from serving as investment manager to the Fund.

Based on their evaluation of factors that they deemed to be material, including those factors described above, the Board of Trustees, including the independent Trustees, concluded that the Fund’s investment advisory agreement with MFS should be continued for an additional one-year period, commencing August 1, 2017.

 

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PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND INFORMATION

MFS votes proxies on behalf of the fund pursuant to proxy voting policies and procedures that are available without charge, upon request, by calling 1-800-225-2606, by visiting mfs.com/proxyvoting, or by visiting the SEC’s Web site at http://www.sec.gov.

Information regarding how the fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the most recent twelve-month period ended June 30 is available by August 31 of each year without charge by visiting mfs.com/proxyvoting, or by visiting the SEC’s Web site at http://www.sec.gov.

QUARTERLY PORTFOLIO DISCLOSURE

The fund will file a complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission) for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-Q. A shareholder can obtain the quarterly portfolio holdings report at mfs.com. The fund’s Form N-Q is also available on the EDGAR database on the Commission’s Internet Web site at http://www.sec.gov, and may be reviewed and copied at the:

Public Reference Room

Securities and Exchange Commission

100 F Street, NE, Room 1580

Washington, D.C. 20549

Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling the Commission at 1-800-SEC-0330. Copies of the fund’s Form N-Q also may be obtained, upon payment of a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov or by writing the Public Reference Section at the above address.

FURTHER INFORMATION

From time to time, MFS may post important information about the fund or the MFS funds on the MFS web site (mfs.com). This information is available at https://www.mfs.com/en-us/what-we-do/announcements.html or at mfs.com/openendfunds by choosing the fund’s name.

 

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Table of Contents

INFORMATION ABOUT FUND CONTRACTS AND LEGAL CLAIMS

The fund has entered into contractual arrangements with an investment adviser, administrator, distributor, shareholder servicing agent, 529 program manager (if applicable), and custodian who each provide services to the fund. Unless expressly stated otherwise, shareholders are not parties to, or intended beneficiaries of these contractual arrangements, and these contractual arrangements are not intended to create any shareholder right to enforce them against the service providers or to seek any remedy under them against the service providers, either directly or on behalf of the fund.

Under the Trust’s By-Laws and Declaration of Trust, any claims asserted against or on behalf of the MFS Funds, including claims against Trustees and Officers, must be brought in state and federal courts located within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

PROVISION OF FINANCIAL REPORTS AND SUMMARY PROSPECTUSES

The fund produces financial reports every six months and updates its summary prospectus and prospectus annually. To avoid sending duplicate copies of materials to households, only one copy of the fund’s annual and semiannual report and summary prospectus may be mailed to shareholders having the same last name and residential address on the fund’s records. However, any shareholder may contact MFSC (please see back cover for address and telephone number) to request that copies of these reports and summary prospectuses be sent personally to that shareholder.

 

41


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LOGO

 

Save paper with eDelivery.

 

LOGO

MFS® will send you prospectuses,

reports, and proxies directly via e-mail so you will get information faster with less mailbox clutter.

To sign up:

1. Go to mfs.com.

2. Log in via MFS® Access.

3. Select eDelivery.

If you own your MFS fund shares through a financial institution or a retirement plan, MFS® TALK, MFS® Access, or eDelivery may not be available to you.

 

CONTACT

WEB SITE

mfs.com

MFS TALK

1-800-637-8255

24 hours a day

ACCOUNT SERVICE AND LITERATURE

Shareholders

1-800-225-2606

Financial advisors

1-800-343-2829

Retirement plan services

1-800-637-1255

MAILING ADDRESS

MFS Service Center, Inc.

P.O. Box 55824

Boston, MA 02205-5824

OVERNIGHT MAIL

MFS Service Center, Inc.

c/o DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc.

30 Dan Road

Canton, MA 02021-2809

 


Table of Contents

SEMIANNUAL REPORT

November 30, 2017

 

LOGO

 

MFS® INTERNATIONAL GROWTH FUND

 

LOGO

 

FGF-SEM

 


Table of Contents

MFS® INTERNATIONAL GROWTH FUND

 

CONTENTS

 

Letter from the Executive Chairman     1  
Portfolio composition     2  
Expense table     4  
Portfolio of investments     6  
Statement of assets and liabilities     11  
Statement of operations     13  
Statements of changes in net assets     14  
Financial highlights     15  
Notes to financial statements     24  
Board review of investment advisory agreement     35  
Proxy voting policies and information     39  
Quarterly portfolio disclosure     39  
Further information     39  
Information about fund contracts and legal claims     40  
Provision of financial reports and summary prospectuses     40  
Contact information    back cover  

The report is prepared for the general information of shareholders.

It is authorized for distribution to prospective investors only when preceded or accompanied by a current prospectus.

 

NOT FDIC INSURED MAY LOSE VALUE NO BANK GUARANTEE



Table of Contents

LOGO

 

LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN

 

Dear Shareholders:

Most markets have proved resilient over the past year, despite uncertainty accompanying a new presidential administration in the United States and unease over

ongoing negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union regarding Brexit. U.S. share prices have reached new highs in recent months although the U.S. Federal Reserve has continued to gradually hike interest rates and has begun to shrink its balance sheet.

Globally, we’ve experienced a synchronized upturn in economic growth for more than a year. Despite the improvement in economic activity, there are few immediate signs of worrisome inflation amid muted wage gains around the world. Emerging market economies have been boosted in part by a weaker

U.S. dollar and are recovering despite lingering concerns over the potential for restrictive U.S. trade policies. Commodity markets have recovered somewhat in response to solid global demand and robust global trade, though not enough to rekindle inflation fears.

At MFS®, we believe having a disciplined, long-term investment approach through a full market cycle is essential to capturing the best opportunities while also managing risk. In our view, such a strategy, along with the professional guidance of a financial advisor, will help you reach your investment objectives.

Respectfully,

 

LOGO

Robert J. Manning

Executive Chairman

MFS Investment Management

January 16, 2018

The opinions expressed in this letter are subject to change and may not be relied upon for investment advice. No forecasts can be guaranteed.

 

1


Table of Contents

PORTFOLIO COMPOSITION

 

Portfolio structure

 

LOGO

 

Top ten holdings  
Nestle S.A.     3.8%  
Roche Holding AG     3.2%  
AIA Group Ltd.     2.9%  
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd., ADR     2.9%  
Accenture PLC, “A”     2.8%  
SAP AG     2.7%  
Pernod Ricard S.A.     2.6%  
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., ADR     2.5%  
L’Oréal     2.5%  
LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton S.A.     2.3%  
Equity sectors  
Consumer Staples     17.9%  
Technology     17.0%  
Health Care     13.0%  
Financial Services     11.9%  
Basic Materials     7.9%  
Special Products & Services     7.0%  
Industrial Goods & Services     6.8%  
Retailing     6.2%  
Leisure     4.1%  
Transportation     2.5%  
Energy     1.9%  
Autos & Housing     1.2%  
Utilities & Communications     1.1%  
Issuer country weightings (x)  
France     17.9%  
United Kingdom     12.5%  
Switzerland     12.1%  
Germany     11.3%  
Japan     8.6%  
United States     5.9%  
China     4.8%  
Canada     4.0%  
Taiwan     3.4%  
Other Countries     19.5%  
Currency exposure weightings (y)  
Euro     33.7%  
British Pound Sterling     13.4%  
Swiss Franc     12.1%  
United States Dollar     9.2%  
Japanese Yen     8.6%  
Chinese Renminbi     3.9%  
Taiwan Dollar     3.4%  
Hong Kong Dollar     3.3%  
Indian Rupee     2.9%  
Other Currencies     9.5%  
 

 

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Table of Contents

Portfolio Composition – continued

 

(x) Represents the portfolio’s exposure to issuer countries as a percentage of a portfolio’s net assets. For purposes of this presentation, United States includes Cash & Cash Equivalents.
(y) Represents the portfolio’s exposure to a particular currency as a percentage of a portfolio’s net assets. For purposes of this presentation, United States Dollar includes Cash & Cash Equivalents.

Cash & Cash Equivalents includes any cash, investments in money market funds, short-term securities, and other assets less liabilities. Please see the Statement of Assets and Liabilities for additional information related to the fund’s cash position and other assets and liabilities.

Percentages are based on net assets as of November 30, 2017.

The portfolio is actively managed and current holdings may be different.

 

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Table of Contents

EXPENSE TABLE

Fund expenses borne by the shareholders during the period, June 1, 2017 through November 30, 2017

As a shareholder of the fund, you incur two types of costs: (1) transaction costs,

including sales charges (loads) on certain purchase or redemption payments, and (2) ongoing costs, including management fees; distribution and service (12b-1) fees; and other fund expenses. This example is intended to help you understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the fund and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds.

The example is based on an investment of $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period June 1, 2017 through November 30, 2017.

Actual Expenses

The first line for each share class in the following table provides information about actual account values and actual expenses. You may use the information in this line, together with the amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you paid over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000 = 8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first line under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid During Period” to estimate the expenses you paid on your account during this period.

Hypothetical Example for Comparison Purposes

The second line for each share class in the following table provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the fund’s actual expense ratio and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses, which is not the fund’s actual return. The hypothetical account values and expenses may not be used to estimate the actual ending account balance or expenses you paid for the period. You may use this information to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the fund and other funds. To do so, compare this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of the other funds.

Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only and do not reflect any transactional costs, such as sales charges (loads). Therefore, the second line for each share class in the table is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds. In addition, if these transactional costs were included, your costs would have been higher.

 

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Table of Contents

Expense Table – continued

 

Share
Class
       Annualized
Expense
Ratio
    Beginning
Account Value
6/01/17
    Ending
Account Value
11/30/17
    Expenses
Paid During
Period  (p)
6/01/17-11/30/17
 
A   Actual     1.14%       $1,000.00       $1,090.38       $5.97  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.14%       $1,000.00       $1,019.35       $5.77  
B   Actual     1.89%       $1,000.00       $1,086.11       $9.88  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.89%       $1,000.00       $1,015.59       $9.55  
C   Actual     1.89%       $1,000.00       $1,086.18       $9.88  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.89%       $1,000.00       $1,015.59       $9.55  
I   Actual     0.89%       $1,000.00       $1,091.83       $4.67  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.89%       $1,000.00       $1,020.61       $4.51  
R1   Actual     1.89%       $1,000.00       $1,086.29       $9.88  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.89%       $1,000.00       $1,015.59       $9.55  
R2   Actual     1.39%       $1,000.00       $1,089.00       $7.28  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.39%       $1,000.00       $1,018.10       $7.03  
R3   Actual     1.14%       $1,000.00       $1,090.32       $5.97  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.14%       $1,000.00       $1,019.35       $5.77  
R4   Actual     0.89%       $1,000.00       $1,091.76       $4.67  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.89%       $1,000.00       $1,020.61       $4.51  
R6   Actual     0.79%       $1,000.00       $1,092.14       $4.14  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.79%       $1,000.00       $1,021.11       $4.00  

 

(h) 5% class return per year before expenses.
(p) “Expenses Paid During Period” are equal to each class’s annualized expense ratio, as shown above, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/365 (to reflect the one-half year period). Expenses paid do not include any applicable sales charges (loads). If these transaction costs had been included, your costs would have been higher.

 

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Table of Contents

PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS

11/30/17 (unaudited)

The Portfolio of Investments is a complete list of all securities owned by your fund. It is categorized by broad-based asset classes.

 

Common Stocks - 98.5%                 
Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Aerospace - 0.9%                 
Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC      4,455,473     $ 51,639,249  
Alcoholic Beverages - 5.4%                 
AmBev S.A., ADR      4,587,943     $ 28,399,367  
China Resources Enterprise Ltd.      8,818,000       24,357,553  
Diageo PLC      2,979,531       103,498,192  
Pernod Ricard S.A. (l)      904,764       141,127,074  
    

 

 

 
             $ 297,382,186  
Apparel Manufacturers - 5.0%                 
Burberry Group PLC      1,883,765     $ 43,716,893  
Kering S.A.      230,226       102,143,332  
LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE      436,680       127,080,865  
    

 

 

 
             $ 272,941,090  
Broadcasting - 1.8%                 
Publicis Groupe S.A.      571,304     $ 37,943,681  
WPP PLC      3,342,236       59,076,939  
    

 

 

 
             $ 97,020,620  
Business Services - 7.0%                 
Accenture PLC, “A”      1,019,379     $ 150,878,286  
Brenntag AG      778,020       48,431,782  
Compass Group PLC      3,185,974       64,587,599  
Experian Group Ltd.      2,284,385       47,515,020  
Intertek Group PLC      984,815       69,656,497  
    

 

 

 
             $ 381,069,184  
Computer Software - 4.6%                 
Dassault Systems S.A.      577,685     $ 62,096,187  
OBIC Co. Ltd.      638,800       44,392,395  
SAP AG      1,297,011       146,117,514  
    

 

 

 
             $ 252,606,096  
Computer Software - Systems - 3.6%                 
Amadeus IT Holding S.A.      1,427,642     $ 102,923,581  
NICE Systems Ltd., ADR      1,070,607       93,688,819  
    

 

 

 
             $ 196,612,400  
Construction - 1.2%                 
Toto Ltd.      1,160,700     $ 64,735,268  

 

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Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Common Stocks - continued                 
Consumer Products - 5.1%                 
Kao Corp.      740,100     $ 49,143,425  
L’Oréal      604,796       133,749,639  
Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC      1,066,705       93,567,830  
    

 

 

 
             $ 276,460,894  
Containers - 0.5%                 
Brambles Ltd.      3,833,368     $ 29,855,836  
Electrical Equipment - 4.4%                 
Legrand S.A.      389,722     $ 29,205,029  
Mettler-Toledo International, Inc. (a)      106,296       66,882,506  
Prysmian S.p.A.      1,501,561       50,006,757  
Schneider Electric S.A.      1,078,808       92,721,298  
    

 

 

 
             $ 238,815,590  
Electronics - 3.8%                 
MediaTek, Inc.      2,670,000     $ 29,359,597  
Mellanox Technologies Ltd. (a)      344,660       20,369,406  
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd., ADR      3,937,889       155,940,404  
    

 

 

 
             $ 205,669,407  
Energy - Independent - 1.0%                 
Caltex Australia Ltd.      1,035,371     $ 26,728,685  
Oil Search Ltd.      5,431,174       29,142,180  
    

 

 

 
             $ 55,870,865  
Energy - Integrated - 0.8%                 
Suncor Energy, Inc.      1,340,947     $ 46,511,939  
Food & Beverages - 5.8%                 
Danone S.A.      1,303,275     $ 110,012,692  
Nestle S.A.      2,408,715       206,286,392  
    

 

 

 
             $ 316,299,084  
Food & Drug Stores - 1.2%                 
Sundrug Co. Ltd.      1,464,000     $ 67,874,786  
Gaming & Lodging - 0.8%                 
Paddy Power Betfair PLC      388,575     $ 43,748,622  
Insurance - 2.9%                 
AIA Group Ltd.      19,176,600     $ 156,306,972  

 

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Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Common Stocks - continued                 
Internet - 4.4%                 
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., ADR (a)      772,764     $ 136,841,049  
Baidu, Inc., ADR (a)      325,502       77,658,267  
NAVER Corp.      33,269       24,520,322  
    

 

 

 
             $ 239,019,638  
Leisure & Toys - 0.3%                 
BANDAI NAMCO Holdings, Inc.      438,100     $ 14,283,105  
Machinery & Tools - 1.5%                 
GEA Group AG      1,065,596     $ 51,411,557  
Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, Inc.      1,102,199       29,200,606  
    

 

 

 
             $ 80,612,163  
Major Banks - 2.6%                 
HSBC Holdings PLC      5,987,537     $ 59,435,997  
UBS AG      4,674,652       80,734,270  
    

 

 

 
             $ 140,170,267  
Medical & Health Technology & Services - 1.4%                 
Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA      755,650     $ 75,073,921  
Medical Equipment - 3.4%                 
Essilor International S.A.      463,644     $ 59,627,612  
QIAGEN N.V.      1,298,948       41,025,025  
Terumo Corp.      1,752,600       84,187,722  
    

 

 

 
             $ 184,840,359  
Network & Telecom - 0.6%                 
LM Ericsson Telephone Co., “B”      5,401,288     $ 33,971,988  
Other Banks & Diversified Financials - 6.5%                 
Aeon Credit Service Co. Ltd.      2,016,800     $ 45,076,617  
Credicorp Ltd.      179,464       37,872,288  
DBS Group Holdings Ltd.      3,449,900       62,798,262  
Element Fleet Management Corp.      2,619,332       19,754,370  
Grupo Financiero Banorte S.A. de C.V.      5,649,535       33,135,992  
Grupo Financiero Inbursa S.A. de C.V.      7,044,434       12,444,373  
HDFC Bank Ltd.      3,608,944       103,986,617  
Julius Baer Group Ltd.      645,474       37,924,673  
    

 

 

 
             $ 352,993,192  
Pharmaceuticals - 8.3%                 
Bayer AG      829,460     $ 105,785,373  
Novartis AG      1,450,411       124,141,912  

 

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Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Common Stocks - continued                 
Pharmaceuticals - continued                 
Novo Nordisk A.S., “B”      895,298     $ 46,217,427  
Roche Holding AG      690,371       174,180,516  
    

 

 

 
             $ 450,325,228  
Railroad & Shipping - 2.5%                 
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd.      1,945,506     $ 12,065,004  
Canadian National Railway Co.      1,567,536       122,236,457  
    

 

 

 
             $ 134,301,461  
Restaurants - 1.3%                 
Whitbread PLC      985,098     $ 47,534,569  
Yum China Holdings, Inc.      561,543       22,927,801  
    

 

 

 
             $ 70,462,370  
Specialty Chemicals - 7.3%                 
Akzo Nobel N.V.      1,047,262     $ 94,360,280  
Croda International PLC      771,933       44,608,517  
L’Air Liquide S.A.      628,393       78,646,358  
Linde AG (a)      369,082       86,168,628  
Sika AG      4,622       35,707,446  
Symrise AG      714,135       60,698,415  
    

 

 

 
             $ 400,189,644  
Telecommunications - Wireless - 1.1%                 
SoftBank Corp.      690,900     $ 58,704,486  
Tobacco - 1.5%                 
ITC Ltd.      10,394,541     $ 41,276,710  
Japan Tobacco, Inc.      1,307,200       43,315,655  
    

 

 

 
             $ 84,592,365  
Total Common Stocks (Identified Cost, $3,868,263,898)            $ 5,370,960,275  
Preferred Stocks - 0.0%                 
Aerospace - 0.0%                 
Rolls Royce Holdings PLC (a) (Identified Cost, $265,790)      200,588,842     $ 271,276  
Investment Companies (h) - 1.1%                 
Money Market Funds - 1.1%                 
MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio, 1.19% (v)
(Identified Cost, $57,982,400)
     57,988,199     $ 57,982,400  
Other Assets, Less Liabilities - 0.4%              23,969,246  
Net Assets - 100.0%            $ 5,453,183,197  

 

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Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

 

(a) Non-income producing security.
(h) An affiliated issuer may be considered one in which the fund owns 5% or more of the outstanding voting securities, or a company which is under common control. At period end, the aggregate values of the fund’s investments in affiliated issuers and in unaffiliated issuers were $57,982,400 and $5,371,231,551, respectively.
(l) A portion of this security is on loan.
(v) Affiliated issuer that is available only to investment companies managed by MFS. The rate quoted for the MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio is the annualized seven-day yield of the fund at period end.

The following abbreviations are used in this report and are defined:

 

ADR   American Depositary Receipt
PLC   Public Limited Company

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

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Table of Contents

Financial Statements

 

STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

At 11/30/17 (unaudited)

This statement represents your fund’s balance sheet, which details the assets and liabilities comprising the total value of the fund.

 

Assets         

Investments in unaffiliated issuers, at value, including $123,552,009 of securities on loan (identified cost, $3,868,529,688)

     $5,371,231,551  

Investments in affiliated issuers, at value (identified cost, $57,982,400)

     57,982,400  

Foreign currency, at value (identified cost, $261)

     261  

Receivables for

  

Fund shares sold

     16,811,825  

Interest and dividends

     12,050,274  

Total assets

     $5,458,076,311  
Liabilities         

Payable for fund shares reacquired

     $2,637,694  

Payable to affiliates

  

Investment adviser

     225,452  

Shareholder servicing costs

     552,163  

Distribution and service fees

     8,232  

Payable for independent Trustees’ compensation

     2,053  

Deferred country tax expense payable

     789,104  

Accrued expenses and other liabilities

     678,416  

Total liabilities

     $4,893,114  

Net assets

     $5,453,183,197  
Net assets consist of         

Paid-in capital

     $3,768,716,605  

Unrealized appreciation (depreciation) (net of $789,104 deferred country tax)

     1,502,080,009  

Accumulated net realized gain (loss)

     127,624,086  

Undistributed net investment income

     54,762,497  

Net assets

     $5,453,183,197  

Shares of beneficial interest outstanding

     157,035,465  

 

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Statement of Assets and Liabilities (unaudited) – continued

 

     Net assets      Shares
outstanding
     Net asset value
per share (a)
 

Class A

     $326,505,040        9,633,047        $33.89  

Class B

     7,498,049        236,828        31.66  

Class C

     44,791,517        1,450,769        30.87  

Class I

     1,233,531,912        32,732,192        37.69  

Class R1

     2,847,248        93,851        30.34  

Class R2

     23,844,434        767,290        31.08  

Class R3

     28,395,974        843,175        33.68  

Class R4

     153,000,625        4,496,965        34.02  

Class R6

     3,632,768,398        106,781,348        34.02  

 

(a) Maximum offering price per share was equal to the net asset value per share for all share classes, except for Class A, for which the maximum offering price per share was $35.96 [100 / 94.25 x $33.89]. On sales of $50,000 or more, the maximum offering price of Class A shares is reduced. A contingent deferred sales charge may be imposed on redemptions of Class A, Class B, and Class C shares. Redemption price per share was equal to the net asset value per share for Classes I, R1, R2, R3, R4, and R6. Net asset value per share is calculated using actual net assets and shares outstanding rather than amounts that have been rounded for presentation purposes.

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

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Financial Statements

 

STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS

Six months ended 11/30/17 (unaudited)

This statement describes how much your fund earned in investment income and accrued in expenses. It also describes any gains and/or losses generated by fund operations.

 

Net investment income (loss)         

Income

  

Dividends

     $35,696,457  

Dividends from affiliated issuers

     299,472  

Income on securities loaned

     197,272  

Foreign taxes withheld

     (2,708,052

Total investment income

     $33,485,149  

Expenses

  

Management fee

     $19,292,832  

Distribution and service fees

     753,029  

Shareholder servicing costs

     1,048,004  

Administrative services fee

     321,796  

Independent Trustees’ compensation

     24,623  

Custodian fee

     339,677  

Shareholder communications

     70,370  

Audit and tax fees

     37,590  

Legal fees

     24,325  

Miscellaneous

     161,923  

Total expenses

     $22,074,169  

Reduction of expenses by investment adviser and distributor

     (210,207

Net expenses

     $21,863,962  

Net investment income (loss)

     $11,621,187  
Realized and unrealized gain (loss)         

Realized gain (loss) (identified cost basis)

  

Unaffiliated issuers

     $172,245,983  

Affiliated issuers

     (2,395

Foreign currency

     108,623  

Net realized gain (loss)

     $172,352,211  

Change in unrealized appreciation (depreciation)

  

Unaffiliated issuers (net of $1,733,890 decrease in deferred country tax)

     $266,621,755  

Affiliated issuers

     (3,945

Translation of assets and liabilities in foreign currencies

     (21,629

Net unrealized gain (loss)

     $266,596,181  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     $438,948,392  

Change in net assets from operations

     $450,569,579  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

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Financial Statements

 

STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN NET ASSETS

These statements describe the increases and/or decreases in net assets resulting from operations, any distributions, and any shareholder transactions.

 

Change in net assets    Six months ended
11/30/17
(unaudited)
     Year ended
5/31/17
 
From operations                  

Net investment income (loss)

     $11,621,187        $44,762,121  

Net realized gain (loss)

     172,352,211        19,138,843  

Net unrealized gain (loss)

     266,596,181        702,789,624  

Change in net assets from operations

     $450,569,579        $766,690,588  
Distributions declared to shareholders                  

From net investment income

     $—        $(50,500,022

Change in net assets from fund share transactions

     $246,426,642        $(22,777,534

Total change in net assets

     $696,996,221        $693,413,032  
Net assets                  

At beginning of period

     4,756,186,976        4,062,773,944  

At end of period (including undistributed net investment income of $54,762,497 and $43,141,310, respectively)

     $5,453,183,197        $4,756,186,976  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

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Table of Contents

Financial Statements

 

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

The financial highlights table is intended to help you understand the fund’s financial performance for the semiannual period and the past 5 fiscal years. Certain information reflects financial results for a single fund share. The total returns in the table represent the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the fund share class (assuming reinvestment of all distributions) held for the entire period.

 

   

Six months
ended
11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class A     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning of
period

    $31.09       $26.46       $28.28       $28.86       $26.25       $21.66  
Income (loss) from investment operations          

Net investment income
(loss) (d)

    $0.03       $0.14 (c)      $0.27       $0.34       $0.27       $0.22  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    2.77       4.75       (1.81     (0.33     2.65       4.69  

Total from investment operations

    $2.80       $4.89       $(1.54     $0.01       $2.92       $4.91  
Less distributions declared to shareholders          

From net investment income

    $—       $(0.26     $(0.26     $(0.34     $(0.14     $(0.23

From net realized gain

                (0.02     (0.25     (0.17     (0.09

Total distributions declared to
shareholders

    $—       $(0.26     $(0.28     $(0.59     $(0.31     $(0.32

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $33.89       $31.09       $26.46       $28.28       $28.86       $26.25  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    9.01 (n)      18.69 (c)      (5.44     0.26       11.20       22.76  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
 

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

    1.15 (a)      1.18 (c)      1.21       1.20       1.22       1.32  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

    1.14 (a)      1.17 (c)      1.20       1.19       1.22       1.32  

Net investment income (loss)

    0.20 (a)(l)      0.51 (c)      1.04       1.23       0.98       0.88  

Portfolio turnover

    6 (n)      21       20       38       21       32  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

    $326,505       $319,266       $585,089       $576,218       $498,393       $306,765  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

15


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Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended
11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class B     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning of
period

    $29.15       $24.82       $26.64       $27.18       $24.84       $20.50  
Income (loss) from investment operations          

Net investment income
(loss) (d)

    $(0.08     $(0.01 )(c)      $0.05       $0.11       $0.01       $0.00 (w) 

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    2.59       4.41       (1.68     (0.28     2.55       4.48  

Total from investment operations

    $2.51       $4.40       $(1.63     $(0.17     $2.56       $4.48  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                  

From net investment income

    $—       $(0.07     $(0.17     $(0.12     $(0.05     $(0.05

From net realized gain

                (0.02     (0.25     (0.17     (0.09

Total distributions declared to
shareholders

    $—       $(0.07     $(0.19     $(0.37     $(0.22     $(0.14

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $31.66       $29.15       $24.82       $26.64       $27.18       $24.84  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    8.61 (n)      17.79 (c)      (6.12     (0.51     10.34       21.91  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
         

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    1.90 (a)      1.93 (c)      1.96       1.94       1.98       2.07  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    1.89 (a)      1.92 (c)      1.95       1.94       1.97       2.07  

Net investment income (loss)

    (0.54 )(a)(l)      (0.02 )(c)      0.21       0.41       0.03       0.02  

Portfolio turnover

    6 (n)      21       20       38       21       32  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $7,498       $7,799       $8,792       $10,539       $12,480       $13,157  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

16


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Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended
11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class C     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning of
period

    $28.43       $24.22       $26.03       $26.59       $24.32       $20.09  
Income (loss) from investment operations          

Net investment income
(loss) (d)

    $(0.09     0.00 (c)(w)      $0.06       $0.11       $0.02       $0.02  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    2.53       4.30       (1.67     (0.27     2.49       4.36  

Total from investment operations

    $2.44       $4.30       $(1.61     $(0.16     $2.51       $4.38  
Less distributions declared to shareholders  

From net investment income

    $—       $(0.09     $(0.18     $(0.15     $(0.07     $(0.06

From net realized gain

                (0.02     (0.25     (0.17     (0.09

Total distributions declared to
shareholders

    $—       $(0.09     $(0.20     $(0.40     $(0.24     $(0.15

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $30.87       $28.43       $24.22       $26.03       $26.59       $24.32  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    8.58 (n)      17.81 (c)      (6.17     (0.46     10.35       21.86  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
         

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    1.90 (a)      1.93 (c)      1.96       1.94       1.98       2.07  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    1.89 (a)      1.92 (c)      1.95       1.94       1.97       2.07  

Net investment income (loss)

    (0.58 )(a)(l)      0.01 (c)      0.25       0.43       0.10       0.07  

Portfolio turnover

    6 (n)      21       20       38       21       32  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $44,792       $38,985       $40,163       $42,137       $42,407       $36,202  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

17


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Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended
11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class I     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning of
period

    $34.52       $29.36       $31.29       $31.84       $28.89       $23.79  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                  

Net investment income
(loss) (d)

    $0.09       $0.34 (c)      $0.37       $0.43       $0.34       $0.31  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    3.08       5.16       (2.00     (0.33     2.95       5.17  

Total from investment operations

    $3.17       $5.50       $(1.63     $0.10       $3.29       $5.48  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                  

From net investment income

    $—       $(0.34     $(0.28     $(0.40     $(0.17     $(0.29

From net realized gain

                (0.02     (0.25     (0.17     (0.09

Total distributions declared to
shareholders

    $—       $(0.34     $(0.30     $(0.65     $(0.34     $(0.38

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $37.69       $34.52       $29.36       $31.29       $31.84       $28.89  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    9.18 (n)      18.97 (c)      (5.19     0.51       11.44       23.12  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                                         

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    0.90 (a)      0.93 (c)      0.96       0.94       0.98       1.07  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    0.89 (a)      0.92 (c)      0.95       0.94       0.97       1.07  

Net investment income (loss)

    0.52 (a)(l)      1.12 (c)      1.27       1.40       1.14       1.15  

Portfolio turnover

    6 (n)      21       20       38       21       32  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $1,233,532       $1,497,306       $1,174,202       $1,233,915       $1,573,587       $1,071,717  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

18


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Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended
11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R1     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning of
period

    $27.93       $23.87       $25.65       $26.25       $24.03       $19.90  
Income (loss) from investment operations  

Net investment income
(loss) (d)

    $(0.08     $0.02 (c)      $0.10       $0.10       $0.04       $0.02  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    2.49       4.19       (1.67     (0.27     2.44       4.32  

Total from investment operations

    $2.41       $4.21       $(1.57     $(0.17     $2.48       $4.34  
Less distributions declared to shareholders  

From net investment income

    $—       $(0.15     $(0.19     $(0.18     $(0.09     $(0.12

From net realized gain

                (0.02     (0.25     (0.17     (0.09

Total distributions declared to
shareholders

    $—       $(0.15     $(0.21     $(0.43     $(0.26     $(0.21

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $30.34       $27.93       $23.87       $25.65       $26.25       $24.03  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    8.63 (n)      17.77 (c)      (6.12     (0.49     10.36       21.88  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
         

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    1.90 (a)      1.93 (c)      1.96       1.95       1.97       2.07  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    1.89 (a)      1.92 (c)      1.95       1.94       1.97       2.07  

Net investment income (loss)

    (0.57 )(a)(l)      0.08 (c)      0.41       0.40       0.17       0.11  

Portfolio turnover

    6 (n)      21       20       38       21       32  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $2,847       $2,496       $1,587       $1,321       $1,318       $841  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

19


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Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended
11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R2     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning of
period

    $28.54       $24.32       $26.05       $26.62       $24.28       $20.08  
Income (loss) from investment operations          

Net investment income
(loss) (d)

    $(0.01     $0.14 (c)      $0.17       $0.24       $0.16       $0.15  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    2.55       4.29       (1.66     (0.29     2.47       4.34  

Total from investment operations

    $2.54       $4.43       $(1.49     $(0.05     $2.63       $4.49  
Less distributions declared to shareholders          

From net investment income

    $—       $(0.21     $(0.22     $(0.27     $(0.12     $(0.20

From net realized gain

                (0.02     (0.25     (0.17     (0.09

Total distributions declared to
shareholders

    $—       $(0.21     $(0.24     $(0.52     $(0.29     $(0.29

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $31.08       $28.54       $24.32       $26.05       $26.62       $24.28  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    8.90 (n)      18.39 (c)      (5.69     0.03       10.89       22.47  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
 

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    1.40 (a)      1.43 (c)      1.46       1.44       1.48       1.57  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    1.39 (a)      1.42 (c)      1.45       1.44       1.47       1.57  

Net investment income (loss)

    (0.06 )(a)(l)      0.56 (c)      0.70       0.93       0.62       0.66  

Portfolio turnover

    6 (n)      21       20       38       21       32  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $23,844       $22,245       $21,051       $26,387       $27,316       $22,880  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

20


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Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended
11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R3     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning of
period

    $30.89       $26.29       $28.07       $28.63       $26.05       $21.51  
Income (loss) from investment operations                  

Net investment income
(loss) (d)

    $0.03       $0.20 (c)      $0.18       $0.32       $0.24       $0.26  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    2.76       4.66       (1.71     (0.30     2.66       4.62  

Total from investment operations

    $2.79       $4.86       $(1.53     $0.02       $2.90       $4.88  
Less distributions declared to shareholders          

From net investment income

    $—       $(0.26     $(0.23     $(0.33     $(0.15     $(0.25

From net realized gain

                (0.02     (0.25     (0.17     (0.09

Total distributions declared to
shareholders

    $—       $(0.26     $(0.25     $(0.58     $(0.32     $(0.34

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $33.68       $30.89       $26.29       $28.07       $28.63       $26.05  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    9.03 (n)      18.67 (c)      (5.43     0.27       11.19       22.77  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
 

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    1.15 (a)      1.18 (c)      1.21       1.19       1.23       1.32  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    1.14 (a)      1.17 (c)      1.20       1.19       1.22       1.32  

Net investment income (loss)

    0.17 (a)(l)      0.72 (c)      0.69       1.17       0.87       1.05  

Portfolio turnover

    6 (n)      21       20       38       21       32  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $28,396       $26,234       $27,198       $68,514       $74,279       $51,599  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

21


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Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended
11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R4     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning of
period

    $31.17       $26.52       $28.30       $28.87       $26.22       $21.62  
Income (loss) from investment operations          

Net investment income
(loss) (d)

    $0.07       $0.26 (c)      $0.32       $0.42       $0.30       $0.26  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    2.78       4.71       (1.80     (0.34     2.68       4.72  

Total from investment operations

    $2.85       $4.97       $(1.48     $0.08       $2.98       $4.98  
Less distributions declared to shareholders  

From net investment income

    $—       $(0.32     $(0.28     $(0.40     $(0.16     $(0.29

From net realized gain

                (0.02     (0.25     (0.17     (0.09

Total distributions declared to
shareholders

    $—       $(0.32     $(0.30     $(0.65     $(0.33     $(0.38

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $34.02       $31.17       $26.52       $28.30       $28.87       $26.22  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    9.14 (n)      18.97 (c)      (5.20     0.52       11.44       23.12  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
         

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    0.90 (a)      0.93 (c)      0.96       0.94       0.98       1.07  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    0.89 (a)      0.92 (c)      0.95       0.94       0.97       1.07  

Net investment income (loss)

    0.41 (a)(l)      0.97 (c)      1.22       1.51       1.10       1.06  

Portfolio turnover

    6 (n)      21       20       38       21       32  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $153,001       $124,580       $231,275       $281,024       $240,876       $214,830  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

22


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Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended
11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R6     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning of
period

    $31.15       $26.54       $28.29       $28.87       $26.20       $21.59  
Income (loss) from investment operations          

Net investment income
(loss) (d)

    $0.08       $0.34 (c)      $0.37       $0.43       $0.33       $0.31  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    2.79       4.65       (1.81     (0.33     2.69       4.69  

Total from investment operations

    $2.87       $4.99       $(1.44     $0.10       $3.02       $5.00  
Less distributions declared to shareholders  

From net investment income

    $—       $(0.38     $(0.29     $(0.43     $(0.18     $(0.30

From net realized gain

                (0.02     (0.25     (0.17     (0.09

Total distributions declared to
shareholders

    $—       $(0.38     $(0.31     $(0.68     $(0.35     $(0.39

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $34.02       $31.15       $26.54       $28.29       $28.87       $26.20  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    9.21 (n)      19.08 (c)      (5.05     0.60       11.58       23.25  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
         

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    0.80 (a)      0.82 (c)      0.83       0.83       0.88       0.98  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    0.79 (a)      0.81 (c)      0.82       0.83       0.88       0.98  

Net investment income (loss)

    0.48 (a)(l)      1.22 (c)      1.41       1.56       1.22       1.23  

Portfolio turnover

    6 (n)      21       20       38       21       32  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $3,632,768       $2,717,276       $1,973,418       $1,968,676       $1,821,432       $1,378,032  

 

(a) Annualized.
(c) Amount reflects a one-time reimbursement of expenses by the custodian (or former custodian) without which net investment income and performance would be lower and expenses would be higher.
(d) Per share data is based on average shares outstanding.
(f) Ratios do not reflect reductions from fees paid indirectly, if applicable.
(l) Recognition of net investment income by the fund may be affected by the timing of the declaration of dividends by companies in which the fund invests and the actual annual net investment income ratio may differ.
(n) Not annualized.
(r) Certain expenses have been reduced without which performance would have been lower.
(s) From time to time the fund may receive proceeds from litigation settlements, without which performance would be lower.
(t) Total returns do not include any applicable sales charges.
(w) Per share amount was less than $0.01.
(x) The net asset values and total returns have been calculated on net assets which include adjustments made in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles required at period end for financial reporting purposes.

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

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NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(unaudited)

(1) Business and Organization

MFS International Growth Fund (the fund) is a diversified series of MFS Series Trust X (the trust). The trust is organized as a Massachusetts business trust and is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, as an open-end management investment company.

The fund is an investment company and accordingly follows the investment company accounting and reporting guidance of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification Topic 946 Financial Services – Investment Companies.

(2) Significant Accounting Policies

General – The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of increases and decreases in net assets from operations during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. In the preparation of these financial statements, management has evaluated subsequent events occurring after the date of the fund’s Statement of Assets and Liabilities through the date that the financial statements were issued. The fund invests in foreign securities, including securities of emerging market issuers. Investments in foreign securities are vulnerable to the effects of changes in the relative values of the local currency and the U.S. dollar and to the effects of changes in each country’s legal, political, and economic environment. The markets of emerging markets countries are generally more volatile than the markets of developed countries with more mature economies. All of the risks of investing in foreign securities previously described are heightened when investing in emerging markets countries.

In October 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released its Final Rule on Investment Company Reporting Modernization (the “Rule”). The Rule, which introduced two new regulatory reporting forms for investment companies – Form N-PORT and Form N-CEN – also contained amendments to Regulation S-X which impact financial statement presentation, particularly the presentation of derivative investments, for all reporting periods ending after August 1, 2017. The fund has adopted the Rule’s Regulation S-X amendments and believes that the fund’s financial statements are in compliance with those amendments.

Balance Sheet Offsetting – The fund’s accounting policy with respect to balance sheet offsetting is that, absent an event of default by the counterparty or a termination of the agreement, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) Master Agreement, or similar agreement, does not result in an offset of reported amounts of financial assets and financial liabilities in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities across transactions between the fund and the applicable counterparty. The fund’s right to setoff may be restricted or prohibited by the bankruptcy or insolvency laws of the particular jurisdiction to which a specific master netting agreement counterparty is subject. Balance sheet offsetting disclosures, to the extent applicable to the fund, have

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

been included in the fund’s Significant Accounting Policies note under the captions for each of the fund’s in-scope financial instruments and transactions.

Investment Valuations – Equity securities, including restricted equity securities, are generally valued at the last sale or official closing price on their primary market or exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Equity securities, for which there were no sales reported that day, are generally valued at the last quoted daily bid quotation on their primary market or exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Short-term instruments with a maturity at issuance of 60 days or less may be valued at amortized cost, which approximates market value. Open-end investment companies are generally valued at net asset value per share. Securities and other assets generally valued on the basis of information from a third-party pricing service may also be valued at a broker/dealer bid quotation. Values obtained from third-party pricing services can utilize both transaction data and market information such as yield, quality, coupon rate, maturity, type of issue, trading characteristics, and other market data. The values of foreign securities and other assets and liabilities expressed in foreign currencies are converted to U.S. dollars using the mean of bid and asked prices for rates provided by a third-party pricing service.

The Board of Trustees has delegated primary responsibility for determining or causing to be determined the value of the fund’s investments (including any fair valuation) to the adviser pursuant to valuation policies and procedures approved by the Board. If the adviser determines that reliable market quotations are not readily available, investments are valued at fair value as determined in good faith by the adviser in accordance with such procedures under the oversight of the Board of Trustees. Under the fund’s valuation policies and procedures, market quotations are not considered to be readily available for most types of debt instruments and floating rate loans and many types of derivatives. These investments are generally valued at fair value based on information from third-party pricing services. In addition, investments may be valued at fair value if the adviser determines that an investment’s value has been materially affected by events occurring after the close of the exchange or market on which the investment is principally traded (such as foreign exchange or market) and prior to the determination of the fund’s net asset value, or after the halting of trading of a specific security where trading does not resume prior to the close of the exchange or market on which the security is principally traded. Events that occur on a frequent basis after foreign markets close (such as developments in foreign markets and significant movements in the U.S. markets) and prior to the determination of the fund’s net asset value may be deemed to have a material effect on the value of securities traded in foreign markets. Accordingly, the fund’s foreign equity securities may often be valued at fair value. The adviser generally relies on third-party pricing services or other information (such as the correlation with price movements of similar securities in the same or other markets; the type, cost and investment characteristics of the security; the business and financial condition of the issuer; and trading and other market data) to assist in determining whether to fair value and at what value to fair value an investment. The value of an investment for purposes of calculating the fund’s net asset value can differ depending on the source and method used to determine value. When fair valuation is used, the value of an investment used to determine the fund’s net asset value may differ from quoted or published prices for the same investment. There can be no assurance that

 

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the fund could obtain the fair value assigned to an investment if it were to sell the investment at the same time at which the fund determines its net asset value per share.

Various inputs are used in determining the value of the fund’s assets or liabilities. These inputs are categorized into three broad levels. In certain cases, the inputs used to measure fair value may fall into different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In such cases, an investment’s level within the fair value hierarchy is based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement. The fund’s assessment of the significance of a particular input to the fair value measurement in its entirety requires judgment, and considers factors specific to the investment. Level 1 includes unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. Level 2 includes other significant observable market-based inputs (including quoted prices for similar securities, interest rates, prepayment speed, and credit risk). Level 3 includes unobservable inputs, which may include the adviser’s own assumptions in determining the fair value of investments. The following is a summary of the levels used as of November 30, 2017 in valuing the fund’s assets or liabilities:

 

Financial Instruments    Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  
Equity Securities:            

France

     $974,353,766        $—        $—        $974,353,766  

United Kingdom

     684,837,302        271,276               685,108,578  

Switzerland

     658,975,209                      658,975,209  

Germany

     614,712,216                      614,712,216  

Japan

            471,713,459               471,713,459  

China

     237,427,117        24,357,553               261,784,670  

United States

     238,130,198                      238,130,198  

Canada

     217,703,372                      217,703,372  

Taiwan

     155,940,404        29,359,597               185,300,001  

Other Countries

     722,032,822        341,417,260               1,063,450,082  
Mutual Funds      57,982,400                      57,982,400  
Total      $4,562,094,806        $867,119,145        $—        $5,429,213,951  

For further information regarding security characteristics, see the Portfolio of Investments.

Of the level 2 investments presented above, equity investments amounting to $793,346,890 would have been considered level 1 investments at the beginning of the period. The primary reason for changes in the classifications between levels 1 and 2 occurs when foreign equity securities are fair valued using other observable market-based inputs in place of the closing exchange price due to events occurring after the close of the exchange or market on which the investment is principally traded. The fund’s foreign equity securities may often be valued using other observable market-based inputs. The fund’s policy is to recognize transfers between the levels as of the end of the period.

Foreign Currency Translation – Purchases and sales of foreign investments, income, and expenses are converted into U.S. dollars based upon currency exchange rates prevailing on the respective dates of such transactions or on the reporting date for foreign denominated receivables and payables. Gains and losses attributable to foreign currency exchange rates on sales of securities are recorded for financial statement

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

purposes as net realized gains and losses on investments. Gains and losses attributable to foreign exchange rate movements on receivables, payables, income and expenses are recorded for financial statement purposes as foreign currency transaction gains and losses. That portion of both realized and unrealized gains and losses on investments that results from fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates is not separately disclosed.

Security Loans – Under its Securities Lending Agency Agreement with the fund, State Street Bank and Trust Company (“State Street”), as lending agent, loans the securities of the fund to certain qualified institutions (the “Borrowers”) approved by the fund. Security loans can be terminated at the discretion of either the lending agent or the fund and the related securities must be returned within the earlier of the standard trade settlement period for such securities or within three business days. The loans are collateralized by cash and/or U.S. Treasury and federal agency obligations in an amount typically at least equal to the market value of the securities loaned. On loans collateralized by cash, the cash collateral is invested in a money market fund. The market value of the loaned securities is determined at the close of business of the fund and any additional required collateral is delivered to the fund on the next business day. State Street provides the fund with indemnification against Borrower default. In the event of Borrower default, State Street will, for the benefit of the fund, either purchase securities identical to those loaned or, when such purchase is commercially impracticable, pay the fund the market value of the loaned securities. In return, State Street assumes the fund’s rights to the related collateral. If the collateral value is less than the cost to purchase identical securities, State Street is responsible for the shortfall, but only to the extent that such shortfall is not due to a decline in collateral value resulting from collateral reinvestment for which the fund bears the risk of loss. At period end, the fund had investment securities on loan, all of which were classified as equity securities in the fund’s Portfolio of Investments, with a fair value of $123,552,009. The fair value of the fund’s investment securities on loan is presented gross in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. These loans were collateralized by U.S. Treasury Obligations of $129,078,014. The collateral on securities loaned exceeded the value of securities on loan at period end. A portion of the income generated upon investment of the collateral is remitted to the Borrowers, and the remainder is allocated between the fund and the lending agent. On loans collateralized by U.S. Treasury and/or federal agency obligations, a fee is received from the Borrower, and is allocated between the fund and the lending agent. Income from securities lending is separately reported in the Statement of Operations. The dividend and interest income earned on the securities loaned is accounted for in the same manner as other dividend and interest income.

Indemnifications – Under the fund’s organizational documents, its officers and Trustees may be indemnified against certain liabilities and expenses arising out of the performance of their duties to the fund. Additionally, in the normal course of business, the fund enters into agreements with service providers that may contain indemnification clauses. The fund’s maximum exposure under these agreements is unknown as this would involve future claims that may be made against the fund that have not yet occurred.

 

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Investment Transactions and Income – Investment transactions are recorded on the trade date. Interest income is recorded on the accrual basis. Dividends received in cash are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Certain dividends from foreign securities will be recorded when the fund is informed of the dividend if such information is obtained subsequent to the ex-dividend date. Dividend and interest payments received in additional securities are recorded on the ex-dividend or ex-interest date in an amount equal to the value of the security on such date.

The fund may receive proceeds from litigation settlements. Any proceeds received from litigation involving portfolio holdings are reflected in the Statement of Operations in realized gain/loss if the security has been disposed of by the fund or in unrealized gain/loss if the security is still held by the fund. Any other proceeds from litigation not related to portfolio holdings are reflected as other income in the Statement of Operations.

Tax Matters and Distributions – The fund intends to qualify as a regulated investment company, as defined under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code, and to distribute all of its taxable income, including realized capital gains. As a result, no provision for federal income tax is required. The fund’s federal tax returns, when filed, will remain subject to examination by the Internal Revenue Service for a three year period. Management has analyzed the fund’s tax positions taken on federal and state tax returns for all open tax years and does not believe that there are any uncertain tax positions that require recognition of a tax liability. Foreign taxes, if any, have been accrued by the fund in the accompanying financial statements in accordance with the applicable foreign tax law. Foreign income taxes may be withheld by certain countries in which the fund invests. Additionally, capital gains realized by the fund on securities issued in or by certain foreign countries may be subject to capital gains tax imposed by those countries.

Distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Income and capital gain distributions are determined in accordance with income tax regulations, which may differ from U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Certain capital accounts in the financial statements are periodically adjusted for permanent differences in order to reflect their tax character. These adjustments have no impact on net assets or net asset value per share. Temporary differences which arise from recognizing certain items of income, expense, gain or loss in different periods for financial statement and tax purposes will reverse at some time in the future. Distributions in excess of net investment income or net realized gains are temporary overdistributions for financial statement purposes resulting from differences in the recognition or classification of income or distributions for financial statement and tax purposes.

Book/tax differences primarily relate to wash sale loss deferrals.

The tax character of distributions declared to shareholders for the last fiscal year is as follows:

 

     Year ended
5/31/17
 
Ordinary income (including any
short-term capital gains)
     $50,500,022  

 

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The federal tax cost and the tax basis components of distributable earnings were as follows:

 

As of 11/30/17       
Cost of investments      $3,982,073,298  
Gross appreciation      1,534,892,235  
Gross depreciation      (87,751,582
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation)      $1,447,140,653  
As of 5/31/17       
Undistributed ordinary income      54,382,452  
Undistributed long-term capital gain      193,410  
Other temporary differences      (2,935,583
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation)      1,182,256,734  

The aggregate cost above includes prior fiscal year end tax adjustments, if applicable.

Multiple Classes of Shares of Beneficial Interest – The fund offers multiple classes of shares, which differ in their respective distribution and service fees. The fund’s income, realized and unrealized gain (loss), and common expenses are allocated to shareholders based on the daily net assets of each class. Dividends are declared separately for each class. Differences in per share dividend rates are generally due to differences in separate class expenses. Class B shares will convert to Class A shares approximately eight years after purchase. Effective April 23, 2018, Class C shares will convert to Class A shares, approximately ten years after purchase. Any shares with an original purchase date of April 30, 2008 or earlier will automatically convert to Class A shares on April 23, 2018. The fund’s distributions declared to shareholders as reported in the Statements of Changes in Net Assets are presented by class as follows:

 

     From net investment
income
 
     Six months
ended
11/30/17
     Year
ended
5/31/17
 
Class A      $—        $4,826,368  
Class B             22,188  
Class C             132,501  
Class I             13,523,065  
Class R1             13,225  
Class R2             162,353  
Class R3             241,490  
Class R4             1,363,750  
Class R6             30,215,082  
Total      $—        $50,500,022  

(3) Transactions with Affiliates

Investment Adviser – The fund has an investment advisory agreement with MFS to provide overall investment management and related administrative services and

 

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facilities to the fund. The management fee is computed daily and paid monthly at the following annual rates based on the fund’s average daily net assets:

 

Up to $1 billion      0.90
In excess of $1 billion and up to $2 billion      0.80
In excess of $2 billion and up to $5 billion      0.70
In excess of $5 billion      0.65

MFS has agreed in writing to reduce its management fee by a specified amount if certain MFS mutual fund assets exceed thresholds agreed to by MFS and the fund’s Board of Trustees. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, this management fee reduction amounted to $208,253, which is included in the reduction of total expenses in the Statement of Operations. The management fee incurred for the six months ended November 30, 2017 was equivalent to an annual effective rate of 0.75% of the fund’s average daily net assets.

Distributor – MFS Fund Distributors, Inc. (MFD), a wholly-owned subsidiary of MFS, as distributor, received $58,180 for the six months ended November 30, 2017, as its portion of the initial sales charge on sales of Class A shares of the fund.

The Board of Trustees has adopted a distribution plan for certain share classes pursuant to Rule 12b-1 of the Investment Company Act of 1940.

The fund’s distribution plan provides that the fund will pay MFD for services provided by MFD and financial intermediaries in connection with the distribution and servicing of certain share classes. One component of the plan is a distribution fee paid to MFD and another component of the plan is a service fee paid to MFD. MFD may subsequently pay all, or a portion, of the distribution and/or service fees to financial intermediaries.

Distribution Plan Fee Table:

 

     Distribution
Fee Rate (d)
     Service
Fee Rate (d)
     Total
Distribution
Plan (d)
     Annual
Effective
Rate (e)
     Distribution
and Service
Fee
 
Class A             0.25%        0.25%        0.25%        $401,923  
Class B      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        38,152  
Class C      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        208,460  
Class R1      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        13,288  
Class R2      0.25%        0.25%        0.50%        0.50%        56,843  
Class R3             0.25%        0.25%        0.25%        34,363  
Total Distribution and Service Fees           $753,029  

 

(d) In accordance with the distribution plan for certain classes, the fund pays distribution and/or service fees equal to these annual percentage rates of each class’s average daily net assets. The distribution and service fee rates disclosed by class represent the current rates in effect at the end of the reporting period. Any rate changes, if applicable, are detailed below.
(e) The annual effective rates represent actual fees incurred under the distribution plan for the six months ended November 30, 2017 based on each class’s average daily net assets. MFD has voluntarily agreed to rebate a portion of each class’s 0.25% service fee attributable to accounts for which MFD retains the 0.25% service fee except for accounts attributable to MFS or its affiliates’ seed money. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, this rebate amounted to $1,728, $12, $184, and $30 for Class A, Class B, Class C, and Class R2, respectively, and is included in the reduction of total expenses in the Statement of Operations.

 

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Certain Class A shares are subject to a contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) in the event of a shareholder redemption within 18 months of purchase. Class C shares are subject to a CDSC in the event of a shareholder redemption within 12 months of purchase. Class B shares are subject to a CDSC in the event of a shareholder redemption within six years of purchase. All contingent deferred sales charges are paid to MFD and during the six months ended November 30, 2017, were as follows:

 

     Amount  
Class A      $399  
Class B      3,810  
Class C      1,120  

Shareholder Servicing Agent – MFS Service Center, Inc. (MFSC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of MFS, receives a fee from the fund for its services as shareholder servicing agent calculated as a percentage of the average daily net assets of the fund as determined periodically under the supervision of the fund’s Board of Trustees. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fee was $59,550, which equated to 0.0023% annually of the fund’s average daily net assets. MFSC also receives payment from the fund for out-of-pocket expenses, sub-accounting and other shareholder servicing costs which may be paid to affiliated and unaffiliated service providers. Class R6 shares do not incur sub-accounting fees. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, these out-of-pocket expenses, sub-accounting and other shareholder servicing costs amounted to $988,454.

Administrator – MFS provides certain financial, legal, shareholder communications, compliance, and other administrative services to the fund. Under an administrative services agreement, the fund reimburses MFS the costs incurred to provide these services. The fund is charged an annual fixed amount of $17,500 plus a fee based on average daily net assets. The administrative services fee incurred for the six months ended November 30, 2017 was equivalent to an annual effective rate of 0.0126% of the fund’s average daily net assets.

Trustees’ and Officers’ Compensation – The fund pays compensation to independent Trustees in the form of a retainer, attendance fees, and additional compensation to Board and Committee chairpersons. The fund does not pay compensation directly to Trustees or officers of the fund who are also officers of the investment adviser, all of whom receive remuneration for their services to the fund from MFS. Certain officers and Trustees of the fund are officers or directors of MFS, MFD, and MFSC.

Prior to December 31, 2001, the fund had an unfunded defined benefit plan (“DB plan”) for independent Trustees. As of December 31, 2001, the Board took action to terminate the DB plan with respect to then-current and any future independent Trustees, such that the DB plan covers only certain of those former independent Trustees who retired on or before December 31, 2001. The DB plan resulted in a pension expense of $143 and is included in “Independent Trustees’ compensation” in the Statement of Operations for the six months ended November 30, 2017. The liability for deferred retirement benefits payable to certain independent Trustees under the DB plan amounted to $1,332 at November 30, 2017, and is included in “Payable for independent Trustees’ compensation” in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities.

 

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Other – This fund and certain other funds managed by MFS (the funds) have entered into a service agreement (the ISO Agreement) which provides for payment of fees solely by the funds to Tarantino LLC in return for the provision of services of an Independent Senior Officer (ISO) for the funds. Frank L. Tarantino serves as the ISO and is an officer of the funds and the sole member of Tarantino LLC. The funds can terminate the ISO Agreement with Tarantino LLC at any time under the terms of the ISO Agreement. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fee paid by the fund under this agreement was $4,234 and is included in “Miscellaneous” expense in the Statement of Operations. MFS has agreed to bear all expenses associated with office space, other administrative support, and supplies provided to the ISO.

The fund invests in the MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio which is managed by MFS and seeks current income consistent with preservation of capital and liquidity. This money market fund does not pay a management fee to MFS.

The fund is permitted to engage in purchase and sale transactions with funds and accounts for which MFS serves as investment adviser or sub-adviser (“cross-trades”) pursuant to a policy adopted by the Board of Trustees. This policy has been designed to ensure that cross-trades conducted by the fund comply with Rule 17a-7 under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Under this policy, cross-trades are effected at current market prices with no remuneration paid in connection with the transaction. During the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fund engaged in purchase and sale transactions pursuant to this policy, which amounted to $4,584,229 and $396,422, respectively. The sales transactions resulted in net realized gains (losses) of $176,529.

(4) Portfolio Securities

For the six months ended November 30, 2017, purchases and sales of investments, other than short-term obligations, aggregated $720,217,121 and $304,151,275, respectively.

(5) Shares of Beneficial Interest

The fund’s Declaration of Trust permits the Trustees to issue an unlimited number of full and fractional shares of beneficial interest. Transactions in fund shares were as follows:

 

     Six months ended
11/30/17
     Year ended
5/31/17
 
     Shares      Amount      Shares      Amount  
Shares sold            

Class A

     1,027,219        $33,279,663        2,772,707        $75,411,517  

Class B

     9,761        294,456        25,106        640,352  

Class C

     185,000        5,441,562        227,435        5,735,380  

Class I

     5,175,738        185,602,372        13,599,454        411,928,947  

Class R1

     23,191        681,749        44,711        1,098,275  

Class R2

     99,656        2,960,439        201,736        5,072,126  

Class R3

     240,566        7,644,598        335,114        9,075,290  

Class R4

     771,394        25,141,630        640,764        17,585,569  

Class R6

     22,653,740        729,677,397        20,165,207        551,422,481  
     30,186,265        $990,723,866        38,012,234        $1,077,969,937  

 

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     Six months ended
11/30/17
     Year ended
5/31/17
 
     Shares      Amount      Shares      Amount  
Shares issued to shareholders in
reinvestment of distributions
 

Class A

            $—        175,953        $4,573,006  

Class B

                   881        21,540  

Class C

                   4,780        113,993  

Class I

                   435,106        12,544,104  

Class R1

                   564        13,225  

Class R2

                   6,110        145,958  

Class R3

                   9,349        241,490  

Class R4

                   49,297        1,283,193  

Class R6

                   1,159,092        30,136,394  
            $—        1,841,132        $49,072,903  
Shares reacquired            

Class A

     (1,663,475      $(53,868,049      (14,789,363      $(401,979,400

Class B

     (40,489      (1,223,268      (112,680      (2,889,324

Class C

     (105,668      (3,106,647      (518,943      (13,090,743

Class I

     (15,814,073      (565,085,934      (10,655,642      (323,441,330

Class R1

     (18,712      (551,542      (22,398      (547,116

Class R2

     (111,784      (3,295,961      (293,877      (7,331,461

Class R3

     (246,634      (7,873,662      (529,786      (14,239,956

Class R4

     (271,369      (8,800,670      (5,415,117      (149,555,944

Class R6

     (3,102,157      (100,491,491      (8,463,063      (236,745,100
     (21,374,361      $(744,297,224      (40,800,869      $(1,149,820,374
Net change            

Class A

     (636,256      $(20,588,386      (11,840,703      $(321,994,877

Class B

     (30,728      (928,812      (86,693      (2,227,432

Class C

     79,332        2,334,915        (286,728      (7,241,370

Class I

     (10,638,335      (379,483,562      3,378,918        101,031,721  

Class R1

     4,479        130,207        22,877        564,384  

Class R2

     (12,128      (335,522      (86,031      (2,113,377

Class R3

     (6,068      (229,064      (185,323      (4,923,176

Class R4

     500,025        16,340,960        (4,725,056      (130,687,182

Class R6

     19,551,583        629,185,906        12,861,236        344,813,775  
     8,811,904        $246,426,642        (947,503      $(22,777,534

Class T shares were not publicly available for sale during the period. Please see the fund’s prospectus for details.

The fund is one of several mutual funds in which certain MFS funds may invest. The MFS funds do not invest in the underlying funds for the purpose of exercising management or control. At the end of the period, the MFS International Diversification Fund, the MFS Growth Allocation Fund, the MFS Moderage Allocation Fund, the MFS Aggressive Growth Allocation Fund, and the MFS Conservative Allocation Fund were the owners of record of approximately 46%, 5%, 3%, 3%, and 1%, respectively, of

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

the value of outstanding voting shares of the fund. In addition, the MFS Lifetime Income Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2020 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2025 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2030 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2035 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2040 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2045 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2050 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2055 Fund, and the MFS Lifetime 2060 Fund were each the owners of record of less than 1% of the value of outstanding voting shares of the fund.

(6) Line of Credit

The fund and certain other funds managed by MFS participate in a $1.25 billion unsecured committed line of credit, subject to a $1 billion sublimit, provided by a syndication of banks under a credit agreement. Borrowings may be made for temporary financing needs. Interest is charged to each fund, based on its borrowings, generally at a rate equal to the higher of the Overnight Federal Reserve funds rate or daily one month LIBOR plus an agreed upon spread. A commitment fee, based on the average daily, unused portion of the committed line of credit, is allocated among the participating funds at the end of each calendar quarter. In addition, the fund and other funds managed by MFS have established unsecured uncommitted borrowing arrangements with certain banks for temporary financing needs. Interest is charged to each fund, based on its borrowings, at a rate equal to the Overnight Federal Reserve funds rate plus an agreed upon spread. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fund’s commitment fee and interest expense were $15,247 and $0, respectively, and are included in “Miscellaneous” expense in the Statement of Operations.

(7) Investments in Affiliated Issuers

An affiliated issuer may be considered one in which the fund owns 5% or more of the outstanding voting securities, or a company which is under common control. For the purposes of this report, the fund assumes the following to be affiliated issuers:

 

Affiliated Issuers     Beginning
Shares/Par
Amount
    Acquisitions
Shares/Par
Amount
    Dispositions
Shares/Par
Amount
    Ending
Shares/Par
Amount
 
MFS Institutional Money
Market Portfolio
      43,619,720       368,805,156       (354,436,677     57,988,199  
Affiliated Issuers   Realized
Gain (Loss)
    Change in
Unrealized
Appreciation
(Depreciation)
    Capital Gain
Distributions
    Dividend
Income
    Ending
Value
 
MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio     $(2,395     $(3,945     $—       $299,472       $57,982,400  

(8) Redemptions In-Kind

On September 12, 2017, the fund recorded redemption proceeds for a redemption in-kind of portfolio securities and cash that were valued at $191,033,673. The redeeming shareholder generally receives a pro rata share of the securities held by the fund. The distribution of such securities generated a realized gain of $89,394,605 for the fund.

 

34


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BOARD REVIEW OF INVESTMENT ADVISORY AGREEMENT

The Investment Company Act of 1940 requires that both the full Board of Trustees and a majority of the non-interested (“independent”) Trustees, voting separately, annually approve the continuation of the Fund’s investment advisory agreement with MFS. The Trustees consider matters bearing on the Fund and its advisory arrangements at their meetings throughout the year, including a review of performance data at each regular meeting. In addition, the independent Trustees met several times over the course of three months beginning in May and ending in July, 2017 (“contract review meetings”) for the specific purpose of considering whether to approve the continuation of the investment advisory agreement for the Fund and the other investment companies that the Board oversees (the “MFS Funds”). The independent Trustees were assisted in their evaluation of the Fund’s investment advisory agreement by independent legal counsel, from whom they received separate legal advice and with whom they met separately from MFS during various contract review meetings. The independent Trustees were also assisted in this process by the MFS Funds’ Independent Senior Officer, a senior officer appointed by and reporting to the independent Trustees.

In connection with their deliberations regarding the continuation of the investment advisory agreement, the Trustees, including the independent Trustees, considered such information and factors as they believed, in light of the legal advice furnished to them and their own business judgment, to be relevant. The investment advisory agreement for the Fund was considered separately, although the Trustees also took into account the common interests of all MFS Funds in their review. As described below, the Trustees considered the nature, quality, and extent of the various investment advisory, administrative, and shareholder services performed by MFS under the existing investment advisory agreement and other arrangements with the Fund.

In connection with their contract review meetings, the Trustees received and relied upon materials that included, among other items: (i) information provided by Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (“Broadridge”), an independent third party, on the investment performance of the Fund for various time periods ended December 31, 2016 and the investment performance of a group of funds with substantially similar investment classifications/objectives (the “Lipper performance universe”), (ii) information provided by Broadridge on the Fund’s advisory fees and other expenses and the advisory fees and other expenses of comparable funds identified by Broadridge (the “Broadridge expense group”), (iii) information provided by MFS on the advisory fees of portfolios of other clients of MFS, including institutional separate accounts and other clients, (iv) information as to whether and to what extent applicable expense waivers, reimbursements or fee “breakpoints” are observed for the Fund, (v) information regarding MFS’ financial results and financial condition, including MFS’ and certain of its affiliates’ estimated profitability from services performed for the Fund and the MFS Funds as a whole, and compared to MFS’ institutional business, (vi) MFS’ views regarding the outlook for the mutual fund industry and the strategic business plans of MFS, (vii) descriptions of various functions performed by MFS for the Funds, such as compliance monitoring and portfolio trading practices, and (viii) information regarding the overall organization of MFS, including information about MFS’ senior management and other personnel providing investment advisory,

 

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Board Review of Investment Advisory Agreement – continued

 

administrative and other services to the Fund and the other MFS Funds. The comparative performance, fee and expense information prepared and provided by Broadridge was not independently verified and the independent Trustees did not independently verify any information provided to them by MFS.

The Trustees’ conclusion as to the continuation of the investment advisory agreement was based on a comprehensive consideration of all information provided to the Trustees and not the result of any single factor. Some of the factors that figured particularly in the Trustees’ deliberations are described below, although individual Trustees may have evaluated the information presented differently from one another, giving different weights to various factors. It is also important to recognize that the fee arrangements for the Fund and other MFS Funds are the result of years of review and discussion between the independent Trustees and MFS, that certain aspects of such arrangements may receive greater scrutiny in some years than in others, and that the Trustees’ conclusions may be based, in part, on their consideration of these same arrangements during the course of the year and in prior years.

Based on information provided by Broadridge and MFS, the Trustees reviewed the Fund’s total return investment performance as well as the performance of peer groups of funds over various time periods. The Trustees placed particular emphasis on the total return performance of the Fund’s Class A shares in comparison to the performance of funds in its Lipper performance universe over the three-year period ended December 31, 2016, which the Trustees believed was a long enough period to reflect differing market conditions. The total return performance of the Fund’s Class A shares was in the 2nd quintile relative to the other funds in the universe for this three-year period (the 1st quintile being the best performers and the 5th quintile being the worst performers). The total return performance of the Fund’s Class A shares was in the 1st quintile for the one-year period and the 3rd quintile for the five-year period ended December 31, 2016 relative to the Lipper performance universe. Because of the passage of time, these performance results may differ from the performance results for more recent periods, including those shown elsewhere in this report.

In addition to considering the performance information provided in connection with the contract review meetings, the Trustees noted that, in light of the Fund’s substandard relative performance at the time of their contract review meetings in 2016, they had met at each of their regular meetings since then with MFS’ senior investment management personnel to discuss the Fund’s performance and MFS’ efforts to improve the Fund’s performance. The Trustees further noted that the Fund’s three-year performance as compared to its benchmark improved for the period ended December 31, 2016, as compared to the prior year. Taking this information into account, the Trustees concluded, within the context of their overall conclusions regarding the investment advisory agreement, that they were satisfied with MFS’ responses and efforts relating to investment performance.

In assessing the reasonableness of the Fund’s advisory fee, the Trustees considered, among other information, the Fund’s advisory fee and the total expense ratio of the Fund’s Class A shares as a percentage of average daily net assets and the advisory fee and total expense ratios of peer groups of funds based on information provided by Broadridge The Trustees considered that, according to the data provided by Broadridge

 

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Table of Contents

Board Review of Investment Advisory Agreement – continued

 

(which takes into account any fee reductions or expense limitations that were in effect during the Fund’s last fiscal year), the Fund’s effective advisory fee rate and total expense ratio were each approximately at the Broadridge expense group median.

The Trustees also considered the advisory fees charged by MFS to any institutional separate accounts advised by MFS (“separate accounts”) and unaffiliated investment companies for which MFS serves as subadviser (“subadvised funds”) that have comparable investment strategies to the Fund, if any. In comparing these fees, the Trustees considered information provided by MFS as to the generally broader scope of services provided by MFS to the Fund, as well as the more extensive regulatory burdens imposed on MFS in managing the Fund, in comparison to separate accounts and subadvised funds. The Trustees also considered the higher demands placed on MFS’ investment personnel and trading infrastructure as a result of the daily cash in-flows and out-flows of the Fund in comparison to separate accounts.

The Trustees also considered whether the Fund may benefit from any economies of scale in the management of the Fund in the event of growth in assets of the Fund and/or growth in assets of the MFS Funds as a whole. They noted that the Fund’s advisory fee rate schedule is subject to contractual breakpoints that reduce the Fund’s advisory fee rate on average daily net assets over $1 billion, $2 billion and $5 billion. The Trustees also noted that MFS has agreed in writing to waive a portion of the management fees of certain MFS Funds, including the Fund, if the total combined assets of certain funds within the MFS Funds’ complex increase above agreed upon thresholds (the “group fee waiver”), enabling the Fund’s shareholders to share in the benefits from any economies of scale at the complex level. The group fee waiver is reviewed and renewed annually between the Board and MFS. The Trustees concluded that the breakpoints and the group fee waiver were sufficient to allow the Fund to benefit from economies of scale as its assets and overall complex assets grow.

The Trustees also considered information prepared by MFS relating to MFS’ costs and profits with respect to the Fund, the MFS Funds considered as a group, and other investment companies and accounts advised by MFS, as well as MFS’ methodologies used to determine and allocate its costs to the MFS Funds, the Fund and other accounts and products for purposes of estimating profitability.

After reviewing these and other factors described herein, the Trustees concluded, within the context of their overall conclusions regarding the investment advisory agreement, that the advisory fees charged to the Fund represent reasonable compensation in light of the services being provided by MFS to the Fund.

In addition, the Trustees considered MFS’ resources and related efforts to continue to retain, attract and motivate capable personnel to serve the Fund. The Trustees also considered current and developing conditions in the financial services industry, including the presence of large and well-capitalized companies which are spending, and appear to be prepared to continue to spend, substantial sums to engage personnel and to provide services to competing investment companies. In this regard, the Trustees also considered the financial resources of MFS and its ultimate parent, Sun Life Financial Inc. The Trustees also considered the advantages and possible disadvantages to the Fund of having an adviser that also serves other investment companies as well as other accounts.

 

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Board Review of Investment Advisory Agreement – continued

 

The Trustees also considered the nature, quality, cost, and extent of administrative, transfer agency, and distribution services provided to the Fund by MFS and its affiliates under agreements and plans other than the investment advisory agreement, including any 12b-1 fees the Fund pays to MFS Fund Distributors, Inc., an affiliate of MFS. The Trustees also considered the nature, extent and quality of certain other services MFS performs or arranges for on the Fund’s behalf, which may include securities lending programs, directed expense payment programs, class action recovery programs, and MFS’ interaction with third-party service providers, principally custodians and sub-custodians. The Trustees concluded that the various non-advisory services provided by MFS and its affiliates on behalf of the Fund were satisfactory.

The Trustees also considered benefits to MFS from the use of the Fund’s portfolio brokerage commissions, if applicable, to pay for investment research and various other factors. Additionally, the Trustees considered so-called “fall-out benefits” to MFS such as reputational value derived from serving as investment manager to the Fund.

Based on their evaluation of factors that they deemed to be material, including those factors described above, the Board of Trustees, including the independent Trustees, concluded that the Fund’s investment advisory agreement with MFS should be continued for an additional one-year period, commencing August 1, 2017.

 

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Table of Contents

PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND INFORMATION

MFS votes proxies on behalf of the fund pursuant to proxy voting policies and procedures that are available without charge, upon request, by calling 1-800-225-2606, by visiting mfs.com/proxyvoting, or by visiting the SEC’s Web site at http://www.sec.gov.

Information regarding how the fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the most recent twelve-month period ended June 30 is available by August 31 of each year without charge by visiting mfs.com/proxyvoting, or by visiting the SEC’s Web site at http://www.sec.gov.

QUARTERLY PORTFOLIO DISCLOSURE

The fund will file a complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission) for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-Q. A shareholder can obtain the quarterly portfolio holdings report at mfs.com. The fund’s Form N-Q is also available on the EDGAR database on the Commission’s Internet Web site at http://www.sec.gov, and may be reviewed and copied at the:

Public Reference Room

Securities and Exchange Commission

100 F Street, NE, Room 1580

Washington, D.C. 20549

Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling the Commission at 1-800-SEC-0330. Copies of the fund’s Form N-Q also may be obtained, upon payment of a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov or by writing the Public Reference Section at the above address.

FURTHER INFORMATION

From time to time, MFS may post important information about the fund or the MFS funds on the MFS web site (mfs.com). This information is available at https://www.mfs.com/en-us/what-we-do/announcements.html or at mfs.com/openendfunds by choosing the fund’s name.

 

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Table of Contents

INFORMATION ABOUT FUND CONTRACTS AND LEGAL CLAIMS

The fund has entered into contractual arrangements with an investment adviser, administrator, distributor, shareholder servicing agent, 529 program manager (if applicable), and custodian who each provide services to the fund. Unless expressly stated otherwise, shareholders are not parties to, or intended beneficiaries of these contractual arrangements, and these contractual arrangements are not intended to create any shareholder right to enforce them against the service providers or to seek any remedy under them against the service providers, either directly or on behalf of the fund.

Under the Trust’s By-Laws and Declaration of Trust, any claims asserted against or on behalf of the MFS Funds, including claims against Trustees and Officers, must be brought in state and federal courts located within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

PROVISION OF FINANCIAL REPORTS AND SUMMARY PROSPECTUSES

The fund produces financial reports every six months and updates its summary prospectus and prospectus annually. To avoid sending duplicate copies of materials to households, only one copy of the fund’s annual and semiannual report and summary prospectus may be mailed to shareholders having the same last name and residential address on the fund’s records. However, any shareholder may contact MFSC (please see back cover for address and telephone number) to request that copies of these reports and summary prospectuses be sent personally to that shareholder.

 

40


Table of Contents

LOGO

 

Save paper with eDelivery.

 

LOGO

MFS® will send you prospectuses,

reports, and proxies directly via e-mail so you will get information faster with less mailbox clutter.

To sign up:

1. Go to mfs.com.

2. Log in via MFS® Access.

3. Select eDelivery.

If you own your MFS fund shares through a financial institution or a retirement plan, MFS® TALK, MFS® Access, or eDelivery may not be available to you.

 

CONTACT

WEB SITE

mfs.com

MFS TALK

1-800-637-8255

24 hours a day

ACCOUNT SERVICE AND LITERATURE

Shareholders

1-800-225-2606

Financial advisors

1-800-343-2829

Retirement plan services

1-800-637-1255

MAILING ADDRESS

MFS Service Center, Inc.

P.O. Box 55824

Boston, MA 02205-5824

OVERNIGHT MAIL

MFS Service Center, Inc.

c/o DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc.

30 Dan Road

Canton, MA 02021-2809

 


Table of Contents

SEMIANNUAL REPORT

November 30, 2017

 

LOGO

 

MFS® INTERNATIONAL VALUE FUND

 

LOGO

 

FGI-SEM

 


Table of Contents

MFS® INTERNATIONAL VALUE FUND

 

CONTENTS

 

Letter from the Executive Chairman     1  
Portfolio composition     2  
Expense table     4  
Portfolio of investments     6  
Statement of assets and liabilities     12  
Statement of operations     14  
Statements of changes in net assets     15  
Financial highlights     16  
Notes to financial statements     26  
Board review of investment advisory agreement     40  
Proxy voting policies and information     44  
Quarterly portfolio disclosure     44  
Further information     44  
Information about fund contracts and legal claims     45  
Provision of financial reports and summary prospectuses     45  
Contact information    back cover  

The report is prepared for the general information of shareholders.

It is authorized for distribution to prospective investors only when preceded or accompanied by a current prospectus.

 

NOT FDIC INSURED MAY LOSE VALUE NO BANK GUARANTEE



Table of Contents

LOGO

 

LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN

 

Dear Shareholders:

Most markets have proved resilient over the past year, despite uncertainty accompanying a new presidential administration in the United States and unease over

ongoing negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union regarding Brexit. U.S. share prices have reached new highs in recent months although the U.S. Federal Reserve has continued to gradually hike interest rates and has begun to shrink its balance sheet.

Globally, we’ve experienced a synchronized upturn in economic growth for more than a year. Despite the improvement in economic activity, there are few immediate signs of worrisome inflation amid muted wage gains around the world. Emerging market economies have been boosted in part by a weaker

U.S. dollar and are recovering despite lingering concerns over the potential for restrictive U.S. trade policies. Commodity markets have recovered somewhat in response to solid global demand and robust global trade, though not enough to rekindle inflation fears.

At MFS®, we believe having a disciplined, long-term investment approach through a full market cycle is essential to capturing the best opportunities while also managing risk. In our view, such a strategy, along with the professional guidance of a financial advisor, will help you reach your investment objectives.

Respectfully,

 

LOGO

Robert J. Manning

Executive Chairman

MFS Investment Management

January 16, 2018

The opinions expressed in this letter are subject to change and may not be relied upon for investment advice. No forecasts can be guaranteed.

 

1


Table of Contents

PORTFOLIO COMPOSITION

 

Portfolio structure

 

LOGO

 

Top ten holdings  
Nestle S.A.     4.2%  
Danone S.A.     2.7%  
Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC     2.4%  
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd., ADR     2.4%  
Givaudan S.A.     2.3%  
Pernod Ricard S.A.     2.3%  
Henkel AG & Co. KGaA     2.2%  
Colgate-Palmolive Co.     2.2%  
Kao Corp.     2.2%  
Amadeus IT Holding S.A.     2.1%  
Equity sectors  
Consumer Staples     28.2%  
Technology     15.8%  
Financial Services     13.3%  
Special Products & Services     9.7%  
Industrial Goods & Services     9.5%  
Basic Materials     5.7%  
Health Care     5.0%  
Utilities & Communications     1.6%  
Transportation     1.3%  
Leisure     0.9%  
Energy     0.9%  
Retailing     0.8%  
Autos & Housing     0.6%  
Issuer country weightings (x)  
Japan     21.7%  
United States     16.3%  
United Kingdom     13.8%  
Germany     12.1%  
Switzerland     11.4%  
France     9.2%  
Netherlands     3.2%  
Taiwan     2.4%  
Spain     2.1%  
Other Countries     7.8%  
Currency exposure weightings (y)  
Euro     29.4%  
United States Dollar     19.0%  
Japanese Yen     18.6%  
British Pound Sterling     13.8%  
Swiss Franc     11.4%  
Taiwan Dollar     2.4%  
Australian Dollar     1.8%  
Canadian Dollar     1.2%  
Swedish Krona     1.0%  
Other Currencies     1.4%  
 

 

2


Table of Contents

Portfolio Composition – continued

 

(x) Represents the portfolio’s exposure to issuer countries as a percentage of a portfolio’s net assets. For purposes of this presentation, United States includes Cash & Cash Equivalents and Other.
(y) Represents the portfolio’s exposure to a particular currency as a percentage of a portfolio’s net assets. For purposes of this presentation, United States Dollar includes Cash & Cash Equivalents and Other.

Cash & Cash Equivalents includes any cash, investments in money market funds, short-term securities, and other assets less liabilities. Please see the Statement of Assets and Liabilities for additional information related to the fund’s cash position and other assets and liabilities.

Other includes equivalent exposure from currency derivatives and/or any offsets to derivative positions.

Percentages are based on net assets as of November 30, 2017.

The portfolio is actively managed and current holdings may be different.

 

3


Table of Contents

EXPENSE TABLE

Fund expenses borne by the shareholders during the period, June 1, 2017 through November 30, 2017

As a shareholder of the fund, you incur two types of costs: (1) transaction costs, including sales charges (loads) on certain purchase or redemption payments, and (2) ongoing costs, including management fees; distribution and service (12b-1) fees; and other fund expenses. This example is intended to help you understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the fund and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds.

The example is based on an investment of $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period June 1, 2017 through November 30, 2017.

Actual Expenses

The first line for each share class in the following table provides information about actual account values and actual expenses. You may use the information in this line, together with the amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you paid over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000 = 8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first line under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid During Period” to estimate the expenses you paid on your account during this period.

Hypothetical Example for Comparison Purposes

The second line for each share class in the following table provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the fund’s actual expense ratio and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses, which is not the fund’s actual return. The hypothetical account values and expenses may not be used to estimate the actual ending account balance or expenses you paid for the period. You may use this information to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the fund and other funds. To do so, compare this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of the other funds.

Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only and do not reflect any transactional costs, such as sales charges (loads). Therefore, the second line for each share class in the table is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds. In addition, if these transactional costs were included, your costs would have been higher.

 

4


Table of Contents

Expense Table – continued

 

Share
Class
       Annualized
Expense
Ratio
  Beginning
Account Value
6/01/17
  Ending
Account Value
11/30/17
  Expenses
Paid During
Period  (p)
6/01/17-11/30/17
 
A   Actual   0.97%   $1,000.00   $1,069.23     $5.03  
  Hypothetical (h)   0.97%   $1,000.00   $1,020.21     $4.91  
B   Actual   1.72%   $1,000.00   $1,064.97     $8.90  
  Hypothetical (h)   1.72%   $1,000.00   $1,016.44     $8.69  
C   Actual   1.72%   $1,000.00   $1,065.07     $8.90  
  Hypothetical (h)   1.72%   $1,000.00   $1,016.44     $8.69  
I   Actual   0.72%   $1,000.00   $1,070.48     $3.74  
  Hypothetical (h)   0.72%   $1,000.00   $1,021.46     $3.65  
R1   Actual   1.72%   $1,000.00   $1,065.09     $8.90  
  Hypothetical (h)   1.72%   $1,000.00   $1,016.44     $8.69  
R2   Actual   1.22%   $1,000.00   $1,067.85     $6.32  
  Hypothetical (h)   1.22%   $1,000.00   $1,018.95     $6.17  
R3   Actual   0.97%   $1,000.00   $1,069.16     $5.03  
  Hypothetical (h)   0.97%   $1,000.00   $1,020.21     $4.91  
R4   Actual   0.72%   $1,000.00   $1,070.47     $3.74  
  Hypothetical (h)   0.72%   $1,000.00   $1,021.46     $3.65  
R6   Actual   0.63%   $1,000.00   $1,070.87     $3.27  
  Hypothetical (h)   0.63%   $1,000.00   $1,021.91     $3.19  

 

(h) 5% class return per year before expenses.
(p) “Expenses Paid During Period” are equal to each class’s annualized expense ratio, as shown above, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/365 (to reflect the one-half year period). Expenses paid do not include any applicable sales charges (loads). If these transaction costs had been included, your costs would have been higher.

 

5


Table of Contents

PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS

11/30/17 (unaudited)

The Portfolio of Investments is a complete list of all securities owned by your fund. It is categorized by broad-based asset classes.

 

Common Stocks - 91.1%                 
Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Airlines - 0.3%                 
Ryanair Holdings PLC (a)      828,336     $ 101,007,292  
Alcoholic Beverages - 3.9%                 
Heineken N.V.      4,584,630     $ 467,052,087  
Pernod Ricard S.A. (l)      4,326,237       674,815,939  
    

 

 

 
             $ 1,141,868,026  
Apparel Manufacturers - 0.7%                 
Compagnie Financiere Richemont S.A.      2,364,475     $ 203,579,194  
Automotive - 0.3%                 
USS Co. Ltd.      4,357,900     $ 92,232,529  
Brokerage & Asset Managers - 0.6%                 
Daiwa Securities Group, Inc.      15,115,000     $ 94,328,010  
IG Group Holdings PLC      9,882,043       86,468,177  
    

 

 

 
             $ 180,796,187  
Business Services - 9.7%                 
Brenntag AG      3,507,489     $ 218,341,357  
Bunzl PLC      14,821,106       423,932,066  
Compass Group PLC      26,627,558       539,806,680  
Experian Group Ltd.      8,765,770       182,327,295  
Intertek Group PLC      2,967,774       209,912,257  
Nomura Research, Inc.      10,871,018       493,455,132  
Rentokil Initial PLC      13,361,961       57,482,964  
Secom Co. Ltd.      4,015,600       301,677,333  
SGS S.A.      134,735       333,088,203  
Sohgo Security Services Co. Ltd.      2,096,900       116,800,238  
    

 

 

 
             $ 2,876,823,525  
Chemicals - 2.7%                 
Givaudan S.A.      297,594     $ 677,016,897  
Orica Ltd.      9,587,770       124,023,718  
    

 

 

 
             $ 801,040,615  
Computer Software - 5.4%                 
ANSYS, Inc. (a)      2,148,669     $ 318,411,259  
Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (a)      13,862,367       608,696,535  
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (a)      1,431,167       149,256,407  

 

6


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Common Stocks - continued                 
Computer Software - continued                 
Dassault Systems S.A.      2,619,174     $ 281,538,759  
OBIC Co. Ltd.      3,548,400       246,590,441  
    

 

 

 
             $ 1,604,493,401  
Computer Software - Systems - 2.1%                 
Amadeus IT Holding S.A.      8,725,023     $ 629,016,667  
Construction - 0.3%                 
Geberit AG      229,244     $ 99,690,555  
Consumer Products - 9.3%                 
Colgate-Palmolive Co.      8,952,653     $ 648,619,710  
Kao Corp.      9,733,900       646,341,283  
Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (h)      4,512,200       285,527,211  
KOSE Corp.      501,200       77,183,113  
L’Oréal      1,065,792       235,698,145  
Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC      8,162,289       715,968,960  
ROHTO Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.      5,656,500       145,854,814  
    

 

 

 
             $ 2,755,193,236  
Containers - 1.4%                 
Brambles Ltd.      53,282,818     $ 414,988,351  
Electrical Equipment - 5.3%                 
IMI PLC (h)      19,439,564     $ 330,203,325  
Legrand S.A.      4,652,267       348,632,083  
OMRON Corp.      4,378,700       259,284,637  
Schneider Electric S.A.      4,128,304       354,819,120  
Spectris PLC      5,188,925       175,718,303  
Yokogawa Electric Corp.      5,552,300       103,093,770  
    

 

 

 
             $ 1,571,751,238  
Electronics - 8.3%                 
Analog Devices, Inc.      3,113,052     $ 268,064,908  
ASM International N.V.      287,257       19,854,568  
Halma PLC      16,426,129       284,348,199  
Hirose Electric Co. Ltd.      1,885,335       281,917,542  
Infineon Technologies AG      15,252,553       421,180,763  
NVIDIA Corp.      355,362       71,324,707  
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.      23,459       55,117,235  
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd., ADR      17,789,092       704,448,043  
Texas Instruments, Inc.      3,718,430       361,766,055  
    

 

 

 
             $ 2,468,022,020  

 

7


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Common Stocks - continued                 
Energy - Independent - 0.5%                 
Cairn Energy PLC (a)      13,895,351     $ 39,745,245  
INPEX Corp.      9,915,000       112,654,706  
    

 

 

 
             $ 152,399,951  
Engineering - Construction - 0.2%                 
Wartsila Corp.      1,003,402     $ 66,283,578  
Food & Beverages - 10.0%                 
Danone S.A.      9,545,261     $ 805,739,276  
ITO EN Ltd. (h)      6,509,600       242,605,932  
Kerry Group PLC      3,025,285       316,874,262  
Nestle S.A.      14,425,616       1,235,433,950  
Nissan Foods Holdings Co. Ltd.      1,120,800       81,065,124  
Toyo Suisan Kaisha Ltd. (h)      6,800,400       290,160,285  
    

 

 

 
             $ 2,971,878,829  
Insurance - 2.1%                 
Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd.      633,798     $ 348,297,829  
Hiscox Ltd.      8,374,448       156,859,652  
Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group PLC      6,843,361       123,091,021  
    

 

 

 
             $ 628,248,502  
Leisure & Toys - 0.2%                 
Yamaha Corp.      1,368,700     $ 50,837,663  
Machinery & Tools - 3.9%                 
GEA Group AG      6,530,132     $ 315,057,728  
Glory Ltd.      1,540,000       54,922,170  
Misumi Group, Inc.      4,605,100       134,671,583  
Neopost S.A.      904,129       30,110,371  
Nordson Corp.      1,974,855       253,492,388  
Schindler Holding AG      510,351       115,273,181  
Spirax Sarco Engineering PLC      3,414,425       266,208,656  
    

 

 

 
             $ 1,169,736,077  
Major Banks - 2.7%                 
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc.      4,644,200     $ 188,778,316  
Svenska Handelsbanken AB, “A”      22,673,117       309,857,852  
UBS AG      17,426,192       300,961,628  
    

 

 

 
             $ 799,597,796  
Medical Equipment - 2.2%                 
Dentsply Sirona, Inc.      3,194,375     $ 214,055,069  
Nihon Kohden Corp. (h)      8,370,900       192,571,626  

 

8


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Common Stocks - continued                 
Medical Equipment - continued                 
Terumo Corp.      4,881,300     $ 234,477,649  
    

 

 

 
             $ 641,104,344  
Oil Services - 0.4%                 
Core Laboratories N.V.      1,087,454     $ 109,560,990  
Other Banks & Diversified Financials - 3.4%                 
Bank of Ireland Group PLC (a)      6,731,649     $ 52,512,887  
Chiba Bank Ltd.      11,403,000       87,575,384  
DnB NOR A.S.A.      8,707,666       158,778,877  
Hachijuni Bank Ltd.      11,186,700       64,026,987  
ING Groep N.V.      14,236,504       256,801,345  
Julius Baer Group Ltd.      1,636,275       96,138,953  
Jyske Bank A.S.      1,420,192       76,720,484  
Mebuki Financial Group, Inc.      18,838,670       79,350,341  
North Pacific Bank Ltd.      16,768,700       53,987,249  
Sydbank A.S.      1,883,144       73,632,072  
    

 

 

 
             $ 999,524,579  
Pharmaceuticals - 2.8%                 
Bayer AG      2,154,099     $ 274,723,514  
Roche Holding AG      1,048,008       264,412,285  
Santen Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.      19,575,300       298,867,476  
    

 

 

 
             $ 838,003,275  
Printing & Publishing - 0.7%                 
RELX N.V.      9,364,458     $ 214,394,103  
Real Estate - 4.5%                 
Deutsche Wohnen SE      11,587,568     $ 512,238,473  
LEG Immobilien AG      1,704,157       181,153,901  
TAG Immobilien AG      6,518,990       119,375,668  
Vonovia SE      10,983,640       516,982,532  
    

 

 

 
             $ 1,329,750,574  
Specialty Chemicals - 1.6%                 
Croda International PLC      561,982     $ 32,475,854  
Sika AG      8,250       63,735,705  
Symrise AG      4,590,127       390,141,127  
    

 

 

 
             $ 486,352,686  
Specialty Stores - 0.2%                 
Esprit Holdings Ltd. (a)      92,467,621     $ 48,068,032  

 

9


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Common Stocks - continued                 
Telecommunications - Wireless - 1.6%                 
KDDI Corp.      16,824,100     $ 482,949,935  
Tobacco - 2.9%                 
British American Tobacco PLC      7,324,937     $ 464,503,948  
Japan Tobacco, Inc.      11,494,100       380,870,924  
    

 

 

 
             $ 845,374,872  
Trucking - 0.9%                 
Yamato Holdings Co. Ltd.      13,339,200     $ 271,310,858  
Total Common Stocks (Identified Cost, $18,291,034,693)     $ 27,045,879,480  
Preferred Stocks - 2.2%                 
Consumer Products - 2.2%                 
Henkel AG & Co. KGaA (Identified Cost, $416,516,177)      4,799,797     $ 651,276,969  
Investment Companies (h) - 6.3%                 
Money Market Funds - 6.3%                 
MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio, 1.19% (v)
(Identified Cost, $1,877,489,811)
     1,877,605,338     $ 1,877,417,577  
Collateral for Securities Loaned - 1.3%                 
State Street Navigator Securities Lending Government Money Market Portfolio, 1.04% (j) (Identified Cost, $378,223,809)      378,223,809     $ 378,223,809  
Other Assets, Less Liabilities - (0.9)%              (264,405,067
Net Assets - 100.0%            $ 29,688,392,768  

 

(a) Non-income producing security.
(h) An affiliated issuer may be considered one in which the fund owns 5% or more of the outstanding voting securities, or a company which is under common control. At period end, the aggregate values of the fund’s investments in affiliated issuers and in unaffiliated issuers were $3,218,485,956 and $26,734,311,879, respectively.
(j) The rate quoted is the annualized seven-day yield of the fund at period end.
(l) A portion of this security is on loan.
(v) Affiliated issuer that is available only to investment companies managed by MFS. The rate quoted for the MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio is the annualized seven-day yield of the fund at period end.

The following abbreviations are used in this report and are defined:

 

ADR   American Depositary Receipt
PLC   Public Limited Company

 

10


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Abbreviations indicate amounts shown in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. All amounts are stated in U.S. dollars unless otherwise indicated. A list of abbreviations is shown below:

 

EUR   Euro
JPY   Japanese Yen

Derivative Contracts at 11/30/17

Forward Foreign Currency Exchange Contracts

 

Currency
Purchased
    Currency
Sold
  Counterparty   Settlement
Date
    Unrealized
Appreciation
(Depreciation)
 
Asset Derivatives      
EUR     117,383,500     USD   140,098,381   Deutsche Bank AG     2/23/2018       $344,959  
EUR     117,383,500     USD   139,745,057   Morgan Stanley Capital Services, Inc.     2/23/2018       698,284  
USD     489,602,812     JPY   52,776,245,500   Deutsche Bank AG     2/23/2018       18,579,715  
USD     489,507,448     JPY   52,776,245,500   Morgan Stanley Capital Services, Inc.     2/23/2018       18,484,351  
           

 

 

 
              $38,107,309  
           

 

 

 

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

11


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

 

STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

At 11/30/17 (unaudited)

This statement represents your fund’s balance sheet, which details the assets and liabilities comprising the total value of the fund.

 

Assets         

Investments in unaffiliated issuers, at value, including $482,889,728 of securities on loan (identified cost, $18,153,643,222)

     $26,734,311,879  

Investments in affiliated issuers, at value (identified cost, $2,809,621,268)

     3,218,485,956  

Foreign currency, at value (identified cost, $5,983,169)

     5,947,019  

Receivables for

  

Forward foreign currency exchange contracts

     38,107,309  

Fund shares sold

     30,581,293  

Interest and dividends

     83,668,430  

Total assets

     $30,111,101,886  
Liabilities         

Payable to custodian

     $23,659  

Payables for

  

Investments purchased

     10,655,913  

Fund shares reacquired

     24,567,947  

Collateral for securities loaned, at value (c)

     378,223,809  

Payable to affiliates

  

Investment adviser

     971,110  

Shareholder servicing costs

     5,746,799  

Distribution and service fees

     126,626  

Payable for independent Trustees’ compensation

     7,130  

Accrued expenses and other liabilities

     2,386,125  

Total liabilities

     $422,709,118  

Net assets

     $29,688,392,768  
Net assets consist of         

Paid-in capital

     $19,909,396,559  

Unrealized appreciation (depreciation)

     9,027,887,183  

Accumulated net realized gain (loss)

     345,717,434  

Undistributed net investment income

     405,391,592  

Net assets

     $29,688,392,768  

Shares of beneficial interest outstanding

     667,211,942  

 

(c) Non-cash collateral is not included.

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

12


Table of Contents

Statement of Assets and Liabilities (unaudited) – continued

 

 

     Net assets      Shares
outstanding
     Net asset value
per share (a)
 

Class A

     $3,913,158,736        89,524,838        $43.71  

Class B

     51,490,284        1,241,476        41.48  

Class C

     696,717,316        17,589,674        39.61  

Class I

     12,270,159,618        267,514,388        45.87  

Class R1

     13,075,380        326,148        40.09  

Class R2

     432,059,340        10,558,182        40.92  

Class R3

     1,492,508,615        34,359,271        43.44  

Class R4

     1,181,616,087        26,917,086        43.90  

Class R6

     9,637,607,392        219,180,879        43.97  

 

(a) Maximum offering price per share was equal to the net asset value per share for all share classes, except for Class A, for which the maximum offering price per share was $46.38 [100 / 94.25 x $43.71]. On sales of $50,000 or more, the maximum offering price of Class A shares is reduced. A contingent deferred sales charge may be imposed on redemptions of Class A, Class B, and Class C shares. Redemption price per share was equal to the net asset value per share for Classes I, R1, R2, R3, R4, and R6. Net asset value per share is calculated using actual net assets and shares outstanding rather than amounts that have been rounded for presentation purposes.

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

13


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

 

STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS

Six months ended 11/30/17 (unaudited)

This statement describes how much your fund earned in investment income and accrued in expenses. It also describes any gains and/or losses generated by fund operations.

 

Net investment income (loss)         

Income

  

Dividends

     $207,838,385  

Dividends from affiliated issuers

     17,116,621  

Income on securities loaned

     592,555  

Interest

     8,853  

Foreign taxes withheld

     (17,404,436

Total investment income

     $208,151,978  

Expenses

  

Management fee

     $86,537,717  

Distribution and service fees

     11,504,277  

Shareholder servicing costs

     10,652,602  

Administrative services fee

     321,796  

Independent Trustees’ compensation

     101,237  

Custodian fee

     1,098,629  

Shareholder communications

     501,131  

Audit and tax fees

     38,791  

Legal fees

     144,655  

Miscellaneous

     509,640  

Total expenses

     $111,410,475  

Reduction of expenses by investment adviser and distributor

     (1,166,668

Net expenses

     $110,243,807  

Net investment income (loss)

     $97,908,171  
Realized and unrealized gain (loss)         

Realized gain (loss) (identified cost basis)

  

Unaffiliated issuers

     $234,837,928  

Affiliated issuers

     (6,302,882

Forward foreign currency exchange contracts

     8,402,868  

Foreign currency

     1,102,493  

Net realized gain (loss)

     $238,040,407  

Change in unrealized appreciation (depreciation)

  

Unaffiliated issuers

     $1,540,623,584  

Affiliated issuers

     44,050,970  

Forward foreign currency exchange contracts

     28,650,545  

Translation of assets and liabilities in foreign currencies

     (567,451

Net unrealized gain (loss)

     $1,612,757,648  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     $1,850,798,055  

Change in net assets from operations

     $1,948,706,226  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

14


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

 

STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN NET ASSETS

These statements describe the increases and/or decreases in net assets resulting from operations, any distributions, and any shareholder transactions.

 

Change in net assets  

Six months ended
11/30/17

(unaudited)

   

Year ended
5/31/17

 
From operations                

Net investment income (loss)

    $97,908,171       $309,220,339  

Net realized gain (loss)

    238,040,407       259,784,595  

Net unrealized gain (loss)

    1,612,757,648       3,506,324,251  

Change in net assets from operations

    $1,948,706,226       $4,075,329,185  
Distributions declared to shareholders                

From net investment income

    $—       $(400,004,023

From net realized gain

          (24,688,639

Total distributions declared to shareholders

    $—       $(424,692,662

Change in net assets from fund share transactions

    $371,426,603       $(2,145,549,542

Total change in net assets

    $2,320,132,829       $1,505,086,981  
Net assets                

At beginning of period

    27,368,259,939       25,863,172,958  

At end of period (including undistributed net investment income of $405,391,592 and $307,483,421, respectively)

    $29,688,392,768       $27,368,259,939  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

15


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

 

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

The financial highlights table is intended to help you understand the fund’s financial performance for the semiannual period and the past 5 fiscal years (or life of a particular share class, if shorter). Certain information reflects financial results for a single fund share. The total returns in the table represent the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the fund share class (assuming reinvestment of all distributions) held for the entire period.

 

   

Six months

ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class A     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning
of period

    $40.88       $35.53       $36.07       $35.33       $30.14       $23.78  
Income (loss) from investment operations                          

Net investment income
(loss) (d)

    $0.11       $0.30 (c)      $0.50       $0.49       $0.93       $0.57  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    2.72       5.62       0.02       1.33       4.96       6.25  

Total from investment
operations

    $2.83       $5.92       $0.52       $1.82       $5.89       $6.82  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                          

From net investment
income

    $—       $(0.53     $(0.45     $(0.69     $(0.60     $(0.46

From net realized gain

          (0.04     (0.61     (0.39     (0.10      

Total distributions declared
to shareholders

    $—       $(0.57     $(1.06     $(1.08     $(0.70     $(0.46

Net asset value, end of
period (x)

    $43.71       $40.88       $35.53       $36.07       $35.33       $30.14  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    6.92 (n)      16.94 (c)      1.60       5.46       19.70       28.92  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                         

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    0.98 (a)      1.04 (c)      1.10       1.09       1.10       1.14  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    0.97 (a)      1.00 (c)      1.01       1.02       1.08       1.14  

Net investment income (loss)

    0.51 (a)(l)      0.82 (c)      1.45       1.14       2.80       2.09  

Portfolio turnover

    5 (n)      7       14       14       18       12  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $3,913,159       $3,927,507       $6,853,902       $6,891,865       $5,775,931       $2,962,849  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

16


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended
11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class B     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning
of period

    $38.94       $33.86       $34.42       $33.76       $28.85       $22.79  
Income (loss) from investment operations                          

Net investment income
(loss) (d)

    $(0.05     $0.09 (c)      $0.22       $0.20       $0.60       $0.33  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    2.59       5.29       0.03       1.29       4.79       6.01  

Total from investment
operations

    $2.54       $5.38       $0.25       $1.49       $5.39       $6.34  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                          

From net investment
income

    $—       $(0.26     $(0.20     $(0.44     $(0.38     $(0.28

From net realized gain

          (0.04     (0.61     (0.39     (0.10      

Total distributions declared
to shareholders

    $—       $(0.30     $(0.81     $(0.83     $(0.48     $(0.28

Net asset value, end of
period (x)

    $41.48       $38.94       $33.86       $34.42       $33.76       $28.85  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    6.52 (n)      16.05 (c)      0.85       4.68       18.81       27.95  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                         

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    1.73 (a)      1.79 (c)      1.85       1.84       1.85       1.89  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    1.72 (a)      1.75 (c)      1.76       1.77       1.83       1.89  

Net investment income (loss)

    (0.24 )(a)(l)      0.27 (c)      0.67       0.62       1.91       1.25  

Portfolio turnover

    5 (n)      7       14       14       18       12  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $51,490       $52,439       $56,474       $61,641       $54,371       $39,272  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

17


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended
11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class C     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning
of period

    $37.19       $32.36       $32.97       $32.44       $27.81       $22.01  
Income (loss) from investment operations                          

Net investment income
(loss) (d)

    $(0.04     $0.09 (c)      $0.21       $0.22       $0.69       $0.38  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    2.46       5.06       0.03       1.20       4.50       5.74  

Total from investment
operations

    $2.42       $5.15       $0.24       $1.42       $5.19       $6.12  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                          

From net investment
income

    $—       $(0.28     $(0.24     $(0.50     $(0.46     $(0.32

From net realized gain

          (0.04     (0.61     (0.39     (0.10      

Total distributions declared
to shareholders

    $—       $(0.32     $(0.85     $(0.89     $(0.56     $(0.32

Net asset value, end of
period (x)

    $39.61       $37.19       $32.36       $32.97       $32.44       $27.81  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    6.51 (n)      16.07 (c)      0.84       4.67       18.80       27.98  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                         

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    1.73 (a)      1.79 (c)      1.85       1.84       1.85       1.89  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    1.72 (a)      1.75 (c)      1.76       1.78       1.83       1.89  

Net investment income (loss)

    (0.23 )(a)(l)      0.26 (c)      0.68       0.70       2.27       1.49  

Portfolio turnover

    5 (n)      7       14       14       18       12  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $696,717       $719,227       $811,433       $868,925       $520,228       $199,007  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

18


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class I     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning
of period

    $42.85       $37.22       $37.73       $36.90       $31.43       $24.77  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                  

Net investment income
(loss) (d)

    $0.18       $0.53 (c)      $0.62       $0.61       $1.04       $0.75  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    2.84       5.77       0.01       1.38       5.19       6.42  

Total from investment
operations

    $3.02       $6.30       $0.63       $1.99       $6.23       $7.17  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                  

From net investment
income

    $—       $(0.63     $(0.53     $(0.77     $(0.66     $(0.51

From net realized gain

          (0.04     (0.61     (0.39     (0.10      

Total distributions declared to shareholders

    $—       $(0.67     $(1.14     $(1.16     $(0.76     $(0.51

Net asset value, end of
period (x)

    $45.87       $42.85       $37.22       $37.73       $36.90       $31.43  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    7.05 (n)      17.25 (c)      1.84       5.73       20.01       29.22  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                                 

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    0.73 (a)      0.79 (c)      0.85       0.84       0.85       0.89  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    0.72 (a)      0.75 (c)      0.76       0.78       0.83       0.89  

Net investment income (loss)

    0.81 (a)(l)      1.39 (c)      1.71       1.67       3.01       2.59  

Portfolio turnover

    5 (n)      7       14       14       18       12  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $12,270,160       $14,934,283       $12,003,645       $12,254,422       $8,552,022       $4,611,464  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

19


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended
11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R1     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning
of period

    $37.64       $32.77       $33.35       $32.83       $28.10       $22.27  
Income (loss) from investment operations                          

Net investment income
(loss) (d)

    $(0.05     $0.10 (c)      $0.22       $0.23       $0.66       $0.38  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    2.50       5.11       0.02       1.20       4.60       5.80  

Total from investment
operations

    $2.45       $5.21       $0.24       $1.43       $5.26       $6.18  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                          

From net investment
income

    $—       $(0.30     $(0.21     $(0.52     $(0.43     $(0.35

From net realized gain

          (0.04     (0.61     (0.39     (0.10      

Total distributions declared
to shareholders

    $—       $(0.34     $(0.82     $(0.91     $(0.53     $(0.35

Net asset value, end of
period (x)

    $40.09       $37.64       $32.77       $33.35       $32.83       $28.10  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    6.51 (n)      16.08 (c)      0.84       4.65       18.84       27.93  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                         

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    1.73 (a)      1.79 (c)      1.84       1.84       1.85       1.89  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    1.72 (a)      1.75 (c)      1.76       1.78       1.83       1.89  

Net investment income (loss)

    (0.24 )(a)(l)      0.29 (c)      0.68       0.73       2.14       1.47  

Portfolio turnover

    5 (n)      7       14       14       18       12  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $13,075       $12,813       $12,422       $13,540       $7,362       $3,516  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

20


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months

ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R2     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning
of period

    $38.32       $33.36       $33.89       $33.28       $28.43       $22.46  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                  

Net investment income
(loss) (d)

    $0.05       $0.29 (c)      $0.36       $0.37       $0.76       $0.46  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    2.55       5.17       0.05       1.25       4.72       5.92  

Total from investment
operations

    $2.60       $5.46       $0.41       $1.62       $5.48       $6.38  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                  

From net investment
income

    $—       $(0.46     $(0.33     $(0.62     $(0.53     $(0.41

From net realized gain

          (0.04     (0.61     (0.39     (0.10      

Total distributions declared
to shareholders

    $—       $(0.50     $(0.94     $(1.01     $(0.63     $(0.41

Net asset value, end of
period (x)

    $40.92       $38.32       $33.36       $33.89       $33.28       $28.43  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    6.78 (n)      16.62 (c)      1.37       5.19       19.42       28.61  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                                 

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    1.23 (a)      1.29 (c)      1.34       1.34       1.35       1.39  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    1.22 (a)      1.25 (c)      1.26       1.28       1.33       1.39  

Net investment income (loss)

    0.26 (a)(l)      0.83 (c)      1.10       1.14       2.44       1.77  

Portfolio turnover

    5 (n)      7       14       14       18       12  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $432,059       $429,776       $397,056       $495,074       $402,077       $265,545  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

21


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R3     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning
of period

    $40.63       $35.34       $35.88       $35.18       $30.01       $23.68  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                  

Net investment income
(loss) (d)

    $0.10       $0.39 (c)      $0.51       $0.48       $0.92       $0.59  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    2.71       5.49       0.01       1.32       4.95       6.20  

Total from investment
operations

    $2.81       $5.88       $0.52       $1.80       $5.87       $6.79  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                  

From net investment
income

    $—       $(0.55     $(0.45     $(0.71     $(0.60     $(0.46

From net realized gain

          (0.04     (0.61     (0.39     (0.10      

Total distributions declared
to shareholders

    $—       $(0.59     $(1.06     $(1.10     $(0.70     $(0.46

Net asset value, end of
period (x)

    $43.44       $40.63       $35.34       $35.88       $35.18       $30.01  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    6.92 (n)      16.93 (c)      1.62       5.45       19.73       28.90  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                                 

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    0.98 (a)      1.04 (c)      1.10       1.09       1.10       1.14  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    0.97 (a)      1.00 (c)      1.01       1.03       1.08       1.14  

Net investment income (loss)

    0.50 (a)(l)      1.08 (c)      1.47       1.38       2.79       2.15  

Portfolio turnover

    5 (n)      7       14       14       18       12  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $1,492,509       $1,406,181       $1,165,637       $1,056,939       $540,587       $294,139  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

22


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R4     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning
of period

    $41.01       $35.66       $36.19       $35.45       $30.22       $23.83  
Income (loss) from investment operations                          

Net investment income
(loss) (d)

    $0.16       $0.49 (c)      $0.60       $0.58       $0.98       $0.67  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    2.73       5.53       0.02       1.32       5.01       6.23  

Total from investment
operations

    $2.89       $6.02       $0.62       $1.90       $5.99       $6.90  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                          

From net investment
income

    $—       $(0.63     $(0.54     $(0.77     $(0.66     $(0.51

From net realized gain

          (0.04     (0.61     (0.39     (0.10      

Total distributions declared
to shareholders

    $—       $(0.67     $(1.15     $(1.16     $(0.76     $(0.51

Net asset value, end of
period (x)

    $43.90       $41.01       $35.66       $36.19       $35.45       $30.22  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    7.05 (n)      17.23 (c)      1.87       5.71       20.02       29.24  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                         

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    0.73 (a)      0.79 (c)      0.85       0.84       0.85       0.89  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    0.72 (a)      0.75 (c)      0.76       0.78       0.83       0.89  

Net investment income (loss)

    0.76 (a)(l)      1.32 (c)      1.74       1.65       2.97       2.42  

Portfolio turnover

    5 (n)      7       14       14       18       12  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $1,181,616       $1,134,929       $1,077,352       $1,011,136       $821,266       $492,660  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

23


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R6     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning
of period

    $41.06       $35.70       $36.23       $35.48       $30.25       $23.84  
Income (loss) from investment operations                          

Net investment income
(loss) (d)

    $0.15       $0.55 (c)      $0.64       $0.60       $0.99       $0.66  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    2.76       5.52       0.01       1.34       5.02       6.27  

Total from investment
operations

    $2.91       $6.07       $0.65       $1.94       $6.01       $6.93  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                          

From net investment
income

    $—       $(0.67     $(0.57     $(0.80     $(0.68     $(0.52

From net realized gain

          (0.04     (0.61     (0.39     (0.10      

Total distributions declared
to shareholders

    $—       $(0.71     $(1.18     $(1.19     $(0.78     $(0.52

Net asset value, end of
period (x)

    $43.97       $41.06       $35.70       $36.23       $35.48       $30.25  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    7.09 (n)      17.37 (c)      1.97       5.82       20.07       29.35  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                         

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)

    0.63 (a)      0.69 (c)      0.74       0.75       0.76       0.82  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)

    0.63 (a)      0.65 (c)      0.66       0.68       0.74       0.82  

Net investment income (loss)

    0.72 (a)(l)      1.49 (c)      1.85       1.72       3.01       2.38  

Portfolio turnover

    5 (n)      7       14       14       18       12  

Net assets at end of
period (000 omitted)

    $9,637,607       $4,751,104       $3,485,253       $3,110,412       $2,337,079       $1,493,955  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

24


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

 

(a) Annualized.
(c) Amount reflects a one-time reimbursement of expenses by the custodian (or former custodian) without which net investment income and performance would be lower and expenses would be higher.
(d) Per share data is based on average shares outstanding.
(f) Ratios do not reflect reductions from fees paid indirectly, if applicable.
(l) Recognition of net investment income by the fund may be affected by the timing of the declaration of dividends by companies in which the fund invests and the actual annual net investment income ratio may differ.
(n) Not annualized.
(r) Certain expenses have been reduced without which performance would have been lower.
(s) From time to time the fund may receive proceeds from litigation settlements, without which performance would be lower.
(t) Total returns do not include any applicable sales charges.
(x) The net asset values and total returns have been calculated on net assets which include adjustments made in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles required at period end for financial reporting purposes.

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

25


Table of Contents

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(unaudited)

(1) Business and Organization

MFS International Value Fund (the fund) is a diversified series of MFS Series Trust X (the trust). The trust is organized as a Massachusetts business trust and is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, as an open-end management investment company.

The fund is an investment company and accordingly follows the investment company accounting and reporting guidance of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification Topic 946 Financial Services – Investment Companies.

(2) Significant Accounting Policies

General – The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of increases and decreases in net assets from operations during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. In the preparation of these financial statements, management has evaluated subsequent events occurring after the date of the fund’s Statement of Assets and Liabilities through the date that the financial statements were issued. The fund invests in foreign securities. Investments in foreign securities are vulnerable to the effects of changes in the relative values of the local currency and the U.S. dollar and to the effects of changes in each country’s legal, political, and economic environment.

In October 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released its Final Rule on Investment Company Reporting Modernization (the “Rule”). The Rule, which introduced two new regulatory reporting forms for investment companies – Form N-PORT and Form N-CEN – also contained amendments to Regulation S-X which impact financial statement presentation, particularly the presentation of derivative investments, for all reporting periods ending after August 1, 2017. The fund has adopted the Rule’s Regulation S-X amendments and believes that the fund’s financial statements are in compliance with those amendments.

Balance Sheet Offsetting – The fund’s accounting policy with respect to balance sheet offsetting is that, absent an event of default by the counterparty or a termination of the agreement, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) Master Agreement, or similar agreement, does not result in an offset of reported amounts of financial assets and financial liabilities in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities across transactions between the fund and the applicable counterparty. The fund’s right to setoff may be restricted or prohibited by the bankruptcy or insolvency laws of the particular jurisdiction to which a specific master netting agreement counterparty is subject. Balance sheet offsetting disclosures, to the extent applicable to the fund, have been included in the fund’s Significant Accounting Policies note under the captions for each of the fund’s in-scope financial instruments and transactions.

Investment Valuations – Equity securities, including restricted equity securities, are generally valued at the last sale or official closing price on their primary market or exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Equity securities, for which there

 

26


Table of Contents

Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

were no sales reported that day, are generally valued at the last quoted daily bid quotation on their primary market or exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Short-term instruments with a maturity at issuance of 60 days or less may be valued at amortized cost, which approximates market value. Forward foreign currency exchange contracts are generally valued at the mean of bid and asked prices for the time period interpolated from rates provided by a third-party pricing service for proximate time periods. Open-end investment companies are generally valued at net asset value per share. Securities and other assets generally valued on the basis of information from a third-party pricing service may also be valued at a broker/dealer bid quotation. Values obtained from third-party pricing services can utilize both transaction data and market information such as yield, quality, coupon rate, maturity, type of issue, trading characteristics, and other market data. The values of foreign securities and other assets and liabilities expressed in foreign currencies are converted to U.S. dollars using the mean of bid and asked prices for rates provided by a third-party pricing service.

The Board of Trustees has delegated primary responsibility for determining or causing to be determined the value of the fund’s investments (including any fair valuation) to the adviser pursuant to valuation policies and procedures approved by the Board. If the adviser determines that reliable market quotations are not readily available, investments are valued at fair value as determined in good faith by the adviser in accordance with such procedures under the oversight of the Board of Trustees. Under the fund’s valuation policies and procedures, market quotations are not considered to be readily available for most types of debt instruments and floating rate loans and many types of derivatives. These investments are generally valued at fair value based on information from third-party pricing services. In addition, investments may be valued at fair value if the adviser determines that an investment’s value has been materially affected by events occurring after the close of the exchange or market on which the investment is principally traded (such as foreign exchange or market) and prior to the determination of the fund’s net asset value, or after the halting of trading of a specific security where trading does not resume prior to the close of the exchange or market on which the security is principally traded. Events that occur on a frequent basis after foreign markets close (such as developments in foreign markets and significant movements in the U.S. markets) and prior to the determination of the fund’s net asset value may be deemed to have a material effect on the value of securities traded in foreign markets. Accordingly, the fund’s foreign equity securities may often be valued at fair value. The adviser generally relies on third-party pricing services or other information (such as the correlation with price movements of similar securities in the same or other markets; the type, cost and investment characteristics of the security; the business and financial condition of the issuer; and trading and other market data) to assist in determining whether to fair value and at what value to fair value an investment. The value of an investment for purposes of calculating the fund’s net asset value can differ depending on the source and method used to determine value. When fair valuation is used, the value of an investment used to determine the fund’s net asset value may differ from quoted or published prices for the same investment. There can be no assurance that the fund could obtain the fair value assigned to an investment if it were to sell the investment at the same time at which the fund determines its net asset value per share.

 

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Various inputs are used in determining the value of the fund’s assets or liabilities. These inputs are categorized into three broad levels. In certain cases, the inputs used to measure fair value may fall into different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In such cases, an investment’s level within the fair value hierarchy is based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement. The fund’s assessment of the significance of a particular input to the fair value measurement in its entirety requires judgment, and considers factors specific to the investment. Level 1 includes unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. Level 2 includes other significant observable market-based inputs (including quoted prices for similar securities, interest rates, prepayment speed, and credit risk). Level 3 includes unobservable inputs, which may include the adviser’s own assumptions in determining the fair value of investments. Other financial instruments are derivative instruments, such as forward foreign currency exchange contracts. The following is a summary of the levels used as of November 30, 2017 in valuing the fund’s assets or liabilities:

 

Financial Instruments    Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  
Equity Securities:            

Japan

     $—        $6,445,970,260        $—        $6,445,970,260  

United Kingdom

     4,089,052,602                      4,089,052,602  

Germany

     3,600,472,032                      3,600,472,032  

Switzerland

     3,389,330,552                      3,389,330,552  

United States

     2,853,991,620                      2,853,991,620  

France

     2,731,353,692                      2,731,353,692  

Netherlands

     958,102,104                      958,102,104  

Taiwan

     704,448,043                      704,448,043  

Spain

     629,016,667                      629,016,667  

Other Countries

     1,701,289,572        594,129,305               2,295,418,877  
Mutual Funds      2,255,641,386                      2,255,641,386  
Total      $22,912,698,270        $7,040,099,565        $—        $29,952,797,835  
Other Financial Instruments                
Forward Foreign Currency Exchange Contracts – Assets      $—        $38,107,309        $—        $38,107,309  

For further information regarding security characteristics, see the Portfolio of Investments.

Of the level 2 investments presented above, equity investments amounting to $6,868,182,092 would have been considered level 1 investments at the beginning of the period. The primary reason for changes in the classifications between levels 1 and 2 occurs when foreign equity securities are fair valued using other observable market-based inputs in place of the closing exchange price due to events occurring after the close of the exchange or market on which the investment is principally traded. The fund’s foreign equity securities may often be valued using other observable market-based inputs. The fund’s policy is to recognize transfers between the levels as of the end of the period.

Foreign Currency Translation – Purchases and sales of foreign investments, income, and expenses are converted into U.S. dollars based upon currency exchange rates prevailing on the respective dates of such transactions or on the reporting date for

 

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foreign denominated receivables and payables. Gains and losses attributable to foreign currency exchange rates on sales of securities are recorded for financial statement purposes as net realized gains and losses on investments. Gains and losses attributable to foreign exchange rate movements on receivables, payables, income and expenses are recorded for financial statement purposes as foreign currency transaction gains and losses. That portion of both realized and unrealized gains and losses on investments that results from fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates is not separately disclosed.

Derivatives – The fund uses derivatives for different purposes, primarily to increase or decrease exposure to a particular market or segment of the market, or security, to increase or decrease interest rate or currency exposure, or as alternatives to direct investments. Derivatives are used for hedging or non-hedging purposes. While hedging can reduce or eliminate losses, it can also reduce or eliminate gains. When the fund uses derivatives as an investment to increase market exposure, or for hedging purposes, gains and losses from derivative instruments may be substantially greater than the derivative’s original cost.

The derivative instruments used by the fund were forward foreign currency exchange contracts. Depending on the type of derivative, the fund may exit a derivative position by entering into an offsetting transaction with a counterparty or exchange, negotiating an agreement with the derivative counterparty, or novating the position to a third party. The fund’s period end derivatives, as presented in the Portfolio of Investments and the associated Derivative Contract tables, generally are indicative of the volume of its derivative activity during the period.

The following table presents, by major type of derivative contract, the fair value, on a gross basis, of the asset and liability components of derivatives held by the fund at November 30, 2017 as reported in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities:

 

          Fair Value  
Risk    Derivative Contracts    Asset Derivatives  
Foreign Exchange    Forward Foreign Currency Exchange      $38,107,309  

The following table presents, by major type of derivative contract, the realized gain (loss) on derivatives held by the fund for the six months ended November 30, 2017 as reported in the Statement of Operations:

 

Risk    Forward
Foreign Currency
Exchange Contracts
 
Foreign Exchange      $8,402,868  

The following table presents, by major type of derivative contract, the change in unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on derivatives held by the fund for the six months ended November 30, 2017 as reported in the Statement of Operations:

 

Risk    Forward
Foreign Currency
Exchange Contracts
 
Foreign Exchange      $28,650,545  

Derivative counterparty credit risk is managed through formal evaluation of the creditworthiness of all potential counterparties. On certain, but not all, uncleared

 

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derivatives, the fund attempts to reduce its exposure to counterparty credit risk whenever possible by entering into an ISDA Master Agreement on a bilateral basis. The ISDA Master Agreement gives each party to the agreement the right to terminate all transactions traded under such agreement if there is a certain deterioration in the credit quality of the other party. Upon an event of default or a termination of the ISDA Master Agreement, the non-defaulting party has the right to close out all transactions traded under such agreement and to net amounts owed under each agreement to one net amount payable by one party to the other. This right to close out and net payments across all transactions traded under the ISDA Master Agreement could result in a reduction of the fund’s credit risk to such counterparty equal to any amounts payable by the fund under the applicable transactions, if any.

Collateral and margin requirements differ by type of derivative. For cleared derivatives (e.g., futures contracts, cleared swaps, and exchange-traded options), margin requirements are set by the clearing broker and the clearing house and collateral, in the form of cash or securities, is posted by the fund directly with the clearing broker. Collateral terms are counterparty agreement specific for uncleared derivatives (e.g., forward foreign currency exchange contracts, uncleared swap agreements, and uncleared options) and collateral, in the form of cash and securities, is held in segregated accounts with the fund’s custodian in connection with these agreements. For derivatives traded under an ISDA Master Agreement, which contains a collateral support annex, the collateral requirements are netted across all transactions traded under such counterparty-specific agreement and one amount is posted from one party to the other to collateralize such obligations. Cash that has been segregated or delivered to cover the fund’s collateral or margin obligations under derivative contracts, if any, will be reported separately in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities as restricted cash for uncleared derivatives or deposits with brokers for cleared derivatives, respectively. Securities pledged as collateral or margin for the same purpose, if any, are noted in the Portfolio of Investments. The fund may be required to make payments of interest on uncovered collateral or margin obligations with the broker. Any such payments are included in “Miscellaneous” expense in the Statement of Operations.

Forward Foreign Currency Exchange Contracts – The fund entered into forward foreign currency exchange contracts for the purchase or sale of a specific foreign currency at a fixed price on a future date. These contracts may be used to hedge the fund’s currency risk or for non-hedging purposes. For hedging purposes, the fund may enter into contracts to deliver or receive foreign currency that the fund will receive from or use in its normal investment activities. The fund may also use contracts to hedge against declines in the value of foreign currency denominated securities due to unfavorable exchange rate movements. For non-hedging purposes, the fund may enter into contracts with the intent of changing the relative exposure of the fund’s portfolio of securities to different currencies to take advantage of anticipated exchange rate changes.

Forward foreign currency exchange contracts are adjusted by the daily exchange rate of the underlying currency and any unrealized gains or losses are recorded as a receivable or payable for forward foreign currency exchange contracts until the contract settlement date. On contract settlement date, any gain or loss on the contract is recorded as realized gains or losses on forward foreign currency exchange contracts.

 

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Risks may arise upon entering into these contracts from unanticipated movements in the value of the contract and from the potential inability of counterparties to meet the terms of their contracts. Generally, the fund’s maximum risk due to counterparty credit risk is the unrealized gain on the contract due to the use of Continuous Linked Settlement, a multicurrency cash settlement system for the centralized settlement of foreign transactions. This risk is mitigated in cases where there is an ISDA Master Agreement between the fund and the counterparty providing for netting as described above and, where applicable, by the posting of collateral by the counterparty to the fund to cover the fund’s exposure to the counterparty under such ISDA Master Agreement.

Security Loans – Under its Securities Lending Agency Agreement with the fund, State Street Bank and Trust Company (“State Street”), as lending agent, loans the securities of the fund to certain qualified institutions (the “Borrowers”) approved by the fund. Security loans can be terminated at the discretion of either the lending agent or the fund and the related securities must be returned within the earlier of the standard trade settlement period for such securities or within three business days. The loans are collateralized by cash and/or U.S. Treasury and federal agency obligations in an amount typically at least equal to the market value of the securities loaned. On loans collateralized by cash, the cash collateral is invested in a money market fund. The market value of the loaned securities is determined at the close of business of the fund and any additional required collateral is delivered to the fund on the next business day. State Street provides the fund with indemnification against Borrower default. In the event of Borrower default, State Street will, for the benefit of the fund, either purchase securities identical to those loaned or, when such purchase is commercially impracticable, pay the fund the market value of the loaned securities. In return, State Street assumes the fund’s rights to the related collateral. If the collateral value is less than the cost to purchase identical securities, State Street is responsible for the shortfall, but only to the extent that such shortfall is not due to a decline in collateral value resulting from collateral reinvestment for which the fund bears the risk of loss. At period end, the fund had investment securities on loan, all of which were classified as equity securities in the fund’s Portfolio of Investments, with a fair value of $482,889,728. The fair value of the fund’s investment securities on loan and a related liability of $378,223,809 for cash collateral received on securities loaned are both presented gross in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. Additionally, these loans were collateralized by U.S. Treasury Obligations of $125,859,235. The collateral on securities loaned exceeded the value of securities on loan at period end. The liability for cash collateral for securities loaned is carried at fair value, which is categorized as level 2 within the fair value hierarchy. A portion of the income generated upon investment of the collateral is remitted to the Borrowers, and the remainder is allocated between the fund and the lending agent. On loans collateralized by U.S. Treasury and/or federal agency obligations, a fee is received from the Borrower, and is allocated between the fund and the lending agent. Income from securities lending is separately reported in the Statement of Operations. The dividend and interest income earned on the securities loaned is accounted for in the same manner as other dividend and interest income.

Indemnifications – Under the fund’s organizational documents, its officers and Trustees may be indemnified against certain liabilities and expenses arising out of the

 

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performance of their duties to the fund. Additionally, in the normal course of business, the fund enters into agreements with service providers that may contain indemnification clauses. The fund’s maximum exposure under these agreements is unknown as this would involve future claims that may be made against the fund that have not yet occurred.

Investment Transactions and Income – Investment transactions are recorded on the trade date. Interest income is recorded on the accrual basis. Dividends received in cash are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Certain dividends from foreign securities will be recorded when the fund is informed of the dividend if such information is obtained subsequent to the ex-dividend date. Dividend and interest payments received in additional securities are recorded on the ex-dividend or ex-interest date in an amount equal to the value of the security on such date.

The fund may receive proceeds from litigation settlements. Any proceeds received from litigation involving portfolio holdings are reflected in the Statement of Operations in realized gain/loss if the security has been disposed of by the fund or in unrealized gain/loss if the security is still held by the fund. Any other proceeds from litigation not related to portfolio holdings are reflected as other income in the Statement of Operations.

Tax Matters and Distributions – The fund intends to qualify as a regulated investment company, as defined under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code, and to distribute all of its taxable income, including realized capital gains. As a result, no provision for federal income tax is required. The fund’s federal tax returns, when filed, will remain subject to examination by the Internal Revenue Service for a three year period. Management has analyzed the fund’s tax positions taken on federal and state tax returns for all open tax years and does not believe that there are any uncertain tax positions that require recognition of a tax liability. Foreign taxes, if any, have been accrued by the fund in the accompanying financial statements in accordance with the applicable foreign tax law. Foreign income taxes may be withheld by certain countries in which the fund invests. Additionally, capital gains realized by the fund on securities issued in or by certain foreign countries may be subject to capital gains tax imposed by those countries.

Distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Income and capital gain distributions are determined in accordance with income tax regulations, which may differ from U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Certain capital accounts in the financial statements are periodically adjusted for permanent differences in order to reflect their tax character. These adjustments have no impact on net assets or net asset value per share. Temporary differences which arise from recognizing certain items of income, expense, gain or loss in different periods for financial statement and tax purposes will reverse at some time in the future. Distributions in excess of net investment income or net realized gains are temporary overdistributions for financial statement purposes resulting from differences in the recognition or classification of income or distributions for financial statement and tax purposes.

Book/tax differences primarily relate to passive foreign investment companies, wash sale loss deferrals, derivative transactions, treating a portion of the proceeds from redemptions as a distribution for tax purposes, and foreign taxes.

 

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The tax character of distributions declared to shareholders for the last fiscal year is as follows:

 

     Year ended
5/31/17
 
Ordinary income (including any
short-term capital gains)
     $424,692,662  

The federal tax cost and the tax basis components of distributable earnings were as follows:

 

As of 11/30/17       
Cost of investments      $21,003,531,218  
Gross appreciation      9,161,491,871  
Gross depreciation      (212,225,254
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation)      $8,949,266,617  
As of 5/31/17       
Undistributed ordinary income      336,293,612  
Undistributed long-term capital gain      135,720,270  
Other temporary differences      (6,315,962
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation)      7,364,592,063  

The aggregate cost above includes prior fiscal year end tax adjustments, if applicable.

Multiple Classes of Shares of Beneficial Interest – The fund offers multiple classes of shares, which differ in their respective distribution and service fees. The fund’s income, realized and unrealized gain (loss), and common expenses are allocated to shareholders based on the daily net assets of each class. Dividends are declared separately for each class. Differences in per share dividend rates are generally due to differences in separate class expenses. Class B shares will convert to Class A shares approximately eight years after purchase. Effective April 23, 2018, Class C shares will convert to Class A approximately ten years after purchase. Any shares with an original purchase date of April 30, 2008 or earlier will automatically convert to Class A shares

 

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on April 23, 2018. The fund’s distributions declared to shareholders as reported in the Statements of Changes in Net Assets are presented by class as follows:

 

     From net investment
income
     From net realized gain on
investments
 
     Six months
ended
11/30/17
     Year
ended
5/31/17
     Six months
ended
11/30/17
     Year
ended
5/31/17
 
Class A      $—        $84,705,524        $—        $5,868,695  
Class B             392,941               54,471  
Class C             6,085,905               806,268  
Class I             196,863,570               11,429,720  
Class R1             110,713               13,444  
Class R2             5,078,775               405,987  
Class R3             18,953,699               1,261,672  
Class R4             19,345,779               1,117,612  
Class R6             68,467,117               3,730,770  
Total      $—        $400,004,023        $—        $24,688,639  

(3) Transactions with Affiliates

Investment Adviser – The fund has an investment advisory agreement with MFS to provide overall investment management and related administrative services and facilities to the fund. The management fee is computed daily and paid monthly at the following annual rates based on the fund’s average daily net assets:

 

Up to $1 billion      0.90
In excess of $1 billion and up to $2 billion      0.80
In excess of $2 billion and up to $10 billion      0.70
In excess of $10 billion and up to $15 billion      0.65
In excess of $15 billion and up to $20 billion      0.55
In excess of $20 billion and up to $25 billion      0.50
In excess of $25 billion and up to $30 billion      0.45
In excess of $30 billion      0.43

MFS has agreed in writing to reduce its management fee by a specified amount if certain MFS mutual fund assets exceed thresholds agreed to by MFS and the fund’s Board of Trustees. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, this management fee reduction amounted to $1,159,173, which is included in the reduction of total expenses in the Statement of Operations. The management fee incurred for the six months ended November 30, 2017 was equivalent to an annual effective rate of 0.60% of the fund’s average daily net assets.

Distributor – MFS Fund Distributors, Inc. (MFD), a wholly-owned subsidiary of MFS, as distributor, received $65,320 for the six months ended November 30, 2017, as its portion of the initial sales charge on sales of Class A shares of the fund.

The Board of Trustees has adopted a distribution plan for certain share classes pursuant to Rule 12b-1 of the Investment Company Act of 1940.

The fund’s distribution plan provides that the fund will pay MFD for services provided by MFD and financial intermediaries in connection with the distribution and servicing of certain share classes. One component of the plan is a distribution fee paid to MFD and

 

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another component of the plan is a service fee paid to MFD. MFD may subsequently pay all, or a portion, of the distribution and/or service fees to financial intermediaries.

Distribution Plan Fee Table:

 

     Distribution
Fee Rate (d)
     Service Fee
Rate (d)
     Total
Distribution
Plan (d)
     Annual
Effective
Rate (e)
     Distribution
and Service
Fee
 
Class A             0.25%        0.25%        0.25%        $4,837,311  
Class B      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        256,103  
Class C      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        3,481,848  
Class R1      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        64,307  
Class R2      0.25%        0.25%        0.50%        0.50%        1,072,340  
Class R3             0.25%        0.25%        0.25%        1,792,368  
Total Distribution and Service Fees              $11,504,277  

 

(d) In accordance with the distribution plan for certain classes, the fund pays distribution and/or service fees equal to these annual percentage rates of each class’s average daily net assets. The distribution and service fee rates disclosed by class represent the current rates in effect at the end of the reporting period. Any rate changes, if applicable, are detailed below.
(e) The annual effective rates represent actual fees incurred under the distribution plan for the six months ended November 30, 2017 based on each class’s average daily net assets. MFD has voluntarily agreed to rebate a portion of each class’s 0.25% service fee attributable to accounts for which MFD retains the 0.25% service fee except for accounts attributable to MFS or its affiliates’ seed money. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, this rebate amounted to $7,237, $38, $211, and $9 for Class A, Class B, Class C, and Class R3, respectively, and is included in the reduction of total expenses in the Statement of Operations.

Certain Class A shares are subject to a contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) in the event of a shareholder redemption within 18 months of purchase. Class C shares are subject to a CDSC in the event of a shareholder redemption within 12 months of purchase. Class B shares are subject to a CDSC in the event of a shareholder redemption within six years of purchase. All contingent deferred sales charges are paid to MFD and during the six months ended November 30, 2017, were as follows:

 

     Amount  
Class A      $1,288  
Class B      26,546  
Class C      6,916  

Shareholder Servicing Agent – MFS Service Center, Inc. (MFSC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of MFS, receives a fee from the fund for its services as shareholder servicing agent calculated as a percentage of the average daily net assets of the fund as determined periodically under the supervision of the fund’s Board of Trustees. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fee was $411,556, which equated to 0.0029% annually of the fund’s average daily net assets. MFSC also receives payment from the fund for out-of-pocket expenses, sub-accounting and other shareholder servicing costs which may be paid to affiliated and unaffiliated service providers. Class R6 shares do not incur sub-accounting fees. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, these out-of-pocket expenses, sub-accounting and other shareholder servicing costs amounted to $10,241,046.

 

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Administrator – MFS provides certain financial, legal, shareholder communications, compliance, and other administrative services to the fund. Under an administrative services agreement, the fund reimburses MFS the costs incurred to provide these services. The fund is charged an annual fixed amount of $17,500 plus a fee based on average daily net assets. The administrative services fee incurred for the six months ended November 30, 2017 was equivalent to an annual effective rate of 0.0023% of the fund’s average daily net assets.

Trustees’ and Officers’ Compensation – The fund pays compensation to independent Trustees in the form of a retainer, attendance fees, and additional compensation to Board and Committee chairpersons. The fund does not pay compensation directly to Trustees or officers of the fund who are also officers of the investment adviser, all of whom receive remuneration for their services to the fund from MFS. Certain officers and Trustees of the fund are officers or directors of MFS, MFD, and MFSC.

Prior to December 31, 2001, the fund had an unfunded defined benefit plan (“DB plan”) for independent Trustees. As of December 31, 2001, the Board took action to terminate the DB plan with respect to then-current and any future independent Trustees, such that the DB plan covers only certain of those former independent Trustees who retired on or before December 31, 2001. The DB plan resulted in a pension expense of $68 and is included in “Independent Trustees’ compensation” in the Statement of Operations for the six months ended November 30, 2017. The liability for deferred retirement benefits payable to certain independent Trustees under the DB plan amounted to $584 at November 30, 2017, and is included in “Payable for independent Trustees’ compensation” in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities.

Other – This fund and certain other funds managed by MFS (the funds) have entered into a service agreement (the ISO Agreement) which provides for payment of fees solely by the funds to Tarantino LLC in return for the provision of services of an Independent Senior Officer (ISO) for the funds. Frank L. Tarantino serves as the ISO and is an officer of the funds and the sole member of Tarantino LLC. The funds can terminate the ISO Agreement with Tarantino LLC at any time under the terms of the ISO Agreement. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fee paid by the fund under this agreement was $24,067 and is included in “Miscellaneous” expense in the Statement of Operations. MFS has agreed to bear all expenses associated with office space, other administrative support, and supplies provided to the ISO.

The fund invests in the MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio which is managed by MFS and seeks current income consistent with preservation of capital and liquidity. This money market fund does not pay a management fee to MFS.

On March 16, 2017, MFS purchased 2,126 shares of Class I for an aggregate amount of $83,273.

The fund is permitted to engage in purchase and sale transactions with funds and accounts for which MFS serves as investment adviser or sub-adviser (“cross-trades”) pursuant to a policy adopted by the Board of Trustees. This policy has been designed to ensure that cross-trades conducted by the fund comply with Rule 17a-7 under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Under this policy, cross-trades are effected at current market prices with no remuneration paid in connection with the transaction.

 

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During the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fund engaged in sale transactions pursuant to this policy, which amounted to $518,182. The sales transactions resulted in net realized gains (losses) of $11,751.

(4) Portfolio Securities

For the six months ended November 30, 2017, purchases and sales of investments, other than short-term obligations, aggregated $1,226,378,913 and $1,448,916,591, respectively.

(5) Shares of Beneficial Interest

The fund’s Declaration of Trust permits the Trustees to issue an unlimited number of full and fractional shares of beneficial interest. Transactions in fund shares were as follows:

 

    Six months ended
11/30/17
    Year ended
5/31/17
 
    Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount  
Shares sold        

Class A

    6,502,680       $270,519,400       25,221,922       $915,872,022  

Class B

    24,483       971,831       39,319       1,372,442  

Class C

    418,412       15,797,882       1,110,160       36,975,036  

Class I

    29,930,782       1,300,760,872       105,965,472       4,075,922,120  

Class R1

    27,683       1,058,234       93,843       3,161,346  

Class R2

    987,969       38,468,008       2,778,119       95,091,972  

Class R3

    3,569,337       147,550,393       9,732,545       355,811,087  

Class R4

    3,945,247       163,884,032       9,492,056       347,378,700  

Class R6

    116,786,796       4,858,289,885       31,082,063       1,147,050,478  
    162,193,389       $6,797,300,537       185,515,499       $6,978,635,203  
Shares issued to shareholders in reinvestment of distributions        

Class A

          $—       2,457,235       $84,897,460  

Class B

                12,604       416,057  

Class C

                189,270       5,967,692  

Class I

                4,622,919       167,164,766  

Class R1

                3,891       124,156  

Class R2

                154,055       4,994,475  

Class R3

                588,839       20,214,838  

Class R4

                524,564       18,155,159  

Class R6

                2,036,278       70,536,684  
          $—       10,589,655       $372,471,287  

 

37


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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

     Six months ended
11/30/17
    Year ended
5/31/17
 
     Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount  
Shares reacquired         

Class A

     (13,044,279     $(542,135,239     (124,496,191     $(4,551,546,018

Class B

     (129,709     (5,139,898     (373,337     (12,943,664

Class C

     (2,169,445     (81,829,605     (7,035,039     (233,779,921

Class I

     (110,963,454     (4,815,955,147     (84,511,082     (3,230,887,912

Class R1

     (41,964     (1,601,215     (136,326     (4,625,658

Class R2

     (1,644,317     (64,376,483     (3,621,246     (123,741,858

Class R3

     (3,820,339     (157,940,137     (8,696,351     (317,279,345

Class R4

     (4,703,973     (196,790,628     (12,553,682     (469,066,218

Class R6

     (13,327,599     (560,105,582     (15,015,553     (552,785,438
     (149,845,079     $(6,425,873,934     (256,438,807     $(9,496,656,032
Net change         

Class A

     (6,541,599     $(271,615,839     (96,817,034     $(3,550,776,536

Class B

     (105,226     (4,168,067     (321,414     (11,155,165

Class C

     (1,751,033     (66,031,723     (5,735,609     (190,837,193

Class I

     (81,032,672     (3,515,194,275     26,077,309       1,012,198,974  

Class R1

     (14,281     (542,981     (38,592     (1,340,156

Class R2

     (656,348     (25,908,475     (689,072     (23,655,411

Class R3

     (251,002     (10,389,744     1,625,033       58,746,580  

Class R4

     (758,726     (32,906,596     (2,537,062     (103,532,359

Class R6

     103,459,197       4,298,184,303       18,102,788       664,801,724  
     12,348,310       $371,426,603       (60,333,653     $(2,145,549,542

Class T shares were not publicly available for sale during the period. Please see the fund’s prospectus for details.

Effective at the close of business on May 29, 2015, the fund is closed to new investors subject to certain exceptions. Please see the fund’s prospectus for details.

The fund is one of several mutual funds in which certain MFS funds may invest. The MFS funds do not invest in the underlying funds for the purpose of exercising management or control. At the end of the period, the MFS International Diversification Fund was the owner of record of approximately 8% of the value of outstanding voting shares of the fund. In addition, the MFS Growth Allocation Fund, the MFS Moderate Allocation Fund, the MFS Aggressive Growth Allocation Fund, the MFS Conservative Allocation Fund, the MFS Lifetime Income Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2020 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2025 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2030 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2035 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2040 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2045 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2050 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2055 Fund, and the MFS Lifetime 2060 Fund were each the owners of record of less than 1% of the value of outstanding voting shares of the fund.

(6) Line of Credit

The fund and certain other funds managed by MFS participate in a $1.25 billion unsecured committed line of credit, subject to a $1 billion sublimit, provided by a syndication of banks under a credit agreement. Borrowings may be made for temporary financing needs. Interest is charged to each fund, based on its borrowings,

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

generally at a rate equal to the higher of the Overnight Federal Reserve funds rate or daily one month LIBOR plus an agreed upon spread. A commitment fee, based on the average daily, unused portion of the committed line of credit, is allocated among the participating funds at the end of each calendar quarter. In addition, the fund and other funds managed by MFS have established unsecured uncommitted borrowing arrangements with certain banks for temporary financing needs. Interest is charged to each fund, based on its borrowings, at a rate equal to the Overnight Federal Reserve funds rate plus an agreed upon spread. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fund’s commitment fee and interest expense were $89,028 and $0, respectively, and are included in “Miscellaneous” expense in the Statement of Operations.

(7) Investments in Affiliated Issuers

An affiliated issuer may be considered one in which the fund owns 5% or more of the outstanding voting securities, or a company which is under common control. For the purposes of this report, the fund assumes the following to be affiliated issuers:

 

Affiliated Issuers          Beginning
Shares/Par
Amount
    Acquisitions
Shares/Par
Amount
    Dispositions
Shares/Par
Amount
    Ending
Shares/Par
Amount
 
Esprit Holdings Ltd.*       104,205,821             (11,738,200     92,467,621  
IMI PLC       19,439,564                   19,439,564  
ITO EN Ltd.       5,661,300       848,300             6,509,600  
Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.       4,512,200                   4,512,200  
MFS Institutional Money          
Market Portfolio       1,155,695,971       1,874,278,518       (1,152,369,151     1,877,605,338  
Nihon Kohden Corp.       8,370,900                   8,370,900  
Toyo Suisan Kaisha Ltd.       5,704,200       1,096,200             6,800,400  
Affiliated Issuers   Realized
Gain (Loss)
    Change in
Unrealized
Appreciation
(Depreciation)
    Capital Gain
Distributions
    Dividend
Income
   

Ending

Value

 
Esprit Holdings Ltd.*     $(6,291,208     $(2,035,178     $—       $—       $—  
IMI PLC           16,114,978             3,585,508       330,203,325  
ITO EN Ltd.           (21,375,273           1,053,135       242,605,932  
Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.           19,480,565             1,125,788       285,527,211  
MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio     (11,674     (72,234           8,281,592       1,877,417,577  
Nihon Kohden Corp.           5,804,188             1,261,740       192,571,626  
Toyo Suisan Kaisha Ltd.           26,133,925             1,808,858       290,160,285  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
    $(6,302,882     $44,050,970       $—       $17,116,621       $3,218,485,956  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

* No longer considered an affiliated issuer as of period end.

 

39


Table of Contents

BOARD REVIEW OF INVESTMENT ADVISORY AGREEMENT

The Investment Company Act of 1940 requires that both the full Board of Trustees and a majority of the non-interested (“independent”) Trustees, voting separately, annually approve the continuation of the Fund’s investment advisory agreement with MFS. The Trustees consider matters bearing on the Fund and its advisory arrangements at their meetings throughout the year, including a review of performance data at each regular meeting. In addition, the independent Trustees met several times over the course of three months beginning in May and ending in July, 2017 (“contract review meetings”) for the specific purpose of considering whether to approve the continuation of the investment advisory agreement for the Fund and the other investment companies that the Board oversees (the “MFS Funds”). The independent Trustees were assisted in their evaluation of the Fund’s investment advisory agreement by independent legal counsel, from whom they received separate legal advice and with whom they met separately from MFS during various contract review meetings. The independent Trustees were also assisted in this process by the MFS Funds’ Independent Senior Officer, a senior officer appointed by and reporting to the independent Trustees.

In connection with their deliberations regarding the continuation of the investment advisory agreement, the Trustees, including the independent Trustees, considered such information and factors as they believed, in light of the legal advice furnished to them and their own business judgment, to be relevant. The investment advisory agreement for the Fund was considered separately, although the Trustees also took into account the common interests of all MFS Funds in their review. As described below, the Trustees considered the nature, quality, and extent of the various investment advisory, administrative, and shareholder services performed by MFS under the existing investment advisory agreement and other arrangements with the Fund.

In connection with their contract review meetings, the Trustees received and relied upon materials that included, among other items: (i) information provided by Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (“Broadridge”), an independent third party, on the investment performance of the Fund for various time periods ended December 31, 2016 and the investment performance of a group of funds with substantially similar investment classifications/objectives (the “Lipper performance universe”), (ii) information provided by Broadridge on the Fund’s advisory fees and other expenses and the advisory fees and other expenses of comparable funds identified by Broadridge (the “Broadridge expense group”), (iii) information provided by MFS on the advisory fees of portfolios of other clients of MFS, including institutional separate accounts and other clients, (iv) information as to whether and to what extent applicable expense waivers, reimbursements or fee “breakpoints” are observed for the Fund, (v) information regarding MFS’ financial results and financial condition, including MFS’ and certain of its affiliates’ estimated profitability from services performed for the Fund and the MFS Funds as a whole, and compared to MFS’ institutional business, (vi) MFS’ views regarding the outlook for the mutual fund industry and the strategic business plans of MFS, (vii) descriptions of various functions performed by MFS for the Funds, such as compliance monitoring and portfolio trading practices, and (viii) information regarding the overall organization of MFS, including information about MFS’ senior management and other personnel providing investment advisory, administrative and other services to the Fund and the other MFS Funds. The comparative

 

40


Table of Contents

Board Review of Investment Advisory Agreement – continued

 

performance, fee and expense information prepared and provided by Broadridge was not independently verified and the independent Trustees did not independently verify any information provided to them by MFS.

The Trustees’ conclusion as to the continuation of the investment advisory agreement was based on a comprehensive consideration of all information provided to the Trustees and not the result of any single factor. Some of the factors that figured particularly in the Trustees’ deliberations are described below, although individual Trustees may have evaluated the information presented differently from one another, giving different weights to various factors. It is also important to recognize that the fee arrangements for the Fund and other MFS Funds are the result of years of review and discussion between the independent Trustees and MFS, that certain aspects of such arrangements may receive greater scrutiny in some years than in others, and that the Trustees’ conclusions may be based, in part, on their consideration of these same arrangements during the course of the year and in prior years.

Based on information provided by Broadridge and MFS, the Trustees reviewed the Fund’s total return investment performance as well as the performance of peer groups of funds over various time periods. The Trustees placed particular emphasis on the total return performance of the Fund’s Class A shares in comparison to the performance of funds in its Lipper performance universe over the three-year period ended December 31, 2016, which the Trustees believed was a long enough period to reflect differing market conditions. The total return performance of the Fund’s Class A shares was in the 1st quintile relative to the other funds in the universe for this three-year period (the 1st quintile being the best performers and the 5th quintile being the worst performers). The total return performance of the Fund’s Class A shares was in the 1st quintile for each of the one- and five-year periods ended December 31, 2016 relative to the Lipper performance universe. Because of the passage of time, these performance results may differ from the performance results for more recent periods, including those shown elsewhere in this report.

In the course of their deliberations, the Trustees took into account information provided by MFS in connection with the contract review meetings, as well as during investment review meetings conducted with portfolio management personnel during the course of the year regarding the Fund’s performance. After reviewing these and related factors, the Trustees concluded, within the context of their overall conclusions regarding the investment advisory agreement, that they were satisfied with MFS’ responses and efforts relating to investment performance.

In assessing the reasonableness of the Fund’s advisory fee, the Trustees considered, among other information, the Fund’s advisory fee and the total expense ratio of the Fund’s Class A shares as a percentage of average daily net assets and the advisory fee and total expense ratios of peer groups of funds based on information provided by Broadridge. The Trustees considered that, according to the data provided by Broadridge (which takes into account any fee reductions or expense limitations that were in effect during the Fund’s last fiscal year), the Fund’s effective advisory fee rate and total expense ratio were each lower than the Broadridge expense group median.

The Trustees also considered the advisory fees charged by MFS to any institutional separate accounts advised by MFS (“separate accounts”) and unaffiliated investment

 

41


Table of Contents

Board Review of Investment Advisory Agreement – continued

 

companies for which MFS serves as subadviser (“subadvised funds”) that have comparable investment strategies to the Fund, if any. In comparing these fees, the Trustees considered information provided by MFS as to the generally broader scope of services provided by MFS to the Fund, as well as the more extensive regulatory burdens imposed on MFS in managing the Fund, in comparison to separate accounts and subadvised funds. The Trustees also considered the higher demands placed on MFS’ investment personnel and trading infrastructure as a result of the daily cash in-flows and out-flows of the Fund in comparison to separate accounts.

The Trustees also considered whether the Fund may benefit from any economies of scale in the management of the Fund in the event of growth in assets of the Fund and/or growth in assets of the MFS Funds as a whole. They noted that the Fund’s advisory fee rate schedule is subject to contractual breakpoints that reduce the Fund’s advisory fee rate on average daily net assets over $1 billion, $2 billion, $10 billion, $15 billion, $20 billion, $25 billion and $30 billion. The Trustees also noted that MFS has agreed in writing to waive a portion of the management fees of certain MFS Funds, including the Fund, if the total combined assets of certain funds within the MFS Funds’ complex increase above agreed upon thresholds (the “group fee waiver”), enabling the Fund’s shareholders to share in the benefits from any economies of scale at the complex level. The group fee waiver is reviewed and renewed annually between the Board and MFS. The Trustees concluded that the breakpoints and the group fee waiver were sufficient to allow the Fund to benefit from economies of scale as its assets and overall complex assets grow.

The Trustees also considered information prepared by MFS relating to MFS’ costs and profits with respect to the Fund, the MFS Funds considered as a group, and other investment companies and accounts advised by MFS, as well as MFS’ methodologies used to determine and allocate its costs to the MFS Funds, the Fund and other accounts and products for purposes of estimating profitability.

After reviewing these and other factors described herein, the Trustees concluded, within the context of their overall conclusions regarding the investment advisory agreement, that the advisory fees charged to the Fund represent reasonable compensation in light of the services being provided by MFS to the Fund.

In addition, the Trustees considered MFS’ resources and related efforts to continue to retain, attract and motivate capable personnel to serve the Fund. The Trustees also considered current and developing conditions in the financial services industry, including the presence of large and well-capitalized companies which are spending, and appear to be prepared to continue to spend, substantial sums to engage personnel and to provide services to competing investment companies. In this regard, the Trustees also considered the financial resources of MFS and its ultimate parent, Sun Life Financial Inc. The Trustees also considered the advantages and possible disadvantages to the Fund of having an adviser that also serves other investment companies as well as other accounts.

The Trustees also considered the nature, quality, cost, and extent of administrative, transfer agency, and distribution services provided to the Fund by MFS and its affiliates under agreements and plans other than the investment advisory agreement, including any 12b-1 fees the Fund pays to MFS Fund Distributors, Inc., an affiliate of MFS. The

 

42


Table of Contents

Board Review of Investment Advisory Agreement – continued

 

Trustees also considered the nature, extent and quality of certain other services MFS performs or arranges for on the Fund’s behalf, which may include securities lending programs, directed expense payment programs, class action recovery programs, and MFS’ interaction with third-party service providers, principally custodians and sub-custodians. The Trustees concluded that the various non-advisory services provided by MFS and its affiliates on behalf of the Fund were satisfactory.

The Trustees also considered benefits to MFS from the use of the Fund’s portfolio brokerage commissions, if applicable, to pay for investment research and various other factors. Additionally, the Trustees considered so-called “fall-out benefits” to MFS such as reputational value derived from serving as investment manager to the Fund.

Based on their evaluation of factors that they deemed to be material, including those factors described above, the Board of Trustees, including the independent Trustees, concluded that the Fund’s investment advisory agreement with MFS should be continued for an additional one-year period, commencing August 1, 2017.

 

43


Table of Contents

PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND INFORMATION

MFS votes proxies on behalf of the fund pursuant to proxy voting policies and procedures that are available without charge, upon request, by calling 1-800-225-2606, by visiting mfs.com/proxyvoting, or by visiting the SEC’s Web site at http://www.sec.gov.

Information regarding how the fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the most recent twelve-month period ended June 30 is available by August 31 of each year without charge by visiting mfs.com/proxyvoting, or by visiting the SEC’s Web site at http://www.sec.gov.

QUARTERLY PORTFOLIO DISCLOSURE

The fund will file a complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission) for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-Q. A shareholder can obtain the quarterly portfolio holdings report at mfs.com. The fund’s Form N-Q is also available on the EDGAR database on the Commission’s Internet Web site at http://www.sec.gov, and may be reviewed and copied at the:

Public Reference Room

Securities and Exchange Commission

100 F Street, NE, Room 1580

Washington, D.C. 20549

Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling the Commission at 1-800-SEC-0330. Copies of the fund’s Form N-Q also may be obtained, upon payment of a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov or by writing the Public Reference Section at the above address.

FURTHER INFORMATION

From time to time, MFS may post important information about the fund or the MFS funds on the MFS web site (mfs.com). This information is available at https://www.mfs.com/en-us/what-we-do/announcements.html or at mfs.com/openendfunds by choosing the fund’s name.

 

44


Table of Contents

INFORMATION ABOUT FUND CONTRACTS AND LEGAL CLAIMS

The fund has entered into contractual arrangements with an investment adviser, administrator, distributor, shareholder servicing agent, 529 program manager (if applicable), and custodian who each provide services to the fund. Unless expressly stated otherwise, shareholders are not parties to, or intended beneficiaries of these contractual arrangements, and these contractual arrangements are not intended to create any shareholder right to enforce them against the service providers or to seek any remedy under them against the service providers, either directly or on behalf of the fund.

Under the Trust’s By-Laws and Declaration of Trust, any claims asserted against or on behalf of the MFS Funds, including claims against Trustees and Officers, must be brought in state and federal courts located within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

PROVISION OF FINANCIAL REPORTS AND SUMMARY PROSPECTUSES

The fund produces financial reports every six months and updates its summary prospectus and prospectus annually. To avoid sending duplicate copies of materials to households, only one copy of the fund’s annual and semiannual report and summary prospectus may be mailed to shareholders having the same last name and residential address on the fund’s records. However, any shareholder may contact MFSC (please see back cover for address and telephone number) to request that copies of these reports and summary prospectuses be sent personally to that shareholder.

 

45


Table of Contents

LOGO

 

Save paper with eDelivery.

 

LOGO

MFS® will send you prospectuses,

reports, and proxies directly via e-mail so you will get information faster with less mailbox clutter.

To sign up:

1. Go to mfs.com.

2. Log in via MFS® Access.

3. Select eDelivery.

If you own your MFS fund shares through a financial institution or a retirement plan, MFS® TALK, MFS® Access, or eDelivery may not be available to you.

 

CONTACT

WEB SITE

mfs.com

MFS TALK

1-800-637-8255

24 hours a day

ACCOUNT SERVICE AND LITERATURE

Shareholders

1-800-225-2606

Financial advisors

1-800-343-2829

Retirement plan services

1-800-637-1255

MAILING ADDRESS

MFS Service Center, Inc.

P.O. Box 55824

Boston, MA 02205-5824

OVERNIGHT MAIL

MFS Service Center, Inc.

c/o DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc.

30 Dan Road

Canton, MA 02021-2809

 


Table of Contents

SEMIANNUAL REPORT

November 30, 2017

 

LOGO

 

MFS® BLENDED RESEARCH® MID CAP EQUITY FUND

 

LOGO

 

BMS-SEM

 


Table of Contents

MFS® BLENDED RESEARCH® MID CAP EQUITY FUND

 

CONTENTS

 

Letter from the Executive Chairman     1  
Portfolio composition     2  
Expense table     3  
Portfolio of investments     5  
Statement of assets and liabilities     11  
Statement of operations     13  
Statements of changes in net assets     14  
Financial highlights     15  
Notes to financial statements     21  
Proxy voting policies and information     32  
Quarterly portfolio disclosure     32  
Further information     32  
Information about fund contracts and legal claims     33  
Provision of financial reports and summary prospectuses     33  
Contact information    back cover  

The report is prepared for the general information of shareholders.

It is authorized for distribution to prospective investors only when preceded or accompanied by a current prospectus.

 

NOT FDIC INSURED MAY LOSE VALUE NO BANK GUARANTEE



Table of Contents

LOGO

 

LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN

 

Dear Shareholders:

Most markets have proved resilient over the past year, despite uncertainty accompanying a new presidential administration in the United States and unease over

ongoing negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union regarding Brexit. U.S. share prices have reached new highs in recent months although the U.S. Federal Reserve has continued to gradually hike interest rates and has begun to shrink its balance sheet.

Globally, we’ve experienced a synchronized upturn in economic growth for more than a year. Despite the improvement in economic activity, there are few immediate signs of worrisome inflation amid muted wage gains around the world. Emerging market economies have been boosted in part by a weaker

U.S. dollar and are recovering despite lingering concerns over the potential for restrictive U.S. trade policies. Commodity markets have recovered somewhat in response to solid global demand and robust global trade, though not enough to rekindle inflation fears.

At MFS®, we believe having a disciplined, long-term investment approach through a full market cycle is essential to capturing the best opportunities while also managing risk. In our view, such a strategy, along with the professional guidance of a financial advisor, will help you reach your investment objectives.

Respectfully,

 

LOGO

Robert J. Manning

Executive Chairman

MFS Investment Management

January 16, 2018

The opinions expressed in this letter are subject to change and may not be relied upon for investment advice. No forecasts can be guaranteed.

 

1


Table of Contents

PORTFOLIO COMPOSITION

 

Portfolio structure

 

LOGO

 

Top ten holdings  
Tyson Foods, Inc.,     1.9%  
Owens Corning     1.9%  
DXC Technology Co.     1.8%  
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.     1.7%  
East West Bancorp, Inc.     1.6%  
SBA Communications Corp., REIT     1.6%  
Ross Stores, Inc.     1.6%  
Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.     1.6%  
Xcel Energy, Inc.     1.6%  
IPG Photonics Corp.     1.6%  
Equity sectors  
Financial Services     22.7%  
Industrial Goods & Services     10.3%  
Utilities & Communications     9.7%  
Health Care     8.6%  
Special Products & Services     7.7%  
Leisure     6.8%  
Retailing     6.8%  
Technology     6.0%  
Consumer Staples     4.9%  
Energy     4.4%  
Basic Materials     4.1%  
Autos & Housing     3.9%  
Transportation     2.6%  
 

 

 

 

Cash & Cash Equivalents includes any cash, investments in money market funds, short-term securities, and other assets less liabilities. Please see the Statement of Assets and Liabilities for additional information related to the fund’s cash position and other assets and liabilities.

Percentages are based on net assets as of November 30, 2017.

The portfolio is actively managed and current holdings may be different.

 

2


Table of Contents

EXPENSE TABLE

Fund expenses borne by the shareholders during the period, June 1, 2017 through November 30, 2017

As a shareholder of the fund, you incur two types of costs: (1) transaction costs, including sales charges (loads) on certain purchase or redemption payments, and (2) ongoing costs, including management fees; distribution and service (12b-1) fees; and other fund expenses. This example is intended to help you understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the fund and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds.

The example is based on an investment of $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period June 1, 2017 through November 30, 2017.

Actual Expenses

The first line for each share class in the following table provides information about actual account values and actual expenses. You may use the information in this line, together with the amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you paid over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000 = 8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first line under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid During Period” to estimate the expenses you paid on your account during this period.

Hypothetical Example for Comparison Purposes

The second line for each share class in the following table provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the fund’s actual expense ratio and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses, which is not the fund’s actual return. The hypothetical account values and expenses may not be used to estimate the actual ending account balance or expenses you paid for the period. You may use this information to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the fund and other funds. To do so, compare this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of the other funds.

Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only and do not reflect any transactional costs, such as sales charges (loads). Therefore, the second line for each share class in the table is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds. In addition, if these transactional costs were included, your costs would have been higher.

 

3


Table of Contents

Expense Table – continued

 

Share
Class
       Annualized
Expense
Ratio
  Beginning
Account Value
6/01/17
 

Ending

Account Value
11/30/17

 

Expenses
Paid During
Period (p)

6/01/17-11/30/17

 
A   Actual   0.81%   $1,000.00   $1,107.89     $4.28  
  Hypothetical (h)   0.81%   $1,000.00   $1,021.01     $4.10  
B   Actual   1.56%   $1,000.00   $1,103.73     $8.23  
  Hypothetical (h)   1.56%   $1,000.00   $1,017.25     $7.89  
C   Actual   1.56%   $1,000.00   $1,103.73     $8.23  
  Hypothetical (h)   1.56%   $1,000.00   $1,017.25     $7.89  
I   Actual   0.56%   $1,000.00   $1,109.60     $2.96  
  Hypothetical (h)   0.56%   $1,000.00   $1,022.26     $2.84  
R1   Actual   1.56%   $1,000.00   $1,103.73     $8.23  
  Hypothetical (h)   1.56%   $1,000.00   $1,017.25     $7.89  
R2   Actual   1.06%   $1,000.00   $1,106.17     $5.60  
  Hypothetical (h)   1.06%   $1,000.00   $1,019.75     $5.37  
R3   Actual   0.81%   $1,000.00   $1,107.89     $4.28  
  Hypothetical (h)   0.81%   $1,000.00   $1,021.01     $4.10  
R4   Actual   0.56%   $1,000.00   $1,109.60     $2.96  
  Hypothetical (h)   0.56%   $1,000.00   $1,022.26     $2.84  
R6   Actual   0.55%   $1,000.00   $1,108.70     $2.91  
  Hypothetical (h)   0.55%   $1,000.00   $1,022.31     $2.79  

 

(h) 5% class return per year before expenses.
(p) “Expenses Paid During Period” are equal to each class’s annualized expense ratio, as shown above, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/365 (to reflect the one-half year period). Expenses paid do not include any applicable sales charges (loads). If these transaction costs had been included, your costs would have been higher.

 

4


Table of Contents

PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS

11/30/17 (unaudited)

The Portfolio of Investments is a complete list of all securities owned by your fund. It is categorized by broad-based asset classes.

 

Common Stocks - 98.5%                 
Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Aerospace - 1.8%                 
Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc., “A”      13,890     $ 1,170,230  
Textron, Inc.      72,935       4,063,209  
    

 

 

 
             $ 5,233,439  
Airlines - 1.1%                 
Copa Holdings S.A., “A”      25,012     $ 3,356,360  
Alcoholic Beverages - 1.6%                 
Constellation Brands, Inc., “A”      8,754     $ 1,904,782  
Molson Coors Brewing Co.      36,941       2,885,092  
    

 

 

 
             $ 4,789,874  
Automotive - 0.7%                 
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.      63,132     $ 2,043,583  
Biotechnology - 0.1%                 
Illumina, Inc. (a)      1,554     $ 357,467  
Brokerage & Asset Managers - 0.6%                 
Lazard Ltd.      34,781     $ 1,712,964  
Business Services - 7.0%                 
DXC Technology Co.      54,632     $ 5,252,320  
Fidelity National Information Services, Inc.      44,237       4,172,876  
FleetCor Technologies, Inc. (a)      19,480       3,542,828  
Global Payments, Inc.      11,979       1,204,608  
Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (a)      43,805       4,159,723  
Total System Services, Inc.      30,487       2,267,013  
    

 

 

 
             $ 20,599,368  
Chemicals - 0.9%                 
Celanese Corp.      10,794     $ 1,157,549  
FMC Corp.      14,796       1,396,742  
    

 

 

 
             $ 2,554,291  
Computer Software - 1.9%                 
Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (a)      43,448     $ 1,907,802  
Intuit, Inc.      23,588       3,708,505  
    

 

 

 
             $ 5,616,307  

 

5


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Common Stocks - continued                 
Computer Software - Systems - 2.9%                 
NCR Corp. (a)      79,216     $ 2,478,669  
NetApp, Inc.      48,901       2,763,396  
Tech Data Corp. (a)      5,998       580,007  
Western Digital Corp.      32,665       2,575,962  
    

 

 

 
             $ 8,398,034  
Conglomerates - 0.5%                 
Leucadia National Corp.      56,711     $ 1,492,066  
Construction - 3.2%                 
Owens Corning      62,837     $ 5,551,649  
Pulte Homes, Inc.      116,365       3,971,537  
    

 

 

 
             $ 9,523,186  
Consumer Products - 0.7%                 
Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc., “A”      4,426     $ 300,570  
Tupperware Brands Corp.      25,538       1,611,959  
    

 

 

 
             $ 1,912,529  
Consumer Services - 0.1%                 
Brink’s Co.      5,359     $ 433,275  
Containers - 1.5%                 
Berry Global Group, Inc. (a)      21,590     $ 1,290,434  
Graphic Packaging Holding Co.      133,429       2,042,798  
Owens-Illinois, Inc. (a)      40,446       979,602  
    

 

 

 
             $ 4,312,834  
Electrical Equipment - 1.2%                 
MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc., “A”      37,858     $ 3,409,870  
Electronics - 0.6%                 
Maxim Integrated Products, Inc.      25,162     $ 1,316,727  
Silicon Laboratories, Inc. (a)      3,650       332,515  
    

 

 

 
             $ 1,649,242  
Energy - Independent - 3.7%                 
Concho Resources, Inc. (a)      14,744     $ 2,062,096  
Energen Corp. (a)      53,585       3,025,409  
Marathon Petroleum Corp.      72,892       4,565,226  
Noble Energy, Inc.      43,268       1,137,948  
    

 

 

 
             $ 10,790,679  

 

6


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Common Stocks - continued                 
Food & Beverages - 2.6%                 
J.M. Smucker Co.      18,963     $ 2,212,413  
Tyson Foods, Inc., “A”      67,566       5,557,304  
    

 

 

 
             $ 7,769,717  
Gaming & Lodging - 2.6%                 
Marriott International, Inc., “A”      15,705     $ 1,994,535  
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (a)      31,414       1,701,382  
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.      30,684       3,801,134  
    

 

 

 
             $ 7,497,051  
General Merchandise - 1.5%                 
Five Below, Inc. (a)      69,716     $ 4,308,449  
Health Maintenance Organizations - 1.2%                 
Centene Corp. (a)      35,660     $ 3,640,529  
Insurance - 8.1%                 
Ameriprise Financial, Inc.      19,120     $ 3,120,958  
Athene Holding Ltd. (a)      39,799       1,913,138  
First American Financial Corp.      37,990       2,111,864  
Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.      81,468       4,679,522  
Lincoln National Corp.      25,230       1,931,357  
Loews Corp.      82,925       4,169,469  
Principal Financial Group, Inc.      17,550       1,242,365  
Unum Group      18,228       1,032,069  
XL Group Ltd.      91,799       3,563,637  
    

 

 

 
             $ 23,764,379  
Leisure & Toys - 3.0%                 
Electronic Arts, Inc. (a)      37,000     $ 3,934,950  
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (a)      44,559       4,970,556  
    

 

 

 
             $ 8,905,506  
Machinery & Tools - 7.3%                 
Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc.      71,617     $ 2,939,162  
Cummins, Inc.      12,400       2,075,760  
Ingersoll-Rand Co. Ltd., “A”      5,999       525,632  
IPG Photonics Corp. (a)      19,967       4,572,044  
Regal Beloit Corp.      52,227       4,018,868  
Roper Technologies, Inc.      8,582       2,293,196  
Terex Corp.      29,450       1,377,082  
Trinity Industries, Inc.      33,366       1,189,498  
United Rentals, Inc. (a)      15,618       2,490,759  
    

 

 

 
             $ 21,482,001  

 

7


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Common Stocks - continued                 
Medical & Health Technology & Services - 1.1%                 
LifePoint Health, Inc. (a)      58,845     $ 2,812,791  
Universal Health Services, Inc.      4,794       519,430  
    

 

 

 
             $ 3,332,221  
Medical Equipment - 5.7%                 
Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (a)      37,008     $ 4,337,338  
Hologic, Inc. (a)      46,254       1,929,717  
PerkinElmer, Inc.      55,062       4,056,968  
Steris PLC      40,084       3,605,957  
Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc.      23,979       2,807,941  
    

 

 

 
             $ 16,737,921  
Natural Gas - Distribution - 1.4%                 
Atmos Energy Corp.      24,088     $ 2,223,082  
Sempra Energy      15,542       1,880,427  
    

 

 

 
             $ 4,103,509  
Network & Telecom - 0.6%                 
Juniper Networks, Inc.      66,394     $ 1,843,097  
Oil Services - 0.7%  
NOW, Inc. (a)      50,296     $ 519,055  
Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc.      68,776       1,484,874  
    

 

 

 
             $ 2,003,929  
Other Banks & Diversified Financials - 5.7%                 
Assured Guaranty Ltd.      19,405     $ 704,596  
Discover Financial Services      26,522       1,872,453  
East West Bancorp, Inc.      76,599       4,713,902  
Navient Corp.      100,608       1,268,667  
Popular, Inc.      42,717       1,510,473  
Synchrony Financial      80,525       2,890,042  
Wintrust Financial Corp.      45,264       3,795,386  
    

 

 

 
             $ 16,755,519  
Pharmaceuticals - 0.4%                 
United Therapeutics Corp. (a)      9,217     $ 1,198,118  
Railroad & Shipping - 1.4%  
Kansas City Southern Co.      37,244     $ 4,176,542  
Real Estate - 8.3%  
Annaly Capital Management, Inc., REIT      287,684     $ 3,357,272  
AvalonBay Communities, Inc., REIT      5,453       988,792  

 

8


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Common Stocks - continued                 
Real Estate - continued  
Gramercy Property Trust, REIT      119,800     $ 3,416,696  
Medical Properties Trust, Inc., REIT      274,794       3,761,930  
Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc., REIT      37,965       3,889,135  
Realogy Holdings Corp.      108,458       3,027,063  
STAG Industrial, Inc., REIT      120,997       3,424,215  
Washington Prime Group, Inc., REIT      350,216       2,490,036  
    

 

 

 
             $ 24,355,139  
Restaurants - 1.3%                 
Aramark      71,843     $ 3,060,512  
Dave & Buster’s, Inc. (a)      11,794       625,436  
    

 

 

 
             $ 3,685,948  
Specialty Chemicals - 1.8%                 
Trinseo S.A.      21,243     $ 1,567,733  
Univar, Inc. (a)      121,890       3,590,879  
    

 

 

 
             $ 5,158,612  
Specialty Stores - 5.4%                 
Best Buy Co., Inc.      68,728     $ 4,096,876  
Lululemon Athletica, Inc. (a)      24,707       1,654,381  
Michaels Co., Inc. (a)      182,235       3,936,276  
Office Depot, Inc.      231,861       758,185  
Ross Stores, Inc.      61,593       4,682,916  
Urban Outfitters, Inc. (a)      19,392       603,479  
    

 

 

 
             $ 15,732,113  
Telecommunications - Wireless - 1.6%                 
SBA Communications Corp., REIT (a)      27,645     $ 4,692,739  
Utilities - Electric Power - 6.7%  
AES Corp.      85,093     $ 900,284  
Avangrid, Inc.      29,638       1,572,889  
DTE Energy Co.      9,335       1,078,846  
NRG Energy, Inc.      124,078       3,430,757  
PPL Corp.      104,922       3,847,490  
Public Service Enterprise Group, Inc.      77,171       4,094,693  
Xcel Energy, Inc.      89,801       4,634,630  
    

 

 

 
             $ 19,559,589  
Total Common Stocks (Identified Cost, $256,821,271)            $ 288,887,996  

 

9


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Investment Companies (h) - 0.5%                 
Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Money Market Funds - 0.5%                 
MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio, 1.19% (v)
(Identified Cost, $1,337,796)
     1,337,907     $ 1,337,773  
Other Assets, Less Liabilities - 1.0%              2,922,614  
Net Assets - 100.0%            $ 293,148,383  

 

(a) Non-income producing security.
(h) An affiliated issuer may be considered one in which the fund owns 5% or more of the outstanding voting securities, or a company which is under common control. At period end, the aggregate values of the fund’s investments in affiliated issuers and in unaffiliated issuers were $1,337,773 and $288,887,996, respectively.
(v) Affiliated issuer that is available only to investment companies managed by MFS. The rate quoted for the MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio is the annualized seven-day yield of the fund at period end.

The following abbreviations are used in this report and are defined:

 

PLC   Public Limited Company
REIT   Real Estate Investment Trust

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

10


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

 

STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

At 11/30/17 (unaudited)

This statement represents your fund’s balance sheet, which details the assets and liabilities comprising the total value of the fund.

 

Assets         

Investments in unaffiliated issuers, at value (identified cost, $256,821,271)

     $288,887,996  

Investments in affiliated issuers, at value (identified cost, $1,337,796)

     1,337,773  

Receivables for

  

Fund shares sold

     2,671,314  

Dividends

     344,146  

Receivable from investment adviser

     2,313  

Other assets

     50,092  

Total assets

     $293,293,634  
Liabilities         

Payable for fund shares reacquired

     $104,362  

Payable to affiliates

  

Shareholder servicing costs

     787  

Distribution and service fees

     1,064  

Payable for independent Trustees’ compensation

     12  

Accrued expenses and other liabilities

     39,026  

Total liabilities

     $145,251  

Net assets

     $293,148,383  
Net assets consist of         

Paid-in capital

     $251,014,835  

Unrealized appreciation (depreciation)

     32,066,702  

Accumulated net realized gain (loss)

     8,208,296  

Undistributed net investment income

     1,858,550  

Net assets

     $293,148,383  

Shares of beneficial interest outstanding

     23,954,488  

 

11


Table of Contents

Statement of Assets and Liabilities (unaudited) – continued

 

 

     Net assets     

Shares

outstanding

     Net asset value
per share (a)
 

Class A

     $77,196,516        6,317,023        $12.22  

Class B

     62,856        5,181        12.13  

Class C

     87,981        7,251        12.13  

Class I

     62,975        5,142        12.25  

Class R1

     60,727        5,005        12.13  

Class R2

     61,118        5,014        12.19  

Class R3

     61,314        5,019        12.22  

Class R4

     61,511        5,023        12.25  

Class R6

     215,493,385        17,599,830        12.24  

 

(a) Maximum offering price per share was equal to the net asset value per share for all share classes, except for Class A, for which the maximum offering price per share was $12.97 [100 / 94.25 x $12.22]. On sales of $50,000 or more, the maximum offering price of Class A shares is reduced. A contingent deferred sales charge may be imposed on redemptions of Class A, Class B, and Class C shares. Redemption price per share was equal to the net asset value per share for Classes I, R1, R2, R3, R4, and R6. Net asset value per share is calculated using actual net assets and shares outstanding rather than amounts that have been rounded for presentation purposes.

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

12


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

 

STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS

Six months ended 11/30/17 (unaudited)

This statement describes how much your fund earned in investment income and accrued in expenses. It also describes any gains and/or losses generated by fund operations.

 

Net investment income (loss)         

Income

  

Dividends

     $1,839,261  

Dividends from affiliated issuers

     17,541  

Income on securities loaned

     1,800  

Total investment income

     $1,858,602  

Expenses

  

Management fee

     $531,754  

Distribution and service fees

     17,278  

Shareholder servicing costs

     1,088  

Administrative services fee

     21,554  

Independent Trustees’ compensation

     2,346  

Custodian fee

     11,371  

Shareholder communications

     2,305  

Audit and tax fees

     26,387  

Legal fees

     934  

Registration fees

     54,889  

Miscellaneous

     8,897  

Total expenses

     $678,803  

Fees paid indirectly

     (7

Reduction of expenses by investment adviser

     (74,836

Net expenses

     $603,960  

Net investment income (loss)

     $1,254,642  
Realized and unrealized gain (loss)         

Realized gain (loss) (identified cost basis)

  

Unaffiliated issuers

     $5,640,072  

Affiliated issuers

     (30

Net realized gain (loss)

     $5,640,042  

Change in unrealized appreciation (depreciation)

  

Unaffiliated issuers

     $17,219,992  

Affiliated issuers

     (108

Net unrealized gain (loss)

     $17,219,884  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     $22,859,926  

Change in net assets from operations

     $24,114,568  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

13


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

 

STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN NET ASSETS

These statements describe the increases and/or decreases in net assets resulting from operations, any distributions, and any shareholder transactions.

 

Change in net assets   

Six months ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    

Year ended

5/31/17 (c)

 
From operations                  

Net investment income (loss)

     $1,254,642        $1,423,544  

Net realized gain (loss)

     5,640,042        2,580,875  

Net unrealized gain (loss)

     17,219,884        14,846,818  

Change in net assets from operations

     $24,114,568        $18,851,237  
Distributions declared to shareholders                  

From net investment income

     $—        $(820,118

Change in net assets from fund share transactions

     $80,969,386        $170,033,310  

Total change in net assets

     $105,083,954        $188,064,429  
Net assets                  

At beginning of period

     188,064,429         

At end of period (including undistributed net investment income of $1,858,550 and $603,908, respectively)

     $293,148,383        $188,064,429  

 

(c) For the period from the commencement of the fund’s investment operations, August 19, 2016, through the stated period end.

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

14


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

 

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

The financial highlights table is intended to help you understand the fund’s financial performance for the semiannual period and the past 5 fiscal years (or life of a particular share class, if shorter). Certain information reflects financial results for a single fund share. The total returns in the table represent the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the fund share class (assuming reinvestment of all distributions) held for the entire period.

 

    

Six months

ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

   

Year ended

5/31/17 (c)

 
Class A     
          

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $11.03       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations                 

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $0.07       $0.06  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.12       1.01  

Total from investment operations

     $1.19       $1.07  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                 

From net investment income

     $—       $(0.04

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $12.22       $11.03  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)(r)

     10.79 (n)      10.72 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     0.86 (a)      0.96 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     0.81 (a)      0.81 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     1.14 (a)      0.76 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     36 (n)      68 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $77,197       $73  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

15


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

   

Year ended

5/31/17 (c)

 
Class B     
          

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $10.99       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations                 

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $0.01       $0.00 (w) 

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.13       1.00  

Total from investment operations

     $1.14       $1.00  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                 

From net investment income

     $—       $(0.01

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $12.13       $10.99  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     10.37 (n)      10.02 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     1.63 (a)      1.73 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     1.56 (a)      1.56 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     0.18 (a)      0.02 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     36 (n)      68 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $63       $57  
    

Six months

ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

   

Year ended

5/31/17 (c)

 
Class C     
          

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $10.99       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations                 

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $0.01       $0.00 (w) 

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.13       1.00  

Total from investment operations

     $1.14       $1.00  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                 

From net investment income

     $—       $(0.01

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $12.13       $10.99  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     10.37 (n)      10.02 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     1.63 (a)      1.73 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     1.56 (a)      1.56 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     0.18 (a)      0.01 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     36 (n)      68 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $88       $64  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

16


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Financial Highlights – continued

 

    

Six months

ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

   

Year ended

5/31/17 (c)

 
Class I     
          

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $11.04       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations                 

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $0.07       $0.08  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.14       1.01  

Total from investment operations

     $1.21       $1.09  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                 

From net investment income

     $—       $(0.05

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $12.25       $11.04  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     10.96 (n)      10.91 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     0.63 (a)      0.74 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     0.56 (a)      0.56 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     1.17 (a)      1.02 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     36 (n)      68 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $63       $55  
    

Six months

ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

   

Year ended

5/31/17 (c)

 
Class R1     
          

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $10.99       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations                 

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $0.01       $0.00 (w) 

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.13       1.00  

Total from investment operations

     $1.14       $1.00  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                 

From net investment income

     $—       $(0.01

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $12.13       $10.99  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     10.37 (n)      10.02 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     1.63 (a)      1.73 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     1.56 (a)      1.56 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     0.17 (a)      0.02 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     36 (n)      68 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $61       $55  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

17


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Financial Highlights – continued

 

    

Six months

ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

   

Year ended

5/31/17 (c)

 
Class R2     
          

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $11.02       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations                 

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $0.04       $0.04  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.13       1.01  

Total from investment operations

     $1.17       $1.05  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                 

From net investment income

     $—       $(0.03

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $12.19       $11.02  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     10.62 (n)      10.51 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     1.13 (a)      1.23 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     1.06 (a)      1.06 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     0.67 (a)      0.52 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     36 (n)      68 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $61       $55  
    

Six months

ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

   

Year ended

5/31/17 (c)

 
Class R3     
          

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $11.03       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations                 

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $0.05       $0.06  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.14       1.01  

Total from investment operations

     $1.19       $1.07  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                 

From net investment income

     $—       $(0.04

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $12.22       $11.03  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     10.79 (n)      10.71 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     0.88 (a)      0.98 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     0.81 (a)      0.81 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     0.92 (a)      0.77 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     36 (n)      68 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $61       $55  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

18


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Financial Highlights – continued

 

    

Six months

ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

   

Year ended

5/31/17 (c)

 
Class R4     
          

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $11.04       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations                 

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $0.07       $0.08  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.14       1.01  

Total from investment operations

     $1.21       $1.09  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                 

From net investment income

     $—       $(0.05

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $12.25       $11.04  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     10.96 (n)      10.91 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     0.63 (a)      0.74 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     0.56 (a)      0.56 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     1.17 (a)      1.02 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     36 (n)      68 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $62       $55  
    

Six months

ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

   

Year ended

5/31/17 (c)

 
Class R6     
          

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $11.04       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations                 

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $0.07       $0.09  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.13       1.00  

Total from investment operations

     $1.20       $1.09  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                 

From net investment income

     $—       $(0.05

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $12.24       $11.04  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     10.87 (n)      10.91 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     0.62 (a)      0.60 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     0.55 (a)      0.55 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     1.18 (a)      1.05 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     36 (n)      68 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $215,493       $187,594  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

19


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Financial Highlights – continued

 

 

(a) Annualized.
(c) For the period from the commencement of the fund’s investment operations, August 19, 2016, through the stated period end.
(d) Per share data is based on average shares outstanding.
(f) Ratios do not reflect reductions from fees paid indirectly, if applicable.
(n) Not annualized.
(r) Certain expenses have been reduced without which performance would have been lower.
(s) From time to time the fund may receive proceeds from litigation settlements, without which performance would be lower.
(t) Total returns do not include any applicable sales charges.
(w) Per share amount was less than $0.01.
(x) The net asset values and total returns have been calculated on net assets which include adjustments made in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles required at period end for financial reporting purposes.

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

20


Table of Contents

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(unaudited)

(1) Business and Organization

MFS Blended Research Mid Cap Equity Fund (the fund) is a diversified series of MFS Series Trust X (the trust). The trust is organized as a Massachusetts business trust and is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, as an open-end management investment company.

The fund is an investment company and accordingly follows the investment company accounting and reporting guidance of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification Topic 946 Financial Services – Investment Companies.

(2) Significant Accounting Policies

General – The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of increases and decreases in net assets from operations during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. In the preparation of these financial statements, management has evaluated subsequent events occurring after the date of the fund’s Statement of Assets and Liabilities through the date that the financial statements were issued.

In October 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released its Final Rule on Investment Company Reporting Modernization (the “Rule”). The Rule, which introduced two new regulatory reporting forms for investment companies – Form N-PORT and Form N-CEN – also contained amendments to Regulation S-X which impact financial statement presentation, particularly the presentation of derivative investments, for all reporting periods ending after August 1, 2017. The fund has adopted the Rule’s Regulation S-X amendments and believes that the fund’s financial statements are in compliance with those amendments.

Balance Sheet Offsetting – The fund’s accounting policy with respect to balance sheet offsetting is that, absent an event of default by the counterparty or a termination of the agreement, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) Master Agreement, or similar agreement, does not result in an offset of reported amounts of financial assets and financial liabilities in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities across transactions between the fund and the applicable counterparty. The fund’s right to setoff may be restricted or prohibited by the bankruptcy or insolvency laws of the particular jurisdiction to which a specific master netting agreement counterparty is subject. Balance sheet offsetting disclosures, to the extent applicable to the fund, have been included in the fund’s Significant Accounting Policies note under the captions for each of the fund’s in-scope financial instruments and transactions.

Investment Valuations – Equity securities, including restricted equity securities, are generally valued at the last sale or official closing price on their primary market or exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Equity securities, for which there were no sales reported that day, are generally valued at the last quoted daily bid quotation on their primary market or exchange as provided by a third-party pricing

 

21


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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

service. Short-term instruments with a maturity at issuance of 60 days or less may be valued at amortized cost, which approximates market value. Open-end investment companies are generally valued at net asset value per share. Securities and other assets generally valued on the basis of information from a third-party pricing service may also be valued at a broker/dealer bid quotation. Values obtained from third-party pricing services can utilize both transaction data and market information such as yield, quality, coupon rate, maturity, type of issue, trading characteristics, and other market data.

The Board of Trustees has delegated primary responsibility for determining or causing to be determined the value of the fund’s investments (including any fair valuation) to the adviser pursuant to valuation policies and procedures approved by the Board. If the adviser determines that reliable market quotations are not readily available, investments are valued at fair value as determined in good faith by the adviser in accordance with such procedures under the oversight of the Board of Trustees. Under the fund’s valuation policies and procedures, market quotations are not considered to be readily available for most types of debt instruments and floating rate loans and many types of derivatives. These investments are generally valued at fair value based on information from third-party pricing services. In addition, investments may be valued at fair value if the adviser determines that an investment’s value has been materially affected by events occurring after the close of the exchange or market on which the investment is principally traded (such as foreign exchange or market) and prior to the determination of the fund’s net asset value, or after the halting of trading of a specific security where trading does not resume prior to the close of the exchange or market on which the security is principally traded. Events that occur on a frequent basis after foreign markets close (such as developments in foreign markets and significant movements in the U.S. markets) and prior to the determination of the fund’s net asset value may be deemed to have a material effect on the value of securities traded in foreign markets. Accordingly, the fund’s foreign equity securities may often be valued at fair value. The adviser generally relies on third-party pricing services or other information (such as the correlation with price movements of similar securities in the same or other markets; the type, cost and investment characteristics of the security; the business and financial condition of the issuer; and trading and other market data) to assist in determining whether to fair value and at what value to fair value an investment. The value of an investment for purposes of calculating the fund’s net asset value can differ depending on the source and method used to determine value. When fair valuation is used, the value of an investment used to determine the fund’s net asset value may differ from quoted or published prices for the same investment. There can be no assurance that the fund could obtain the fair value assigned to an investment if it were to sell the investment at the same time at which the fund determines its net asset value per share.

Various inputs are used in determining the value of the fund’s assets or liabilities. These inputs are categorized into three broad levels. In certain cases, the inputs used to measure fair value may fall into different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In such cases, an investment’s level within the fair value hierarchy is based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement. The fund’s assessment of the significance of a particular input to the fair value measurement in its entirety requires judgment, and considers factors specific to the investment. Level 1 includes unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. Level 2 includes other

 

22


Table of Contents

Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

significant observable market-based inputs (including quoted prices for similar securities, interest rates, prepayment speed, and credit risk). Level 3 includes unobservable inputs, which may include the adviser’s own assumptions in determining the fair value of investments. The following is a summary of the levels used as of November 30, 2017 in valuing the fund’s assets or liabilities:

 

Financial Instruments    Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  
Equity Securities      $288,887,996        $—        $—        $288,887,996  
Mutual Funds      1,337,773                      1,337,773  
Total      $290,225,769        $—        $—        $290,225,769  

For further information regarding security characteristics, see the Portfolio of Investments.

Indemnifications – Under the fund’s organizational documents, its officers and Trustees may be indemnified against certain liabilities and expenses arising out of the performance of their duties to the fund. Additionally, in the normal course of business, the fund enters into agreements with service providers that may contain indemnification clauses. The fund’s maximum exposure under these agreements is unknown as this would involve future claims that may be made against the fund that have not yet occurred.

Security Loans – Under its Securities Lending Agency Agreement with the fund, JPMorgan Chase and Co. (“Chase”), as lending agent, loans the securities of the fund to certain qualified institutions (the “Borrowers”) approved by the fund. Security loans can be terminated at the discretion of either the lending agent or the fund and the related securities must be returned within the earlier of the standard trade settlement period for such securities or within three business days. The loans are collateralized by cash and/or U.S. Treasury and federal agency obligations in an amount typically at least equal to the market value of the securities loaned. On loans collateralized by cash, the cash collateral is invested in a money market fund. The market value of the loaned securities is determined at the close of business of the fund and any additional required collateral is delivered to the fund on the next business day. Chase provides the fund with indemnification against Borrower default. In the event of Borrower default, Chase will, for the benefit of the fund, either purchase securities identical to those loaned or, when such purchase is commercially impracticable, pay the fund the market value of the loaned securities. In return, Chase assumes the fund’s rights to the related collateral. If the collateral value is less than the cost to purchase identical securities, Chase is responsible for the shortfall, but only to the extent that such shortfall is not due to a decline in collateral value resulting from collateral reinvestment for which the fund bears the risk of loss. A portion of the income generated upon investment of the collateral is remitted to the Borrowers, and the remainder is allocated between the fund and the lending agent. On loans collateralized by U.S. Treasury and/or federal agency obligations, a fee is received from the Borrower, and is allocated between the fund and the lending agent. Income from securities lending is separately reported in the Statement of Operations. The dividend and interest income earned on the securities loaned is accounted for in the same manner as other dividend and interest income. At November 30, 2017, there were no securities on loan or collateral outstanding.

 

23


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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

Investment Transactions and Income – Investment transactions are recorded on the trade date. Dividends received in cash are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Certain dividends from foreign securities will be recorded when the fund is informed of the dividend if such information is obtained subsequent to the ex-dividend date. Dividend and interest payments received in additional securities are recorded on the ex-dividend or ex-interest date in an amount equal to the value of the security on such date.

The fund may receive proceeds from litigation settlements. Any proceeds received from litigation involving portfolio holdings are reflected in the Statement of Operations in realized gain/loss if the security has been disposed of by the fund or in unrealized gain/loss if the security is still held by the fund. Any other proceeds from litigation not related to portfolio holdings are reflected as other income in the Statement of Operations.

Fees Paid Indirectly – The fund’s custody fee may be reduced by a credit earned under an arrangement that measures the value of U.S. dollars deposited with the custodian by the fund. The amount of the credit, for the six months ended November 30, 2017, is shown as a reduction of total expenses in the Statement of Operations.

Tax Matters and Distributions – The fund intends to qualify as a regulated investment company, as defined under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code, and to distribute all of its taxable income, including realized capital gains. As a result, no provision for federal income tax is required. The fund’s federal tax returns, when filed, will remain subject to examination by the Internal Revenue Service for a three year period. Management has analyzed the fund’s tax positions taken on federal and state tax returns for all open tax years and does not believe that there are any uncertain tax positions that require recognition of a tax liability. Foreign taxes, if any, have been accrued by the fund in the accompanying financial statements in accordance with the applicable foreign tax law. Foreign income taxes may be withheld by certain countries in which the fund invests. Additionally, capital gains realized by the fund on securities issued in or by certain foreign countries may be subject to capital gains tax imposed by those countries.

Distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Income and capital gain distributions are determined in accordance with income tax regulations, which may differ from U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Certain capital accounts in the financial statements are periodically adjusted for permanent differences in order to reflect their tax character. These adjustments have no impact on net assets or net asset value per share. Temporary differences which arise from recognizing certain items of income, expense, gain or loss in different periods for financial statement and tax purposes will reverse at some time in the future. Distributions in excess of net investment income or net realized gains are temporary overdistributions for financial statement purposes resulting from differences in the recognition or classification of income or distributions for financial statement and tax purposes.

Book/tax differences primarily relate wash sale loss deferrals.

 

24


Table of Contents

Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

The tax character of distributions declared to shareholders for the last fiscal year is as follows:

 

     Year ended
5/31/17 (c)
 
Ordinary income (including any
short-term capital gains)
     $820,118  

 

(c) For the period from the commencement of the fund’s investment operations, August 19, 2016, through the stated period end.

The federal tax cost and the tax basis components of distributable earnings were as follows:

 

As of 11/30/17       
Cost of investments      $258,582,009  
Gross appreciation      36,494,811  
Gross depreciation      (4,851,051
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation)      $31,643,760  
As of 5/31/17       
Undistributed ordinary income      3,595,104  
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation)      14,423,876  

The aggregate cost above includes prior fiscal year end tax adjustments, if applicable.

Multiple Classes of Shares of Beneficial Interest – The fund offers multiple classes of shares, which differ in their respective distribution, and service fees. The fund’s income, realized and unrealized gain (loss), and common expenses are allocated to shareholders based on the daily net assets of each class. Dividends are declared separately for each class. Differences in per share dividend rates are generally due to differences in separate class expenses. Class B shares will convert to Class A shares approximately eight years after purchase. Effective April 23, 2018, Class C shares will convert to Class A approximately ten years after purchase. Any shares with an original purchase date of April 30, 2008 or earlier will automatically convert to Class A shares on April 23, 2018. The fund’s distributions declared to shareholders as reported in the Statements of Changes in Net Assets are presented by class as follows:

 

     From net investment
income
 
     Six months
ended
11/30/17
     Year
ended
5/31/17 (c)
 
Class A      $—        $226  
Class B             55  
Class C             55  
Class I             241  
Class R1             55  
Class R2             148  
Class R3             195  
Class R4             241  
Class R6             818,902  
Total      $—        $820,118  

 

(c) For the period from the commencement of the fund’s investment operations, August 19, 2016, through the stated period end.

 

25


Table of Contents

Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

(3) Transactions with Affiliates

Investment Adviser – The fund has an investment advisory agreement with MFS to provide overall investment management and related administrative services and facilities to the fund. The management fee is computed daily and paid monthly at the following annual rates based on the fund’s average daily net assets:

 

Up to $1 billion      0.50
In excess of $1 billion and up to $2.5 billion      0.475
In excess of $2.5 billion      0.45

MFS has agreed in writing to reduce its management fee by a specified amount if certain MFS mutual fund assets exceed thresholds agreed to by MFS and the fund’s Board of Trustees. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, this management fee reduction amounted to $8,747, which is included in the reduction of total expenses in the Statement of Operations. The management fee incurred for the six months ended November 30, 2017 was equivalent to an annual effective rate of 0.49% of the fund’s average daily net assets.

The investment adviser has agreed in writing to pay a portion of the fund’s total annual operating expenses, excluding interest, taxes, extraordinary expenses, brokerage and transaction costs, and investment-related expenses, such that total fund operating expenses do not exceed the following rates annually of each class’s average daily net assets:

 

Classes  
A   B     C     I     R1     R2     R3     R4     R6  
0.84%     1.59%       1.59%       0.59%       1.59%       1.09%       0.84%       0.59%       0.55%  

This written agreement will continue until modified by the fund’s Board of Trustees, but such agreement will continue at least until September 30, 2018. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, this reduction amounted to $66,089, which is included in the reduction of total expenses in the Statement of Operations.

Distributor – MFS Fund Distributors, Inc. (MFD), a wholly-owned subsidiary of MFS, as distributor, received $11 for the six months ended November 30, 2017, as its portion of the initial sales charge on sales of Class A shares of the fund.

The Board of Trustees has adopted a distribution plan for certain share classes pursuant to Rule 12b-1 of the Investment Company Act of 1940.

The fund’s distribution plan provides that the fund will pay MFD for services provided by MFD and financial intermediaries in connection with the distribution and servicing of certain share classes. One component of the plan is a distribution fee paid to MFD and another component of the plan is a service fee paid to MFD. MFD may subsequently pay all, or a portion, of the distribution and/or service fees to financial intermediaries.

 

26


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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

Distribution Plan Fee Table:

 

     Distribution
Fee Rate (d)
     Service
Fee Rate (d)
     Total
Distribution
Plan (d)
     Annual
Effective
Rate (e)
     Distribution
and Service
Fee
 
Class A             0.25%        0.25%        0.25%        $16,074  
Class B      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        332  
Class C      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        371  
Class R1      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        286  
Class R2      0.25%        0.25%        0.50%        0.50%        143  
Class R3             0.25%        0.25%        0.25%        72  
Total Distribution and Service Fees        $17,278  

 

(d) In accordance with the distribution plan for certain classes, the fund pays distribution and/or service fees equal to these annual percentage rates of each class’s average daily net assets. The distribution and service fee rates disclosed by class represent the current rates in effect at the end of the reporting period. Any rate changes, if applicable, are detailed below.
(e) The annual effective rates represent actual fees incurred under the distribution plan for the six months ended November 30, 2017 based on each class’s average daily net assets. MFD has voluntarily agreed to rebate a portion of each class’s 0.25% service fee attributable to accounts for which MFD retains the 0.25% service fee except for accounts attributable to MFS or its affiliates’ seed money. There were no service fee rebates for the six months ended November 30, 2017.

Certain Class A shares are subject to a contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) in the event of a shareholder redemption within 18 months of purchase. Class C shares are subject to a CDSC in the event of a shareholder redemption within 12 months of purchase. Class B shares are subject to a CDSC in the event of a shareholder redemption within six years of purchase. There were no contingent deferred sales charges imposed during the six months ended November 30, 2017.

Shareholder Servicing Agent – MFS Service Center, Inc. (MFSC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of MFS, receives a fee from the fund for its services as shareholder servicing agent calculated as a percentage of the average daily net assets of the fund as determined periodically under the supervision of the fund’s Board of Trustees. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fee was $211, which equated to 0.0002% annually of the fund’s average daily net assets. MFSC also receives payment from the fund for out-of-pocket expenses, sub-accounting and other shareholder servicing costs which may be paid to affiliated and unaffiliated service providers. Class R6 shares do not incur sub-accounting fees. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, these out-of-pocket expenses, sub-accounting and other shareholder servicing costs amounted to $877.

Administrator – MFS provides certain financial, legal, shareholder communications, compliance, and other administrative services to the fund. Under an administrative services agreement, the fund reimburses MFS the costs incurred to provide these services. The fund is charged an annual fixed amount of $17,500 plus a fee based on average daily net assets. The administrative services fee incurred for the six months ended November 30, 2017 was equivalent to an annual effective rate of 0.0203% of the fund’s average daily net assets.

 

27


Table of Contents

Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

Trustees’ and Officers’ Compensation – The fund pays compensation to independent Trustees in the form of a retainer, attendance fees, and additional compensation to Board and Committee chairpersons. The fund does not pay compensation directly to Trustees or officers of the fund who are also officers of the investment adviser, all of whom receive remuneration for their services to the fund from MFS. Certain officers and Trustees of the fund are officers or directors of MFS, MFD, and MFSC.

Other – This fund and certain other funds managed by MFS (the funds) have entered into a service agreement (the ISO Agreement) which provides for payment of fees solely by the funds to Tarantino LLC in return for the provision of services of an Independent Senior Officer (ISO) for the funds. Frank L. Tarantino serves as the ISO and is an officer of the funds and the sole member of Tarantino LLC. The funds can terminate the ISO Agreement with Tarantino LLC at any time under the terms of the ISO Agreement. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fee paid by the fund under this agreement was $171 and is included in “Miscellaneous” expense in the Statement of Operations. MFS has agreed to bear all expenses associated with office space, other administrative support, and supplies provided to the ISO.

The fund invests in the MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio which is managed by MFS and seeks current income consistent with preservation of capital and liquidity. This money market fund does not pay a management fee to MFS.

On August 18, 2016, MFS purchased 180,000 shares of Class R6 and 5,000 shares of Class A, Class B, Class C, Class I, Class R1, Class R2, Class R3, and Class R4, for an aggregate amount of $2,200,000 as an initial investment in the fund.

On August 15, 2017, MFS redeemed 3,922 shares of Class R6 for an aggregate amount of $44,314.

At November 30, 2017, MFS held approximately 97%, 69%, and 98% of the shares outstanding of Class B, Class C, and Class I, respectively, and approximately 100% of the outstanding shares of Class R1, Class R2, Class R3, and Class R4.

The fund is permitted to engage in purchase and sale transactions with funds and accounts for which MFS serves as investment adviser or sub-adviser (“cross-trades”) pursuant to a policy adopted by the Board of Trustees. This policy has been designed to ensure that cross-trades conducted by the fund comply with Rule 17a-7 under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Under this policy, cross-trades are effected at current market prices with no remuneration paid in connection with the transaction. During the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fund engaged in sale transactions pursuant to this policy, which amounted to $507,259. The sales transactions resulted in net realized gains (losses) of $(540,556).

(4) Portfolio Securities

For the six months ended November 30, 2017, purchases and sales of investments, other than short-term obligations, aggregated $159,272,847 and $79,012,927, respectively.

 

28


Table of Contents

Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

(5) Shares of Beneficial Interest

The fund’s Declaration of Trust permits the Trustees to issue an unlimited number of full and fractional shares of beneficial interest. Transactions in fund shares were as follows:

 

     Six months ended
11/30/17
    Year ended
5/31/17 (c)
 
     Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount  
Shares sold         

Class A

     6,401,760       $75,164,679       8,686       $89,337  

Class B

     1,262       14,042       5,142       51,545  

Class C

     1,418       16,377       5,830       58,785  

Class I

     119       1,350       5,000       50,000  

Class R1

                 5,000       50,000  

Class R2

                 5,000       50,000  

Class R3

                 5,000       50,000  

Class R4

                 5,000       50,000  

Class R6

     1,538,921       17,681,627       19,208,755       192,903,075  
     7,943,480       $92,878,075       19,253,413       $193,352,742  
Shares issued to shareholders in reinvestment of distributions         

Class A

           $—       19       $199  

Class B

                 5       55  

Class C

                 5       55  

Class I

                 23       241  

Class R1

                 5       55  

Class R2

                 14       148  

Class R3

                 19       195  

Class R4

                 23       241  

Class R6

                 77,917       818,902  
           $—       78,030       $820,091  
Shares reacquired         

Class A

     (91,358     $(1,085,782     (2,084     $(22,389

Class B

     (1,228     (13,940            

Class C

     (1     (6     (1     (11

Class R6

     (935,163     (10,808,961     (2,290,600     (24,117,123
     (1,027,750     $(11,908,689     (2,292,685     $(24,139,523

 

29


Table of Contents

Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

     Six months ended
11/30/17
     Year ended
5/31/17 (c)
 
     Shares      Amount      Shares      Amount  
Net change            

Class A

     6,310,402        $74,078,897        6,621        $67,147  

Class B

     34        102        5,147        51,600  

Class C

     1,417        16,371        5,834        58,829  

Class I

     119        1,350        5,023        50,241  

Class R1

                   5,005        50,055  

Class R2

                   5,014        50,148  

Class R3

                   5,019        50,195  

Class R4

                   5,023        50,241  

Class R6

     603,758        6,872,666        16,996,072        169,604,854  
     6,915,730        $80,969,386        17,038,758        $170,033,310  

 

(c) For the period from the commencement of the fund’s investment operations, August 19, 2016, through the stated period end.

Class T shares were not publicly available for sale during the period. Please see the fund’s prospectus for details.

The fund is one of several mutual funds in which certain MFS funds may invest. The MFS funds do not invest in the underlying funds for the purpose of exercising management or control. At the end of the period, the MFS Lifetime 2030 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2040 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2035 Fund, the MFS Lifetime Income Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2050 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2045 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2025 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2020 Fund, and the MFS Lifetime 2055 Fund were the owners of record of approximately 17%, 16%, 8%, 7%, 7%, 6%, 5%, 5%, and 2%, respectively, of the value of outstanding voting shares of the fund. In addition, the MFS Lifetime 2060 Fund was the owner of record of less than 1% of the value of outstanding voting shares of the fund.

(6) Line of Credit

The fund and certain other funds managed by MFS participate in a $1.25 billion unsecured committed line of credit, subject to a $1 billion sublimit, provided by a syndication of banks under a credit agreement. Borrowings may be made for temporary financing needs. Interest is charged to each fund, based on its borrowings, generally at a rate equal to the higher of the Overnight Federal Reserve funds rate or daily one month LIBOR plus an agreed upon spread. A commitment fee, based on the average daily, unused portion of the committed line of credit, is allocated among the participating funds at the end of each calendar quarter. In addition, the fund and other funds managed by MFS have established unsecured uncommitted borrowing arrangements with certain banks for temporary financing needs. Interest is charged to each fund, based on its borrowings, at a rate equal to the Overnight Federal Reserve funds rate plus an agreed upon spread. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fund’s commitment fee and interest expense were $529 and $0, respectively, and are included in “Miscellaneous” expense in the Statement of Operations

 

30


Table of Contents

Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

(7) Investments in Affiliated Issuers

An affiliated issuer may be considered one in which the fund owns 5% or more of the outstanding voting securities, or a company which is under common control. For the purposes of this report, the fund assumes the following to be affiliated issuers:

 

Affiliated Issuers          Beginning
Shares/Par
Amount
    Acquisitions
Shares/Par
Amount
    Dispositions
Shares/Par
Amount
    Ending
Shares/Par
Amount
 
MFS Institutional Money
Market Portfolio
      1,980,607       90,628,942       (91,271,642     1,337,907  
Affiliated Issuers   Realized
Gain (Loss)
    Change in
Unrealized
Appreciation
Depreciation
    Capital Gain
Distributions
    Dividend
Income
    Ending
Value
 
MFS Institutional Money
Market Portfolio
    $(30     $(108     $—       $17,541       $1,337,773  

 

31


Table of Contents

PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND INFORMATION

MFS votes proxies on behalf of the fund pursuant to proxy voting policies and procedures that are available without charge, upon request, by calling 1-800-225-2606, by visiting mfs.com/proxyvoting, or by visiting the SEC’s Web site at http://www.sec.gov.

Information regarding how the fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the most recent twelve-month period ended June 30 is available by August 31 of each year without charge by visiting mfs.com/proxyvoting, or by visiting the SEC’s Web site at http://www.sec.gov.

QUARTERLY PORTFOLIO DISCLOSURE

The fund will file a complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission) for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-Q. A shareholder can obtain the quarterly portfolio holdings report at mfs.com. The fund’s Form N-Q is also available on the EDGAR database on the Commission’s Internet Web site at http://www.sec.gov, and may be reviewed and copied at the:

Public Reference Room

Securities and Exchange Commission

100 F Street, NE, Room 1580

Washington, D.C. 20549

Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling the Commission at 1-800-SEC-0330. Copies of the fund’s Form N-Q also may be obtained, upon payment of a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov or by writing the Public Reference Section at the above address.

FURTHER INFORMATION

From time to time, MFS may post important information about the fund or the MFS funds on the MFS web site (mfs.com). This information is available at https://www.mfs.com/en-us/what-we-do/announcements.html or at mfs.com/openendfunds by choosing the fund’s name.

 

32


Table of Contents

INFORMATION ABOUT FUND CONTRACTS AND LEGAL CLAIMS

The fund has entered into contractual arrangements with an investment adviser, administrator, distributor, shareholder servicing agent, 529 program manager (if applicable), and custodian who each provide services to the fund. Unless expressly stated otherwise, shareholders are not parties to, or intended beneficiaries of these contractual arrangements, and these contractual arrangements are not intended to create any shareholder right to enforce them against the service providers or to seek any remedy under them against the service providers, either directly or on behalf of the fund.

Under the Trust’s By-Laws and Declaration of Trust, any claims asserted against or on behalf of the MFS Funds, including claims against Trustees and Officers, must be brought in state and federal courts located within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

PROVISION OF FINANCIAL REPORTS AND SUMMARY PROSPECTUSES

The fund produces financial reports every six months and updates its summary prospectus and prospectus annually. To avoid sending duplicate copies of materials to households, only one copy of the fund’s annual and semiannual report and summary prospectus may be mailed to shareholders having the same last name and residential address on the fund’s records. However, any shareholder may contact MFSC (please see back cover for address and telephone number) to request that copies of these reports and summary prospectuses be sent personally to that shareholder.

 

33


Table of Contents

LOGO

 

Save paper with eDelivery.

 

LOGO

MFS® will send you prospectuses,

reports, and proxies directly via e-mail so you will get information faster with less mailbox clutter.

To sign up:

1. Go to mfs.com.

2. Log in via MFS® Access.

3. Select eDelivery.

If you own your MFS fund shares through a financial institution or a retirement plan, MFS® TALK, MFS® Access, or eDelivery may not be available to you.

 

CONTACT

WEB SITE

mfs.com

MFS TALK

1-800-637-8255

24 hours a day

ACCOUNT SERVICE AND LITERATURE

Shareholders

1-800-225-2606

Financial advisors

1-800-343-2829

Retirement plan services

1-800-637-1255

MAILING ADDRESS

MFS Service Center, Inc.

P.O. Box 55824

Boston, MA 02205-5824

OVERNIGHT MAIL

MFS Service Center, Inc.

c/o DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc.

30 Dan Road

Canton, MA 02021-2809

 


Table of Contents

SEMIANNUAL REPORT

November 30, 2017

 

LOGO

 

MFS® BLENDED RESEARCH®

VALUE EQUITY FUND

 

LOGO

 

BRU-SEM

 


Table of Contents

MFS® BLENDED RESEARCH®

VALUE EQUITY FUND

 

CONTENTS

 

Letter from the Executive Chairman     1  
Portfolio composition     2  
Expense table     3  
Portfolio of investments     5  
Statement of assets and liabilities     10  
Statement of operations     12  
Statements of changes in net assets     13  
Financial highlights     14  
Notes to financial statements     20  
Board review of investment advisory agreement     30  
Proxy voting policies and information     34  
Quarterly portfolio disclosure     34  
Further information     34  
Information about fund contracts and legal claims     35  
Provision of financial reports and summary prospectuses     35  
Contact information    back cover  

The report is prepared for the general information of shareholders.

It is authorized for distribution to prospective investors only when preceded or accompanied by a current prospectus.

 

NOT FDIC INSURED MAY LOSE VALUE NO BANK GUARANTEE



Table of Contents

LOGO

 

LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN

 

Dear Shareholders:

Most markets have proved resilient over the past year, despite uncertainty accompanying a new presidential administration in the United States and unease over

ongoing negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union regarding Brexit. U.S. share prices have reached new highs in recent months although the U.S. Federal Reserve has continued to gradually hike interest rates and has begun to shrink its balance sheet.

Globally, we’ve experienced a synchronized upturn in economic growth for more than a year. Despite the improvement in economic activity, there are few immediate signs of worrisome inflation amid muted wage gains around the world. Emerging market economies have been boosted in part by a weaker

U.S. dollar and are recovering despite lingering concerns over the potential for restrictive U.S. trade policies. Commodity markets have recovered somewhat in response to solid global demand and robust global trade, though not enough to rekindle inflation fears.

At MFS®, we believe having a disciplined, long-term investment approach through a full market cycle is essential to capturing the best opportunities while also managing risk. In our view, such a strategy, along with the professional guidance of a financial advisor, will help you reach your investment objectives.

Respectfully,

 

LOGO

Robert J. Manning

Executive Chairman

MFS Investment Management

January 16, 2018

The opinions expressed in this letter are subject to change and may not be relied upon for investment advice. No forecasts can be guaranteed.

 

1


Table of Contents

PORTFOLIO COMPOSITION

 

Portfolio structure

 

LOGO

 

Top ten holdings  
JPMorgan Chase & Co.     4.0%  
Bank of America Corp.     3.5%  
Citigroup, Inc.     2.9%  
Cisco Systems, Inc.     2.8%  
Johnson & Johnson     2.4%  
United Technologies Corp.     1.9%  
Exxon Mobil Corp.     1.8%  
PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.     1.8%  
Exelon Corp.     1.7%  
Chubb Ltd.     1.6%  
Equity sectors  
Financial Services     30.2%  
Health Care     14.0%  
Energy     10.4%  
Utilities & Communications     8.7%  
Technology     7.4%  
Consumer Staples     6.9%  
Industrial Goods & Services     4.3%  
Leisure     3.6%  
Retailing     3.1%  
Autos & Housing     2.2%  
Special Products & Services     2.2%  
Basic Materials     2.1%  
Transportation     2.0%  
 

 

 

Cash & Cash Equivalents includes any cash, investments in money market funds, short-term securities, and other assets less liabilities. Please see the Statement of Assets and Liabilities for additional information related to the fund’s cash position and other assets and liabilities.

Percentages are based on net assets as of November 30, 2017.

The portfolio is actively managed and current holdings may be different.

 

2


Table of Contents

EXPENSE TABLE

Fund expenses borne by the shareholders during the period, June 1, 2017 through November 30, 2017

As a shareholder of the fund, you incur two types of costs: (1) transaction costs, including sales charges (loads) on certain purchase or redemption payments, and (2) ongoing costs, including management fees; distribution and service (12b-1) fees; and other fund expenses. This example is intended to help you understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the fund and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds.

The example is based on an investment of $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period June 1, 2017 through November 30, 2017.

Actual Expenses

The first line for each share class in the following table provides information about actual account values and actual expenses. You may use the information in this line, together with the amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you paid over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000 = 8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first line under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid During Period” to estimate the expenses you paid on your account during this period.

Hypothetical Example for Comparison Purposes

The second line for each share class in the following table provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the fund’s actual expense ratio and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses, which is not the fund’s actual return. The hypothetical account values and expenses may not be used to estimate the actual ending account balance or expenses you paid for the period. You may use this information to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the fund and other funds. To do so, compare this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of the other funds.

Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only and do not reflect any transactional costs, such as sales charges (loads). Therefore, the second line for each share class in the table is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds. In addition, if these transactional costs were included, your costs would have been higher.

 

3


Table of Contents

Expense Table – continued

 

 

Share
Class
       Annualized
Expense
Ratio
  Beginning
Account Value
6/01/17
 

Ending

Account Value
11/30/17

 

Expenses

Paid During
Period (p)

6/01/17-11/30/17

 
A   Actual   0.74%   $1,000.00   $1,110.55     $3.92  
  Hypothetical (h)   0.74%   $1,000.00   $1,021.36     $3.75  
B   Actual   1.49%   $1,000.00   $1,106.87     $7.87  
  Hypothetical (h)   1.49%   $1,000.00   $1,017.60     $7.54  
C   Actual   1.49%   $1,000.00   $1,106.47     $7.87  
  Hypothetical (h)   1.49%   $1,000.00   $1,017.60     $7.54  
I   Actual   0.49%   $1,000.00   $1,111.86     $2.59  
  Hypothetical (h)   0.49%   $1,000.00   $1,022.61     $2.48  
R1   Actual   1.49%   $1,000.00   $1,106.78     $7.87  
  Hypothetical (h)   1.49%   $1,000.00   $1,017.60     $7.54  
R2   Actual   0.99%   $1,000.00   $1,109.71     $5.24  
  Hypothetical (h)   0.99%   $1,000.00   $1,020.10     $5.01  
R3   Actual   0.74%   $1,000.00   $1,110.36     $3.91  
  Hypothetical (h)   0.74%   $1,000.00   $1,021.36     $3.75  
R4   Actual   0.49%   $1,000.00   $1,112.80     $2.60  
  Hypothetical (h)   0.49%   $1,000.00   $1,022.61     $2.48  
R6   Actual   0.39%   $1,000.00   $1,112.70     $2.07  
  Hypothetical (h)   0.39%   $1,000.00   $1,023.11     $1.98  

 

(h) 5% class return per year before expenses.
(p) “Expenses Paid During Period” are equal to each class’s annualized expense ratio, as shown above, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/365 (to reflect the one-half year period). Expenses paid do not include any applicable sales charges (loads). If these transaction costs had been included, your costs would have been higher.

 

4


Table of Contents

PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS

11/30/17 (unaudited)

The Portfolio of Investments is a complete list of all securities owned by your fund. It is categorized by broad-based asset classes.

 

Common Stocks - 97.1%                 
Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Aerospace - 2.6%                 
Northrop Grumman Corp.      1,825     $ 561,005  
Textron, Inc.      11,833       659,216  
United Technologies Corp.      29,990       3,642,286  
    

 

 

 
             $ 4,862,507  
Airlines - 1.0%                 
Copa Holdings S.A., “A”      13,593     $ 1,824,045  
Automotive - 0.8%                 
Lear Corp.      8,435     $ 1,525,807  
Biotechnology - 1.4%                 
Biogen, Inc. (a)      3,360     $ 1,082,491  
Celgene Corp. (a)      16,201       1,633,547  
    

 

 

 
             $ 2,716,038  
Business Services - 2.2%                 
DXC Technology Co.      25,349     $ 2,437,053  
Global Payments, Inc.      16,123       1,621,329  
    

 

 

 
             $ 4,058,382  
Cable TV - 1.3%                 
Comcast Corp., “A”      62,835     $ 2,358,826  
Chemicals - 1.1%                 
CF Industries Holdings, Inc.      17,725     $ 664,156  
FMC Corp.      15,056       1,421,286  
    

 

 

 
             $ 2,085,442  
Computer Software - 0.7%                 
Oracle Corp.      27,541     $ 1,351,161  
Computer Software - Systems - 0.9%                 
Hewlett Packard Enterprise      115,189     $ 1,606,887  
Construction - 1.4%                 
Owens Corning      29,648     $ 2,619,401  

 

5


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Common Stocks - continued                 
Consumer Products - 2.0%                 
Newell Brands, Inc.      31,923     $ 988,655  
Procter & Gamble Co.      31,636       2,846,924  
    

 

 

 
             $ 3,835,579  
Containers - 0.9%                 
Graphic Packaging Holding Co.      114,920     $ 1,759,425  
Electronics - 2.4%                 
Applied Materials, Inc.      37,776     $ 1,993,440  
Intel Corp.      54,253       2,432,704  
    

 

 

 
             $ 4,426,144  
Energy - Independent - 6.8%                 
Anadarko Petroleum Corp.      36,893     $ 1,774,184  
EOG Resources, Inc.      24,346       2,491,083  
Noble Energy, Inc.      65,595       1,725,149  
Occidental Petroleum Corp.      27,375       1,929,937  
Phillips 66      29,782       2,905,532  
Valero Energy Corp.      22,469       1,923,796  
    

 

 

 
             $ 12,749,681  
Energy - Integrated - 2.4%                 
Chevron Corp.      9,284     $ 1,104,703  
Exxon Mobil Corp.      41,487       3,455,452  
    

 

 

 
             $ 4,560,155  
Food & Beverages - 3.1%                 
Archer Daniels Midland Co.      52,171     $ 2,080,579  
Bunge Ltd.      1,923       128,668  
J.M. Smucker Co.      16,113       1,879,904  
Tyson Foods, Inc., “A”      20,303       1,669,922  
    

 

 

 
             $ 5,759,073  
Gaming & Lodging - 1.7%                 
Carnival Corp.      31,580     $ 2,072,911  
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.      8,967       1,110,832  
    

 

 

 
             $ 3,183,743  
General Merchandise - 0.8%                 
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.      15,592     $ 1,516,010  
Health Maintenance Organizations - 1.2%                 
Cigna Corp.      6,267     $ 1,326,912  
Humana Inc.      3,572       931,792  
    

 

 

 
             $ 2,258,704  

 

6


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Common Stocks - continued                 
Insurance - 7.5%                 
Athene Holding Ltd. (a)      17,223     $ 827,910  
Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., “B” (a)      14,722       2,841,493  
Chubb Ltd.      19,283       2,933,137  
MetLife, Inc.      49,289       2,645,834  
Prudential Financial, Inc.      21,872       2,533,652  
XL Group Ltd.      57,992       2,251,249  
    

 

 

 
             $ 14,033,275  
Internet - 0.7%                 
eBay, Inc. (a)      38,944     $ 1,350,188  
Machinery & Tools - 1.7%                 
Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc.      16,459     $ 675,477  
Eaton Corp. PLC      10,674       830,224  
Ingersoll-Rand Co. Ltd., “A”      9,952       871,994  
Regal Beloit Corp.      11,731       902,701  
    

 

 

 
             $ 3,280,396  
Major Banks - 11.6%                 
Bank of America Corp.      230,079     $ 6,481,325  
Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.      9,121       2,258,725  
JPMorgan Chase & Co.      72,276       7,554,288  
PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.      24,066       3,382,717  
Wells Fargo & Co.      36,054       2,035,969  
    

 

 

 
             $ 21,713,024  
Medical & Health Technology & Services - 2.4%                 
Express Scripts Holding Co. (a)      29,446     $ 1,919,290  
McKesson Corp.      17,069       2,521,774  
    

 

 

 
             $ 4,441,064  
Medical Equipment - 2.8%                 
Medtronic PLC      33,809     $ 2,776,733  
Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.      1,737       334,824  
Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc.      17,576       2,058,150  
    

 

 

 
             $ 5,169,707  
Natural Gas - Distribution - 0.5%                 
Sempra Energy      8,235     $ 996,353  
Network & Telecom - 2.8%                 
Cisco Systems, Inc.      138,385     $ 5,161,760  

 

7


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Common Stocks - continued                 
Oil Services - 1.1%                 
Halliburton Co.      49,724     $ 2,077,469  
Other Banks & Diversified Financials - 6.3%                 
Citigroup, Inc.      71,829     $ 5,423,090  
Discover Financial Services      39,727       2,804,726  
Synchrony Financial      64,433       2,312,500  
Zions Bancorporation      24,092       1,193,759  
    

 

 

 
             $ 11,734,075  
Pharmaceuticals - 6.2%                 
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.      44,311     $ 2,800,012  
Eli Lilly & Co.      26,403       2,234,750  
Johnson & Johnson      31,556       4,396,697  
Pfizer, Inc.      60,122       2,180,024  
    

 

 

 
             $ 11,611,483  
Railroad & Shipping - 1.1%                 
Union Pacific Corp.      15,600     $ 1,973,400  
Real Estate - 4.8%                 
AGNC Investment Corp., REIT      30,931     $ 615,527  
Annaly Mortgage Management, Inc., REIT      119,500       1,394,565  
AvalonBay Communities, Inc., REIT      4,288       777,543  
Medical Properties Trust, Inc., REIT      129,894       1,778,249  
Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc., REIT      17,251       1,767,192  
Realogy Holdings Corp.      64,382       1,796,902  
Washington Prime Group, Inc., REIT      114,722       815,673  
    

 

 

 
             $ 8,945,651  
Restaurants - 0.6%                 
Aramark      27,529     $ 1,172,735  
Specialty Stores - 2.3%                 
Best Buy Co., Inc.      41,148     $ 2,452,832  
Urban Outfitters, Inc. (a)      61,439       1,911,982  
    

 

 

 
             $ 4,364,814  
Telecommunications - Wireless - 0.9%                 
Sprint Corp. (a)      100,726     $ 603,349  
T-Mobile U.S., Inc. (a)      16,854       1,029,274  
    

 

 

 
             $ 1,632,623  
Telephone Services - 1.0%                 
AT&T, Inc.      51,423     $ 1,870,769  

 

8


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Common Stocks - continued                 
Tobacco - 1.8%                 
Altria Group, Inc.      19,850     $ 1,346,425  
Philip Morris International, Inc.      18,904       1,942,386  
    

 

 

 
             $ 3,288,811  
Utilities - Electric Power - 6.3%                 
American Electric Power Co., Inc.      15,678     $ 1,217,083  
DTE Energy Co.      18,475       2,135,156  
Exelon Corp.      74,186       3,094,298  
NextEra Energy, Inc.      7,500       1,185,300  
NRG Energy, Inc.      65,299       1,805,517  
PPL Corp.      64,798       2,376,143  
    

 

 

 
             $ 11,813,497  
Total Common Stocks (Identified Cost, $164,324,013)            $ 181,688,104  
Investment Companies (h) - 1.5%                 
Money Market Funds - 1.5%                 
MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio, 1.19% (v)
(Identified Cost, $2,696,035)
     2,696,094     $ 2,695,824  
Other Assets, Less Liabilities - 1.4%              2,689,623  
Net Assets - 100.0%            $ 187,073,551  

 

(a) Non-income producing security.
(h) An affiliated issuer may be considered one in which the fund owns 5% or more of the outstanding voting securities, or a company which is under common control. At period end, the aggregate values of the fund’s investments in affiliated issuers and in unaffiliated issuers were $2,695,824 and $181,688,104, respectively.
(v) Affiliated issuer that is available only to investment companies managed by MFS. The rate quoted for the MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio is the annualized seven-day yield of the fund at period end.

The following abbreviations are used in this report and are defined:

 

PLC   Public Limited Company
REIT   Real Estate Investment Trust

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

9


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

 

STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

At 11/30/17 (unaudited)

This statement represents your fund’s balance sheet, which details the assets and liabilities comprising the total value of the fund.

 

Assets         

Investments in unaffiliated issuers, at value (identified cost, $164,324,013)

     $181,688,104  

Investments in affiliated issuers, at value (identified cost, $2,696,035)

     2,695,824  

Receivables for

  

Investments sold

     9,656,235  

Fund shares sold

     1,532,943  

Dividends

     445,323  

Receivable from investment adviser

     28,027  

Other assets

     45,017  

Total assets

     $196,091,473  
Liabilities         

Payables for

  

Investments purchased

     $8,877,066  

Fund shares reacquired

     90,118  

Payable to affiliates

  

Shareholder servicing costs

     4,984  

Distribution and service fees

     754  

Payable for independent Trustees’ compensation

     10  

Accrued expenses and other liabilities

     44,990  

Total liabilities

     $9,017,922  

Net assets

     $187,073,551  
Net assets consist of         

Paid-in capital

     $162,696,017  

Unrealized appreciation (depreciation)

     17,363,880  

Accumulated net realized gain (loss)

     4,882,727  

Undistributed net investment income

     2,130,927  

Net assets

     $187,073,551  

Shares of beneficial interest outstanding

     14,158,740  

 

10


Table of Contents

Statement of Assets and Liabilities (unaudited) – continued

 

 

     Net assets      Shares
outstanding
     Net asset value
per share (a)
 

Class A

     $52,573,987        3,993,723        $13.16  

Class B

     134,980        10,341        13.05  

Class C

     496,779        38,229        12.99  

Class I

     617,064        46,677        13.22  

Class R1

     65,722        5,033        13.06  

Class R2

     66,492        5,056        13.15  

Class R3

     66,821        5,068        13.18  

Class R4

     67,193        5,083        13.22  

Class R6

     132,984,513        10,049,530        13.23  

 

(a) Maximum offering price per share was equal to the net asset value per share for all share classes, except for Class A, for which the maximum offering price per share was $13.96 [100 / 94.25 x $13.16]. On sales of $50,000 or more, the maximum offering price of Class A shares is reduced. A contingent deferred sales charge may be imposed on redemptions of Class A, Class B, and Class C shares. Redemption price per share was equal to the net asset value per share for Classes I, R1, R2, R3, R4, and R6. Net asset value per share is calculated using actual net assets and shares outstanding rather than amounts that have been rounded for presentation purposes.

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

11


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

 

STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS

Six months ended 11/30/17 (unaudited)

This statement describes how much your fund earned in investment income and accrued in expenses. It also describes any gains and/or losses generated by fund operations.

 

Net investment income (loss)         

Income

  

Dividends

     $1,566,383  

Dividends from affiliated issuers

     11,339  

Foreign taxes withheld

     (1,018

Total investment income

     $1,576,704  

Expenses

  

Management fee

     $268,148  

Distribution and service fees

     15,747  

Shareholder servicing costs

     6,648  

Administrative services fee

     15,364  

Independent Trustees’ compensation

     2,274  

Custodian fee

     5,854  

Shareholder communications

     3,476  

Audit and tax fees

     26,387  

Legal fees

     683  

Registration fees

     60,540  

Miscellaneous

     8,924  

Total expenses

     $414,045  

Reduction of expenses by investment adviser and distributor

     (131,987

Net expenses

     $282,058  

Net investment income (loss)

     $1,294,646  
Realized and unrealized gain (loss)         

Realized gain (loss) (identified cost basis)

  

Unaffiliated issuers

     $3,749,759  

Affiliated issuers

     (163

Net realized gain (loss)

     $3,749,596  

Change in unrealized appreciation (depreciation)

  

Unaffiliated issuers

     $9,742,751  

Affiliated issuers

     (313

Net unrealized gain (loss)

     $9,742,438  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     $13,492,034  

Change in net assets from operations

     $14,786,680  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

12


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

 

STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN NET ASSETS

These statements describe the increases and/or decreases in net assets resulting from operations, any distributions, and any shareholder transactions.

 

Change in net assets    Six months ended
11/30/17
(unaudited)
    

Year ended
5/31/17

 
From operations                  

Net investment income (loss)

     $1,294,646        $1,616,192  

Net realized gain (loss)

     3,749,596        1,180,646  

Net unrealized gain (loss)

     9,742,438        7,465,427  

Change in net assets from operations

     $14,786,680        $10,262,265  
Distributions declared to shareholders                  

From net investment income

     $—        $(800,055

Change in net assets from fund share transactions

     $54,148,369        $105,731,652  

Total change in net assets

     $68,935,049        $115,193,862  
Net assets                  

At beginning of period

     118,138,502        2,944,640  

At end of period (including undistributed net investment income of $2,130,927 and $836,281, respectively)

     $187,073,551        $118,138,502  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

13


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

 

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

The financial highlights table is intended to help you understand the fund’s financial performance for the semiannual period and the past 5 fiscal years (or life of a particular share class, if shorter). Certain information reflects financial results for a single fund share. The total returns in the table represent the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the fund share class (assuming reinvestment of all distributions) held for the entire period.

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class A      5/31/17     5/31/16 (c)  
                

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $11.85       $10.57       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations          

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $0.16       $0.18       $0.12  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.15       1.16       0.55  

Total from investment operations

     $1.31       $1.34       $0.67  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                         

From net investment income

     $—       $(0.06     $(0.06

From net realized gain

                 (0.04

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.06     $(0.10

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $13.16       $11.85       $10.57  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     11.05 (n)      12.71       6.70 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
         

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     0.90 (a)      1.90       5.03 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     0.74 (a)      0.74       0.71 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     2.43 (a)      1.59       1.74 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     28 (n)      51       33 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $52,574       $1,012       $420  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

14


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class B      5/31/17     5/31/16 (c)  
                

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $11.79       $10.55       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations          

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $0.05       $0.10       $0.07  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.21       1.15       0.55  

Total from investment operations

     $1.26       $1.25       $0.62  
Less distributions declared to shareholders          

From net investment income

     $—       $(0.01     $(0.03

From net realized gain

                 (0.04

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.01     $(0.07

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $13.05       $11.79       $10.55  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     10.69 (n)      11.80       6.20 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
         

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     1.67 (a)      2.53       6.53 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     1.49 (a)      1.49       1.46 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     0.79 (a)      0.84       0.94 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     28 (n)      51       33 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $135       $148       $60  
    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class C      5/31/17     5/31/16 (c)  
                

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $11.74       $10.53       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations          

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $0.05       $0.10       $0.07  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.20       1.14       0.54  

Total from investment operations

     $1.25       $1.24       $0.61  
Less distributions declared to shareholders          

From net investment income

     $—       $(0.03     $(0.04

From net realized gain

                 (0.04

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.03     $(0.08

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $12.99       $11.74       $10.53  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     10.65 (n)      11.81       6.16 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
         

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     1.67 (a)      2.33       6.15 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     1.49 (a)      1.49       1.46 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     0.78 (a)      0.83       0.91 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     28 (n)      51       33 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $497       $586       $137  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

15


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class I      5/31/17     5/31/16 (c)  
                

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $11.89       $10.60       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations          

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $0.11       $0.21       $0.14  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.22       1.16       0.56  

Total from investment operations

     $1.33       $1.37       $0.70  
Less distributions declared to shareholders          

From net investment income

     $—       $(0.08     $(0.06

From net realized gain

                 (0.04

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.08     $(0.10

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $13.22       $11.89       $10.60  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     11.19 (n)      12.96       7.02 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
         

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     0.68 (a)      1.43       5.02 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     0.49 (a)      0.49       0.46 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     1.80 (a)      1.84       1.95 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     28 (n)      51       33 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $617       $533       $189  
    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R1      5/31/17     5/31/16 (c)  
                

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $11.80       $10.55       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations          

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $0.05       $0.10       $0.07  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.21       1.15       0.55  

Total from investment operations

     $1.26       $1.25       $0.62  
Less distributions declared to shareholders          

From net investment income

     $—       $—       $(0.03

From net realized gain

                 (0.04

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $—       $(0.07

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $13.06       $11.80       $10.55  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     10.68 (n)      11.85       6.20 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
         

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     1.67 (a)      3.03       6.58 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     1.49 (a)      1.49       1.46 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     0.80 (a)      0.85       0.95 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     28 (n)      51       33 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $66       $59       $53  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

16


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R2      5/31/17     5/31/16 (c)  
                

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $11.85       $10.57       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations          

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $0.08       $0.15       $0.10  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.22       1.16       0.55  

Total from investment operations

     $1.30       $1.31       $0.65  
Less distributions declared to shareholders          

From net investment income

     $—       $(0.03     $(0.04

From net realized gain

                 (0.04

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.03     $(0.08

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $13.15       $11.85       $10.57  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     10.97 (n)      12.38       6.56 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
         

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     1.17 (a)      2.53       6.08 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     0.99 (a)      0.99       0.96 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     1.30 (a)      1.35       1.45 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     28 (n)      51       33 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $66       $60       $53  
    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R3      5/31/17     5/31/16 (c)  
                

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $11.87       $10.58       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations          

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $0.10       $0.18       $0.12  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.21       1.16       0.55  

Total from investment operations

     $1.31       $1.34       $0.67  
Less distributions declared to shareholders          

From net investment income

     $—       $(0.05     $(0.05

From net realized gain

                 (0.04

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.05     $(0.09

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $13.18       $11.87       $10.58  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     11.04 (n)      12.72       6.74 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
         

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     0.92 (a)      2.27       5.83 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     0.74 (a)      0.74       0.71 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     1.55 (a)      1.60       1.70 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     28 (n)      51       33 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $67       $60       $53  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

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Financial Highlights – continued

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R4      5/31/17     5/31/16 (c)  
                

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $11.88       $10.59       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations          

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $0.11       $0.21       $0.14  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.23       1.16       0.55  

Total from investment operations

     $1.34       $1.37       $0.69  
Less distributions declared to shareholders          

From net investment income

     $—       $(0.08     $(0.06

From net realized gain

                 (0.04

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.08     $(0.10

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $13.22       $11.88       $10.59  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     11.28 (n)      12.96       6.92 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
         

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     0.67 (a)      2.02       5.58 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     0.49 (a)      0.49       0.46 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     1.80 (a)      1.85       1.95 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     28 (n)      51       33 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $67       $60       $53  
    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R6      5/31/17     5/31/16 (c)  
                

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $11.89       $10.59       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations          

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $0.12       $0.22       $0.14  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.22       1.16       0.55  

Total from investment operations

     $1.34       $1.38       $0.69  
Less distributions declared to shareholders          

From net investment income

     $—       $(0.08     $(0.06

From net realized gain

                 (0.04

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.08     $(0.10

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $13.23       $11.89       $10.59  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     11.27 (n)      13.08       6.92 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
         

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     0.59 (a)      0.65       5.57 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     0.39 (a)      0.45       0.45 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     1.90 (a)      1.88       1.96 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     28 (n)      51       33 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $132,985       $115,619       $1,925  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

18


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Financial Highlights – continued

 

 

(a) Annualized.
(c) For the period from the commencement of the fund’s investment operations, September 15, 2015, through the stated period end.
(d) Per share data is based on average shares outstanding.
(f) Ratios do not reflect reductions from fees paid indirectly, if applicable.
(n) Not annualized.
(r) Certain expenses have been reduced without which performance would have been lower.
(s) From time to time the fund may receive proceeds from litigation settlements, without which performance would be lower.
(t) Total returns do not include any applicable sales charges.
(x) The net asset values and total returns have been calculated on net assets which include adjustments made in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles required at period end for financial reporting purposes.

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

19


Table of Contents

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(unaudited)

(1) Business and Organization

MFS Blended Research Value Equity Fund (the fund) is a diversified series of MFS Series Trust X (the trust). The trust is organized as a Massachusetts business trust and is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, as an open-end management investment company.

The fund is an investment company and accordingly follows the investment company accounting and reporting guidance of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification Topic 946 Financial Services – Investment Companies.

(2) Significant Accounting Policies

General – The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of increases and decreases in net assets from operations during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. In the preparation of these financial statements, management has evaluated subsequent events occurring after the date of the fund’s Statement of Assets and Liabilities through the date that the financial statements were issued.

In October 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released its Final Rule on Investment Company Reporting Modernization (the “Rule”). The Rule, which introduced two new regulatory reporting forms for investment companies – Form N-PORT and Form N-CEN – also contained amendments to Regulation S-X which impact financial statement presentation, particularly the presentation of derivative investments, for all reporting periods ending after August 1, 2017. The fund has adopted the Rule’s Regulation S-X amendments and believes that the fund’s financial statements are in compliance with those amendments.

Balance Sheet Offsetting – The fund’s accounting policy with respect to balance sheet offsetting is that, absent an event of default by the counterparty or a termination of the agreement, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) Master Agreement, or similar agreement, does not result in an offset of reported amounts of financial assets and financial liabilities in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities across transactions between the fund and the applicable counterparty. The fund’s right to setoff may be restricted or prohibited by the bankruptcy or insolvency laws of the particular jurisdiction to which a specific master netting agreement counterparty is subject. Balance sheet offsetting disclosures, to the extent applicable to the fund, have been included in the fund’s Significant Accounting Policies note under the captions for each of the fund’s in-scope financial instruments and transactions.

Investment Valuations – Equity securities, including restricted equity securities, are generally valued at the last sale or official closing price on their primary market or exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Equity securities, for which there were no sales reported that day, are generally valued at the last quoted daily bid quotation on their primary market or exchange as provided by a third-party pricing

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

service. Short-term instruments with a maturity at issuance of 60 days or less may be valued at amortized cost, which approximates market value. Open-end investment companies are generally valued at net asset value per share. Securities and other assets generally valued on the basis of information from a third-party pricing service may also be valued at a broker/dealer bid quotation. Values obtained from third-party pricing services can utilize both transaction data and market information such as yield, quality, coupon rate, maturity, type of issue, trading characteristics, and other market data. The values of foreign securities and other assets and liabilities expressed in foreign currencies are converted to U.S. dollars using the mean of bid and asked prices for rates provided by a third-party pricing service.

The Board of Trustees has delegated primary responsibility for determining or causing to be determined the value of the fund’s investments (including any fair valuation) to the adviser pursuant to valuation policies and procedures approved by the Board. If the adviser determines that reliable market quotations are not readily available, investments are valued at fair value as determined in good faith by the adviser in accordance with such procedures under the oversight of the Board of Trustees. Under the fund’s valuation policies and procedures, market quotations are not considered to be readily available for most types of debt instruments and floating rate loans and many types of derivatives. These investments are generally valued at fair value based on information from third-party pricing services. In addition, investments may be valued at fair value if the adviser determines that an investment’s value has been materially affected by events occurring after the close of the exchange or market on which the investment is principally traded (such as foreign exchange or market) and prior to the determination of the fund’s net asset value, or after the halting of trading of a specific security where trading does not resume prior to the close of the exchange or market on which the security is principally traded. Events that occur on a frequent basis after foreign markets close (such as developments in foreign markets and significant movements in the U.S. markets) and prior to the determination of the fund’s net asset value may be deemed to have a material effect on the value of securities traded in foreign markets. Accordingly, the fund’s foreign equity securities may often be valued at fair value. The adviser generally relies on third-party pricing services or other information (such as the correlation with price movements of similar securities in the same or other markets; the type, cost and investment characteristics of the security; the business and financial condition of the issuer; and trading and other market data) to assist in determining whether to fair value and at what value to fair value an investment. The value of an investment for purposes of calculating the fund’s net asset value can differ depending on the source and method used to determine value. When fair valuation is used, the value of an investment used to determine the fund’s net asset value may differ from quoted or published prices for the same investment. There can be no assurance that the fund could obtain the fair value assigned to an investment if it were to sell the investment at the same time at which the fund determines its net asset value per share.

Various inputs are used in determining the value of the fund’s assets or liabilities. These inputs are categorized into three broad levels. In certain cases, the inputs used to measure fair value may fall into different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In such cases, an investment’s level within the fair value hierarchy is based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement. The fund’s assessment of the

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

significance of a particular input to the fair value measurement in its entirety requires judgment, and considers factors specific to the investment. Level 1 includes unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. Level 2 includes other significant observable market-based inputs (including quoted prices for similar securities, interest rates, prepayment speed, and credit risk). Level 3 includes unobservable inputs, which may include the adviser’s own assumptions in determining the fair value of investments. The following is a summary of the levels used as of November 30, 2017 in valuing the fund’s assets or liabilities:

 

Financial Instruments    Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  
Equity Securities      $181,688,104        $—        $—        $181,688,104  
Mutual Funds      2,695,824                      2,695,824  
Total      $181,383,928        $—        $—        $184,383,928  

For further information regarding security characteristics, see the Portfolio of Investments.

Indemnifications – Under the fund’s organizational documents, its officers and Trustees may be indemnified against certain liabilities and expenses arising out of the performance of their duties to the fund. Additionally, in the normal course of business, the fund enters into agreements with service providers that may contain indemnification clauses. The fund’s maximum exposure under these agreements is unknown as this would involve future claims that may be made against the fund that have not yet occurred.

Investment Transactions and Income – Investment transactions are recorded on the trade date. Dividends received in cash are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Certain dividends from foreign securities will be recorded when the fund is informed of the dividend if such information is obtained subsequent to the ex-dividend date. Dividend payments received in additional securities are recorded on the ex-dividend date in an amount equal to the value of the security on such date.

The fund may receive proceeds from litigation settlements. Any proceeds received from litigation involving portfolio holdings are reflected in the Statement of Operations in realized gain/loss if the security has been disposed of by the fund or in unrealized gain/loss if the security is still held by the fund. Any other proceeds from litigation not related to portfolio holdings are reflected as other income in the Statement of Operations.

Tax Matters and Distributions – The fund intends to qualify as a regulated investment company, as defined under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code, and to distribute all of its taxable income, including realized capital gains. As a result, no provision for federal income tax is required. The fund’s federal tax returns, when filed, will remain subject to examination by the Internal Revenue Service for a three year period. Management has analyzed the fund’s tax positions taken on federal and state tax returns for all open tax years and does not believe that there are any uncertain tax positions that require recognition of a tax liability. Foreign taxes, if any, have been accrued by the fund in the accompanying financial statements in accordance with the applicable foreign tax law. Foreign income taxes may be withheld by certain countries

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

in which the fund invests. Additionally, capital gains realized by the fund on securities issued in or by certain foreign countries may be subject to capital gains tax imposed by those countries.

Distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Income and capital gain distributions are determined in accordance with income tax regulations, which may differ from U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Certain capital accounts in the financial statements are periodically adjusted for permanent differences in order to reflect their tax character. These adjustments have no impact on net assets or net

asset value per share. Temporary differences which arise from recognizing certain items of income, expense, gain or loss in different periods for financial statement and tax purposes will reverse at some time in the future. Distributions in excess of net investment income or net realized gains are temporary overdistributions for financial statement purposes resulting from differences in the recognition or classification of income or distributions for financial statement and tax purposes.

Book/tax differences primarily relate to wash sale loss deferrals.

The tax character of distributions declared to shareholders for the last fiscal year is as follows:

 

     Year ended
5/31/17
 
Ordinary income (including any
short-term capital gains)
     $800,055  

The federal tax cost and the tax basis components of distributable earnings were as follows:

 

As of 11/30/17       
Cost of investments      $167,159,898  
Gross appreciation      20,600,554  
Gross depreciation      (3,376,524
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation)      $17,224,030  
As of 5/31/17       
Undistributed ordinary income      2,094,395  
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation)      7,496,459  

The aggregate cost above includes prior fiscal year end tax adjustments, if applicable.

Multiple Classes of Shares of Beneficial Interest – The fund offers multiple classes of shares, which differ in their respective distribution and service fees. The fund’s income, realized and unrealized gain (loss), and common expenses are allocated to shareholders based on the daily net assets of each class. Dividends are declared separately for each class. Differences in per share dividend rates are generally due to differences in separate class expenses. Class B shares will convert to Class A shares approximately eight years after purchase. Effective April 23, 2018, Class C shares will convert to Class A shares approximately ten years after purchase. Any shares with an original purchase date of April 30, 2008 or earlier will automatically convert to Class A

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

on April 23, 2018. The fund’s distributions declared to shareholders as reported in the Statements of Changes in Net Assets are presented by class as follows:

 

     From net investment
income
 
     Six months
ended
11/30/17
     Year
ended
5/31/17
 
Class A      $—        $3,951  
Class B             44  
Class C             1,022  
Class I             2,697  
Class R2             144  
Class R3             276  
Class R4             409  
Class R6             791,512  
Total      $—        $800,055  

(3) Transactions with Affiliates

Investment Adviser – The fund has an investment advisory agreement with MFS to provide overall investment management and related administrative services and facilities to the fund. The management fee is computed daily and paid monthly at the following annual rates based on the fund’s average daily net assets:

 

Up to $1 billion      0.40
In excess of $1 billion and up to $2.5 billion      0.375
In excess of $2.5 billion      0.35

MFS has agreed in writing to reduce its management fee by a specified amount if certain MFS mutual fund assets exceed thresholds agreed to by MFS and the fund’s Board of Trustees. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, this management fee reduction amounted to $5,515, which is included in the reduction of total expenses in the Statement of Operations. The management fee incurred for the six months ended November 30, 2017 was equivalent to an annual effective rate of 0.39% of the fund’s average daily net assets.

The investment adviser has agreed in writing to pay a portion of the fund’s total annual operating expenses, excluding interest, taxes, extraordinary expenses, brokerage and transaction costs, and investment-related expenses, such that total fund operating expenses do not exceed the following rates annually of each class’s average daily net assets:

 

Classes  
A   B     C     I     R1     R2     R3     R4     R6  
0.74%     1.49%       1.49%       0.49%       1.49%       0.99%       0.74%       0.49%       0.45%  

This written agreement will continue until modified by the fund’s Board of Trustees, but such agreement will continue at least until September 30, 2018. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, this reduction amounted to $126,469, which is included in the reduction of total expenses in the Statement of Operations.

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

Distributor – MFS Fund Distributors, Inc. (MFD), a wholly-owned subsidiary of MFS, as distributor, received $512 for the six months ended November 30, 2017, as its portion of the initial sales charge on sales of Class A shares of the fund.

The Board of Trustees has adopted a distribution plan for certain share classes pursuant to Rule 12b-1 of the Investment Company Act of 1940.

The fund’s distribution plan provides that the fund will pay MFD for services provided by MFD and financial intermediaries in connection with the distribution and servicing of certain share classes. One component of the plan is a distribution fee paid to MFD and another component of the plan is a service fee paid to MFD. MFD may subsequently pay all, or a portion, of the distribution and/or service fees to financial intermediaries.

Distribution Plan Fee Table:

 

     Distribution
Fee Rate (d)
     Service
Fee Rate (d)
     Total
Distribution
Plan (d)
     Annual
Effective
Rate (e)
     Distribution
and Service
Fee
 
Class A             0.25%        0.25%        0.25%        $11,907  
Class B      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        650  
Class C      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        2,643  
Class R1      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        311  
Class R2      0.25%        0.25%        0.50%        0.50%        157  
Class R3             0.25%        0.25%        0.25%        79  
Total Distribution and Service Fees              $15,747  

 

(d) In accordance with the distribution plan for certain classes, the fund pays distribution and/or service fees equal to these annual percentage rates of each class’s average daily net assets. The distribution and service fee rates disclosed by class represent the current rates in effect at the end of the reporting period. Any rate changes, if applicable, are detailed below.
(e) The annual effective rates represent actual fees incurred under the distribution plan for the six months ended November 30, 2017 based on each class’s average daily net assets. MFD has voluntarily agreed to rebate a portion of each class’s 0.25% service fee attributable to accounts for which MFD retains the 0.25% service fee except for accounts attributable to MFS or its affiliates’ seed money. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, this rebate amounted to $3 for Class A and is included in the reduction of total expenses in the Statement of Operations.

Certain Class A shares are subject to a contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) in the event of a shareholder redemption within 18 months of purchase. Class C shares are subject to a CDSC in the event of a shareholder redemption within 12 months of purchase. Class B shares are subject to a CDSC in the event of a shareholder redemption within six years of purchase. All contingent deferred sales charges are paid to MFD and during the six months ended November 30, 2017, were as follows:

 

     Amount  
Class A      $—  
Class B      173  
Class C      25  

Shareholder Servicing Agent – MFS Service Center, Inc. (MFSC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of MFS, receives a fee from the fund for its services as shareholder servicing agent calculated as a percentage of the average daily net assets of the fund as

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

determined periodically under the supervision of the fund’s Board of Trustees. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fee was $383, which equated to 0.0006% annually of the fund’s average daily net assets. MFSC also receives payment from the fund for out-of-pocket expenses, sub-accounting and other shareholder servicing costs which may be paid to affiliated and unaffiliated service providers. Class R6 shares do not incur sub-accounting fees. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, these out-of-pocket expenses, sub-accounting and other shareholder servicing costs amounted to $6,265.

Administrator – MFS provides certain financial, legal, shareholder communications, compliance, and other administrative services to the fund. Under an administrative services agreement, the fund reimburses MFS the costs incurred to provide these services. The fund is charged an annual fixed amount of $17,500 plus a fee based on average daily net assets. The administrative services fee incurred for the six months ended November 30, 2017 was equivalent to an annual effective rate of 0.0229% of the fund’s average daily net assets.

Trustees’ and Officers’ Compensation – The fund pays compensation to independent Trustees in the form of a retainer, attendance fees, and additional compensation to Board and Committee chairpersons. The fund does not pay compensation directly to Trustees or officers of the fund who are also officers of the investment adviser, all of whom receive remuneration for their services to the fund from MFS. Certain officers and Trustees of the fund are officers or directors of MFS, MFD, and MFSC.

Other – This fund and certain other funds managed by MFS (the funds) have entered into a service agreement (the ISO Agreement) which provides for payment of fees solely by the funds to Tarantino LLC in return for the provision of services of an Independent Senior Officer (ISO) for the funds. Frank L. Tarantino serves as the ISO and is an officer of the funds and the sole member of Tarantino LLC. The funds can terminate the ISO Agreement with Tarantino LLC at any time under the terms of the ISO Agreement. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fee paid by the fund under this agreement was $108 and is included in “Miscellaneous” expense in the Statement of Operations. MFS has agreed to bear all expenses associated with office space, other administrative support, and supplies provided to the ISO.

The fund invests in the MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio which is managed by MFS and seeks current income consistent with preservation of capital and liquidity. This money market fund does not pay a management fee to MFS.

On September 22, 2016, MFS redeemed 173,516 shares of Class R6 for an aggregate amount of $1,900,000.

On March 16, 2017, MFS purchased 1,815 shares of Class I for an aggregate amount of $21,960.

On August 15, 2017, MFS redeemed 959, 893, 896, 982, and 8,280 shares of Class A, Class B, Class C, Class I, and Class R6, respectively, for an aggregate amount of $147,499.

At November 30, 2017, MFS held approximately 100% of the outstanding shares of Class R1, Class R2, Class R3, and Class R4, respectively.

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

The fund is permitted to engage in purchase and sale transactions with funds and accounts for which MFS serves as investment adviser or sub-adviser (“cross-trades”) pursuant to a policy adopted by the Board of Trustees. This policy has been designed to ensure that cross-trades conducted by the fund comply with Rule 17a-7 under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Under this policy, cross-trades are effected at current market prices with no remuneration paid in connection with the transaction. During the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fund engaged in sale transactions pursuant to this policy, which amounted to $204,409. The sales transactions resulted in net realized gains (losses) of $34,570.

(4) Portfolio Securities

For the six months ended November 30, 2017, purchases and sales of investments, other than short-term obligations, aggregated $91,795,825 and $39,310,203, respectively.

(5) Shares of Beneficial Interest

The fund’s Declaration of Trust permits the Trustees to issue an unlimited number of full and fractional shares of beneficial interest. Transactions in fund shares were as follows:

 

     Six months ended
11/30/17
     Year ended
5/31/17
 
     Shares      Amount      Shares      Amount  
Shares sold            

Class A

     3,978,643        $51,121,603        80,136        $917,231  

Class B

     1,573        20,000        7,531        85,805  

Class C

     797        9,813        38,277        441,024  

Class I

     5,085        64,014        45,802        533,387  

Class R2

     3        40                

Class R6

     935,652        11,677,709        10,949,477        120,600,722  
     4,921,753        $62,893,179        11,121,223        $122,578,169  
Shares issued to shareholders in reinvestment of distributions            

Class A

            $—        335        $3,913  

Class B

                   4        44  

Class C

                   88        1,022  

Class I

                   230        2,697  

Class R2

                   12        144  

Class R3

                   24        276  

Class R4

                   35        409  

Class R6

                   67,593        791,512  
            $—        68,321        $800,017  

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

     Six months ended
11/30/17
     Year ended
5/31/17
 
     Shares      Amount      Shares      Amount  
Shares reacquired            

Class A

     (70,352      $(894,775      (34,758      $(395,561

Class B

     (3,794      (46,365      (681      (7,942

Class C

     (12,471      (150,876      (1,499      (17,662

Class I

     (3,227      (39,211      (19,052      (226,387

Class R6

     (608,619      (7,613,583      (1,476,313      (16,998,982
     (698,463      $(8,744,810      (1,532,303      $(17,646,534
Net change            

Class A

     3,908,291        $50,226,828        45,713        $525,583  

Class B

     (2,221      (26,365      6,854        77,907  

Class C

     (11,674      (141,063      36,866        424,384  

Class I

     1,858        24,803        26,980        309,697  

Class R2

     3        40        12        144  

Class R3

                   24        276  

Class R4

                   35        409  

Class R6

     327,033        4,064,126        9,540,757        104,393,252  
     4,223,290        $54,148,369        9,657,241        $105,731,652  

Class T shares were not publicly available for sale during the period. Please see the fund’s prospectus for details.

The fund is one of several mutual funds in which certain MFS funds may invest. The MFS funds do not invest in the underlying funds for the purpose of exercising management or control. At the end of the period, the MFS Lifetime 2030 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2040 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2035 Fund, the MFS Lifetime Income Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2050 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2020 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2045 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2025 Fund, and the MFS Lifetime 2055 Fund were the owners of record of approximately 16%, 15%, 8%, 7%, 7%, 6%, 6%, 5%, and 2%, respectively, of the value of outstanding voting shares of the fund. In addition, the MFS Lifetime 2060 Fund was the owner of record of less than 1% of the value of outstanding voting shares of the fund.

(6) Line of Credit

The fund and certain other funds managed by MFS participate in a $1.25 billion unsecured committed line of credit, subject to a $1 billion sublimit, provided by a syndication of banks under a credit agreement. Borrowings may be made for temporary financing needs. Interest is charged to each fund, based on its borrowings, generally at a rate equal to the higher of the Overnight Federal Reserve funds rate or daily one month LIBOR plus an agreed upon spread. A commitment fee, based on the average daily, unused portion of the committed line of credit, is allocated among the participating funds at the end of each calendar quarter. In addition, the fund and other funds managed by MFS have established unsecured uncommitted borrowing arrangements with certain banks for temporary financing needs. Interest is charged to each fund, based on its borrowings, at a rate equal to the Overnight Federal Reserve funds rate plus an agreed upon spread. For the six months ended November 30, 2017,

 

28


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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

the fund’s commitment fee and interest expense were $390 and $0, respectively, and are included in “Miscellaneous” expense in the Statement of Operations.

(7) Investments in Affiliated Issuers

An affiliated issuer may be considered one in which the fund owns 5% or more of the outstanding voting securities, or a company which is under common control. For the purposes of this report, the fund assumes the following to be affiliated issuers:

 

Affiliated Issuers          Beginning
Shares/Par
Amount
    Acquisitions
Shares/Par
Amount
    Dispositions
Shares/Par
Amount
    Ending
Shares/Par
Amount
 
MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio       1,704,145       63,474,891       (62,482,942     2,696,094  
Affiliated Issuers   Realized
Gain (Loss)
    Change in
Unrealized
Appreciation
(Depreciation)
    Capital Gain
Distributions
    Dividend
Income
   

Ending

Value

 
MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio     $(163     $(313     $—       $11,339       $2,695,824  

 

29


Table of Contents

BOARD REVIEW OF INVESTMENT ADVISORY AGREEMENT

The Investment Company Act of 1940 requires that both the full Board of Trustees and a majority of the non-interested (“independent”) Trustees, voting separately, annually approve the continuation of the Fund’s investment advisory agreement with MFS. The Trustees consider matters bearing on the Fund and its advisory arrangements at their meetings throughout the year, including a review of performance data at each regular meeting. In addition, the independent Trustees met several times over the course of three months beginning in May and ending in July, 2017 (“contract review meetings”) for the specific purpose of considering whether to approve the continuation of the investment advisory agreement for the Fund and the other investment companies that the Board oversees (the “MFS Funds”). The independent Trustees were assisted in their evaluation of the Fund’s investment advisory agreement by independent legal counsel, from whom they received separate legal advice and with whom they met separately from MFS during various contract review meetings. The independent Trustees were also assisted in this process by the MFS Funds’ Independent Senior Officer, a senior officer appointed by and reporting to the independent Trustees.

In connection with their deliberations regarding the continuation of the investment advisory agreement, the Trustees, including the independent Trustees, considered such information and factors as they believed, in light of the legal advice furnished to them and their own business judgment, to be relevant. The investment advisory agreement for the Fund was considered separately, although the Trustees also took into account the common interests of all MFS Funds in their review. As described below, the Trustees considered the nature, quality, and extent of the various investment advisory, administrative, and shareholder services performed by MFS under the existing investment advisory agreement and other arrangements with the Fund.

In connection with their contract review meetings, the Trustees received and relied upon materials that included, among other items: (i) information provided by Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (“Broadridge”), an independent third party, on the investment performance of the Fund for the one-year period ended December 31, 2016 and the investment performance of a group of funds with substantially similar investment classifications/objectives (the “Lipper performance universe”), (ii) information provided by Broadridge on the Fund’s advisory fees and other expenses and the advisory fees and other expenses of comparable funds identified by Broadridge (the “Broadridge expense group”), (iii) information provided by MFS on the advisory fees of portfolios of other clients of MFS, including institutional separate accounts and other clients, (iv) information as to whether and to what extent applicable expense waivers, reimbursements or fee “breakpoints” are observed for the Fund, (v) information regarding MFS’ financial results and financial condition, including MFS’ and certain of its affiliates’ estimated profitability from services performed for the Fund and the MFS Funds as a whole, and compared to MFS’ institutional business, (vi) MFS’ views regarding the outlook for the mutual fund industry and the strategic business plans of MFS, (vii) descriptions of various functions performed by MFS for the Funds, such as compliance monitoring and portfolio trading practices, and (viii) information regarding the overall organization of MFS, including information about MFS’ senior management and other personnel providing investment advisory,

 

30


Table of Contents

Board Review of Investment Advisory Agreement – continued

 

administrative and other services to the Fund and the other MFS Funds. The comparative performance, fee and expense information prepared and provided by Broadridge was not independently verified and the independent Trustees did not independently verify any information provided to them by MFS.

The Trustees’ conclusion as to the continuation of the investment advisory agreement was based on a comprehensive consideration of all information provided to the Trustees and not the result of any single factor. Some of the factors that figured particularly in the Trustees’ deliberations are described below, although individual Trustees may have evaluated the information presented differently from one another, giving different weights to various factors. It is also important to recognize that the fee arrangements for the Fund and other MFS Funds are the result of years of review and discussion between the independent Trustees and MFS, that certain aspects of such arrangements may receive greater scrutiny in some years than in others, and that the Trustees’ conclusions may be based, in part, on their consideration of these same arrangements during the course of the year and in prior years.

Based on information provided by Broadridge and MFS, the Trustees reviewed the Fund’s total return investment performance as well as Lipper performance universe over the one-year period ended December 31, 2016. The total return performance of the Fund’s Class A shares was in the 3rd quintile relative to the other funds in the universe for this one-year period (the 1st quintile being the best performers and the 5th quintile being the worst performers). The Fund commenced operations on September 15, 2015, and has a limited operating history and performance record; therefore no performance data for the three- or five-year periods was available. Because of the passage of time, these performance results may differ from the performance results for more recent periods, including those shown elsewhere in this report.

In assessing the reasonableness of the Fund’s advisory fee, the Trustees considered, among other information, the Fund’s advisory fee and the total expense ratio of the Fund’s Class A shares as a percentage of average daily net assets and the advisory fee and total expense ratios of peer groups of funds based on information provided by Broadridge. The Trustees considered that MFS currently observes an expense limitation for the Fund, which may not be changed without the Trustees’ approval. The Trustees also considered that, according to the data provided by Broadridge (which takes into account any fee reductions or expense limitations that were in effect during the Fund’s last fiscal year), the Fund’s effective advisory fee rate and total expense ratio were each lower than the Broadridge expense group median.

The Trustees also considered the advisory fees charged by MFS to any institutional separate accounts advised by MFS (“separate accounts”) and unaffiliated investment companies for which MFS serves as subadviser (“subadvised funds”) that have comparable investment strategies to the Fund, if any. In comparing these fees, the Trustees considered information provided by MFS as to the generally broader scope of services provided by MFS to the Fund, as well as the more extensive regulatory burdens imposed on MFS in managing the Fund, in comparison to separate accounts and subadvised funds. The Trustees also considered the higher demands placed on MFS’ investment personnel and trading infrastructure as a result of the daily cash in-flows and out-flows of the Fund in comparison to separate accounts.

 

31


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Board Review of Investment Advisory Agreement – continued

 

The Trustees also considered whether the Fund may benefit from any economies of scale in the management of the Fund in the event of growth in assets of the Fund and/or growth in assets of the MFS Funds as a whole. They noted that the Fund’s advisory fee rate schedule is subject to contractual breakpoints that reduce the Fund’s advisory fee rate on average daily net assets over $1 billion and $2.5 billion. The Trustees also noted that MFS has agreed in writing to waive a portion of the management fees of certain MFS Funds, including the Fund, if the total combined assets of certain funds within the MFS Funds’ complex increase above agreed upon thresholds (the “group fee waiver”), enabling the Fund’s shareholders to share in the benefits from any economies of scale at the complex level. The group fee waiver is reviewed and renewed annually between the Board and MFS. The Trustees concluded that the breakpoints and the group fee waiver were sufficient to allow the Fund to benefit from economies of scale as its assets and overall complex assets grow.

The Trustees also considered information prepared by MFS relating to MFS’ costs and profits with respect to the Fund, the MFS Funds considered as a group, and other investment companies and accounts advised by MFS, as well as MFS’ methodologies used to determine and allocate its costs to the MFS Funds, the Fund, and other accounts and products for purposes of estimating profitability.

After reviewing these and other factors described herein, the Trustees concluded, within the context of their overall conclusions regarding the investment advisory agreement, that the advisory fees charged to the Fund represent reasonable compensation in light of the services being provided by MFS to the Fund.

In addition, the Trustees considered MFS’ resources and related efforts to continue to retain, attract and motivate capable personnel to serve the Fund. The Trustees also considered current and developing conditions in the financial services industry, including the presence of large and well-capitalized companies which are spending, and appear to be prepared to continue to spend, substantial sums to engage personnel and to provide services to competing investment companies. In this regard, the Trustees also considered the financial resources of MFS and its ultimate parent, Sun Life Financial Inc. The Trustees also considered the advantages and possible disadvantages to the Fund of having an adviser that also serves other investment companies as well as other accounts.

The Trustees also considered the nature, quality, cost, and extent of administrative, transfer agency, and distribution services provided to the Fund by MFS and its affiliates under agreements and plans other than the investment advisory agreement, including any 12b-1 fees the Fund pays to MFS Fund Distributors, Inc., an affiliate of MFS. The Trustees also considered the nature, extent and quality of certain other services MFS performs or arranges for on the Fund’s behalf, which may include securities lending programs, directed expense payment programs, class action recovery programs, and MFS’ interaction with third-party service providers, principally custodians and sub-custodians. The Trustees concluded that the various non-advisory services provided by MFS and its affiliates on behalf of the Fund were satisfactory.

 

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Board Review of Investment Advisory Agreement – continued

 

The Trustees also considered benefits to MFS from the use of the Fund’s portfolio brokerage commissions, if applicable, to pay for investment research and various other factors. Additionally, the Trustees considered so-called “fall-out benefits” to MFS such as reputational value derived from serving as investment manager to the Fund.

Based on their evaluation of factors that they deemed to be material, including those factors described above, the Board of Trustees, including the independent Trustees, concluded that the Fund’s investment advisory agreement with MFS should be continued for an additional one-year period, commencing August 1, 2017.

 

33


Table of Contents

PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND INFORMATION

MFS votes proxies on behalf of the fund pursuant to proxy voting policies and procedures that are available without charge, upon request, by calling 1-800-225-2606, by visiting mfs.com/proxyvoting, or by visiting the SEC’s Web site at http://www.sec.gov.

Information regarding how the fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the most recent twelve-month period ended June 30 is available by August 31 of each year without charge by visiting mfs.com/proxyvoting, or by visiting the SEC’s Web site at http://www.sec.gov.

QUARTERLY PORTFOLIO DISCLOSURE

The fund will file a complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission) for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-Q. A shareholder can obtain the quarterly portfolio holdings report at mfs.com. The fund’s Form N-Q is also available on the EDGAR database on the Commission’s Internet Web site at http://www.sec.gov, and may be reviewed and copied at the:

Public Reference Room

Securities and Exchange Commission

100 F Street, NE, Room 1580

Washington, D.C. 20549

Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling the Commission at 1-800-SEC-0330. Copies of the fund’s Form N-Q also may be obtained, upon payment of a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov or by writing the Public Reference Section at the above address.

FURTHER INFORMATION

From time to time, MFS may post important information about the fund or the MFS funds on the MFS web site (mfs.com). This information is available at https://www.mfs.com/en-us/what-we-do/announcements.html or at mfs.com/openendfunds by choosing the fund’s name.

 

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Table of Contents

INFORMATION ABOUT FUND CONTRACTS AND LEGAL CLAIMS

The fund has entered into contractual arrangements with an investment adviser, administrator, distributor, shareholder servicing agent, 529 program manager (if applicable), and custodian who each provide services to the fund. Unless expressly stated otherwise, shareholders are not parties to, or intended beneficiaries of these contractual arrangements, and these contractual arrangements are not intended to create any shareholder right to enforce them against the service providers or to seek any remedy under them against the service providers, either directly or on behalf of the fund.

Under the Trust’s By-Laws and Declaration of Trust, any claims asserted against or on behalf of the MFS Funds, including claims against Trustees and Officers, must be brought in state and federal courts located within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

PROVISION OF FINANCIAL REPORTS AND SUMMARY PROSPECTUSES

The fund produces financial reports every six months and updates its summary prospectus and prospectus annually. To avoid sending duplicate copies of materials to households, only one copy of the fund’s annual and semiannual report and summary prospectus may be mailed to shareholders having the same last name and residential address on the fund’s records. However, any shareholder may contact MFSC (please see back cover for address and telephone number) to request that copies of these reports and summary prospectuses be sent personally to that shareholder.

 

35


Table of Contents

LOGO

 

Save paper with eDelivery.

 

LOGO

MFS® will send you prospectuses,

reports, and proxies directly via e-mail so you will get information faster with less mailbox clutter.

To sign up:

1. Go to mfs.com.

2. Log in via MFS® Access.

3. Select eDelivery.

If you own your MFS fund shares through a financial institution or a retirement plan, MFS® TALK, MFS® Access, or eDelivery may not be available to you.

 

CONTACT

WEB SITE

mfs.com

MFS TALK

1-800-637-8255

24 hours a day

ACCOUNT SERVICE AND LITERATURE

Shareholders

1-800-225-2606

Financial advisors

1-800-343-2829

Retirement plan services

1-800-637-1255

MAILING ADDRESS

MFS Service Center, Inc.

P.O. Box 55824

Boston, MA 02205-5824

OVERNIGHT MAIL

MFS Service Center, Inc.

c/o DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc.

30 Dan Road

Canton, MA 02021-2809

 


Table of Contents

SEMIANNUAL REPORT

November 30, 2017

 

LOGO

 

MFS® BLENDED RESEARCH® SMALL CAP EQUITY FUND

 

LOGO

 

BRS-SEM

 


Table of Contents

MFS® BLENDED RESEARCH® SMALL CAP EQUITY FUND

 

CONTENTS

 

Letter from the Executive Chairman     1  
Portfolio composition     2  
Expense table     3  
Portfolio of investments     5  
Statement of assets and liabilities     12  
Statement of operations     14  
Statements of changes in net assets     15  
Financial highlights     16  
Notes to financial statements     23  
Board review of investment advisory agreement     35  
Proxy voting policies and information     39  
Quarterly portfolio disclosure     39  
Further information     39  
Information about fund contracts and legal claims     40  
Provision of financial reports and summary prospectuses     40  
Contact information    back cover  

The report is prepared for the general information of shareholders.

It is authorized for distribution to prospective investors only when preceded or accompanied by a current prospectus.

 

NOT FDIC INSURED MAY LOSE VALUE NO BANK GUARANTEE



Table of Contents

LOGO

 

LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN

 

Dear Shareholders:

Most markets have proved resilient over the past year, despite uncertainty accompanying a new presidential administration in the United States and unease over

ongoing negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union regarding Brexit. U.S. share prices have reached new highs in recent months although the U.S. Federal Reserve has continued to gradually hike interest rates and has begun to shrink its balance sheet.

Globally, we’ve experienced a synchronized upturn in economic growth for more than a year. Despite the improvement in economic activity, there are few immediate signs of worrisome inflation amid muted wage gains around the world. Emerging market economies have been boosted in part by a weaker

U.S. dollar and are recovering despite lingering concerns over the potential for restrictive U.S. trade policies. Commodity markets have recovered somewhat in response to solid global demand and robust global trade, though not enough to rekindle inflation fears.

At MFS®, we believe having a disciplined, long-term investment approach through a full market cycle is essential to capturing the best opportunities while also managing risk. In our view, such a strategy, along with the professional guidance of a financial advisor, will help you reach your investment objectives.

Respectfully,

 

LOGO

Robert J. Manning

Executive Chairman

MFS Investment Management

January 16, 2018

The opinions expressed in this letter are subject to change and may not be relied upon for investment advice. No forecasts can be guaranteed.

 

1


Table of Contents

PORTFOLIO COMPOSITION

 

Portfolio structure

 

LOGO

 

Top ten holdings  
Wintrust Financial Corp.     1.5%  
East West Bancorp, Inc.     1.5%  
KBR, Inc.     1.5%  
WESCO International, Inc.     1.5%  
Trex Co., Inc.     1.4%  
Tech Data Corp.     1.4%  
Grand Canyon Education, Inc.     1.4%  
Exact Sciences Corp.     1.4%  
Gramercy Property Trust, REIT     1.3%  
Michaels Co., Inc.     1.3%  
Equity sectors  
Financial Services     24.8%  
Technology     14.1%  
Industrial Goods & Services     13.3%  
Health Care     11.8%  
Basic Materials     5.5%  
Special Products & Services     5.2%  
Leisure     4.4%  
Retailing     4.4%  
Utilities & Communications     4.1%  
Energy     4.0%  
Consumer Staples     3.0%  
Autos & Housing     2.2%  
Transportation     0.6%  
 

Cash & Cash Equivalents includes any cash, investments in money market funds, short-term securities, and other assets less liabilities. Please see the Statement of Assets and Liabilities for additional information related to the fund’s cash position and other assets and liabilities.

Percentages are based on net assets as of November 30, 2017.

The portfolio is actively managed and current holdings may be different.

 

2


Table of Contents

EXPENSE TABLE

Fund expenses borne by the shareholders during the period, June 1, 2017 through November 30, 2017

As a shareholder of the fund, you incur two types of costs: (1) transaction costs, including sales charges (loads) on certain purchase or redemption payments, and (2) ongoing costs, including management fees; distribution and service (12b-1) fees; and other fund expenses. This example is intended to help you understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the fund and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds.

The example is based on an investment of $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period June 1, 2017 through November 30, 2017.

Actual Expenses

The first line for each share class in the following table provides information about actual account values and actual expenses. You may use the information in this line, together with the amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you paid over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000 = 8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first line under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid During Period” to estimate the expenses you paid on your account during this period.

Hypothetical Example for Comparison Purposes

The second line for each share class in the following table provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the fund’s actual expense ratio and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses, which is not the fund’s actual return. The hypothetical account values and expenses may not be used to estimate the actual ending account balance or expenses you paid for the period. You may use this information to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the fund and other funds. To do so, compare this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of the other funds.

Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only and do not reflect any transactional costs, such as sales charges (loads). Therefore, the second line for each share class in the table is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds. In addition, if these transactional costs were included, your costs would have been higher.

 

3


Table of Contents

Expense Table – continued

 

 

Share
Class
       Annualized
Expense
Ratio
  Beginning
Account Value
6/01/17
 

Ending

Account Value
11/30/17

 

Expenses

Paid During
Period (p)

6/01/17-11/30/17

 
A   Actual   0.96%   $1,000.00   $1,118.39     $5.10  
  Hypothetical (h)   0.96%   $1,000.00   $1,020.26     $4.86  
B   Actual   1.74%   $1,000.00   $1,115.25     $9.23  
  Hypothetical (h)   1.74%   $1,000.00   $1,016.34     $8.80  
C   Actual   1.74%   $1,000.00   $1,114.41     $9.22  
  Hypothetical (h)   1.74%   $1,000.00   $1,016.34     $8.80  
I   Actual   0.74%   $1,000.00   $1,119.77     $3.93  
  Hypothetical (h)   0.74%   $1,000.00   $1,021.36     $3.75  
R1   Actual   1.74%   $1,000.00   $1,114.31     $9.22  
  Hypothetical (h)   1.74%   $1,000.00   $1,016.34     $8.80  
R2   Actual   1.24%   $1,000.00   $1,116.91     $6.58  
  Hypothetical (h)   1.24%   $1,000.00   $1,018.85     $6.28  
R3   Actual   0.99%   $1,000.00   $1,119.13     $5.26  
  Hypothetical (h)   0.99%   $1,000.00   $1,020.10     $5.01  
R4   Actual   0.74%   $1,000.00   $1,119.77     $3.93  
  Hypothetical (h)   0.74%   $1,000.00   $1,021.36     $3.75  
R6   Actual   0.66%   $1,000.00   $1,120.60     $3.51  
  Hypothetical (h)   0.66%   $1,000.00   $1,021.76     $3.35  
529A   Actual   1.04%   $1,000.00   $1,118.49     $5.52  
  Hypothetical (h)   1.04%   $1,000.00   $1,019.85     $5.27  
529B   Actual   1.79%   $1,000.00   $1,114.41     $9.49  
  Hypothetical (h)   1.79%   $1,000.00   $1,016.09     $9.05  
529C   Actual   1.79%   $1,000.00   $1,114.50     $9.49  
  Hypothetical (h)   1.79%   $1,000.00   $1,016.09     $9.05  

 

(h) 5% class return per year before expenses.
(p) “Expenses Paid During Period” are equal to each class’s annualized expense ratio, as shown above, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/365 (to reflect the one-half year period). Expenses paid do not include any applicable sales charges (loads). If these transaction costs had been included, your costs would have been higher.

Notes to Expense Table

Each class with a Rule 12b-1 service fee is subject to a rebate of a portion of such fee. Such rebates are included in the expense ratios above and are outside of the expense limitation arrangement. For Class A shares, this rebate reduced the expense ratio above by 0.03%. See Note 3 in the Notes to Financial Statements for additional information.

 

4


Table of Contents

PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS

11/30/17 (unaudited)

The Portfolio of Investments is a complete list of all securities owned by your fund. It is categorized by broad-based asset classes.

 

Common Stocks - 97.4%                 
Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Biotechnology - 4.3%                 
Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. (a)      24,038     $ 487,971  
AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (a)      39,634       552,894  
Bruker BioSciences Corp.      16,322       574,208  
Emergent BioSolutions, Inc. (a)      13,425       589,760  
Exact Sciences Corp. (a)      22,882       1,361,021  
MiMedx Group, Inc. (a)(l)      45,647       528,136  
Natera, Inc. (a)      9,497       92,406  
Vanda Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (a)      6,333       88,979  
    

 

 

 
             $ 4,275,375  
Broadcasting - 0.3%                 
MDC Partners, Inc. (a)      23,838     $ 276,521  
Brokerage & Asset Managers - 0.3%                 
Hamilton Lane, Inc.,“A”      7,101     $ 244,772  
Legg Mason, Inc.      1,252       50,030  
OM Asset Management PLC      3,088       50,643  
    

 

 

 
             $ 345,445  
Business Services - 3.9%                 
Conduent, Inc. (a)      57,341     $ 875,024  
Forrester Research, Inc.      19,761       917,898  
Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (a)      14,366       1,364,195  
Travelport Worldwide Ltd.      58,412       782,137  
    

 

 

 
             $ 3,939,254  
Cable TV - 0.2%                 
Cable One, Inc.      285     $ 195,741  
Chemicals - 0.8%                 
Ingevity Corp. (a)      9,470     $ 753,717  
Computer Software - 2.8%                 
Aspen Technology, Inc. (a)      14,353     $ 960,503  
Cornerstone OnDemand, Inc. (a)      18,192       672,558  
Paylocity Holding Corp. (a)      25,928       1,196,318  
    

 

 

 
             $ 2,829,379  

 

5


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Common Stocks - continued                 
Computer Software - Systems - 6.1%                 
Avnet, Inc.      3,190     $ 132,098  
EPAM Systems, Inc. (a)      10,320       1,046,861  
NCR Corp. (a)      28,415       889,105  
Pitney Bowes, Inc.      17,348       185,103  
Presidio, Inc. (a)      25,699       396,793  
Rapid7, Inc. (a)      48,402       915,282  
Tech Data Corp. (a)      14,483       1,400,506  
Verint Systems, Inc. (a)      27,100       1,185,625  
    

 

 

 
             $ 6,151,373  
Construction - 2.2%                 
Armstrong World Industries, Inc. (a)      4,976     $ 298,311  
GMS, Inc. (a)      5,073       189,273  
KB Home      8,158       255,835  
Trex Co., Inc. (a)      12,264       1,444,209  
    

 

 

 
             $ 2,187,628  
Consumer Services - 1.3%                 
Carriage Services, Inc.      19,018     $ 487,241  
ServiceMaster Global Holdings, Inc. (a)      15,902       777,290  
    

 

 

 
             $ 1,264,531  
Electrical Equipment - 2.5%                 
TriMas Corp. (a)      40,145     $ 1,039,756  
WESCO International, Inc. (a)      22,253       1,458,684  
    

 

 

 
             $ 2,498,440  
Electronics - 3.0%                 
Amkor Technology, Inc. (a)      42,404     $ 448,210  
Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (a)      12,516       381,738  
Integrated Device Technology, Inc. (a)      8,651       260,308  
Jabil Circuit, Inc.      24,762       714,384  
OSI Systems, Inc. (a)      2,930       253,914  
Sanmina Corp. (a)      16,925       575,450  
TTM Technologies, Inc. (a)      20,946       342,048  
    

 

 

 
             $ 2,976,052  
Energy - Independent - 2.3%                 
Delek U.S. Holdings, Inc.      25,453     $ 845,549  
Energen Corp. (a)      7,857       443,606  
Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. (a)      27,739       575,862  
PBF Energy, Inc., “A”      12,190       394,590  
    

 

 

 
             $ 2,259,607  

 

6


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Common Stocks - continued                 
Engineering - Construction - 2.6%                 
Argan, Inc.      5,859     $ 345,681  
KBR, Inc.      78,122       1,464,787  
MasTec, Inc. (a)      15,065       675,665  
Tutor Perini Corp. (a)      5,343       134,644  
    

 

 

 
             $ 2,620,777  
Food & Beverages - 3.0%                 
Dean Foods Co.      26,459     $ 295,282  
Sanderson Farms, Inc.      3,407       578,134  
Snyders-Lance, Inc.      30,897       1,195,096  
SpartanNash Co.      14,932       378,526  
TreeHouse Foods, Inc. (a)      13,030       599,641  
    

 

 

 
             $ 3,046,679  
Forest & Paper Products - 0.5%                 
Boise Cascade Corp.      13,662     $ 525,987  
Gaming & Lodging - 0.5%                 
Caesars Entertainment Corp. (a)      41,226     $ 546,244  
Insurance - 3.9%                 
American Equity Investment Life Holding Co.      32,825     $ 1,041,537  
Hanover Insurance Group, Inc.      1,037       111,581  
Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc. (l)      30,962       556,697  
Safety Insurance Group, Inc.      7,187       591,850  
Third Point Reinsurance Ltd. (a)      66,021       1,119,056  
Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc.      19,196       506,774  
    

 

 

 
             $ 3,927,495  
Internet - 2.1%                 
Blucora, Inc. (a)      31,862     $ 654,764  
LogMeIn, Inc.      10,594       1,260,686  
Web.Com Group, Inc. (a)      9,205       211,715  
    

 

 

 
             $ 2,127,165  
Leisure & Toys - 0.5%                 
Malibu Boats, Inc., “A” (a)      16,227     $ 507,256  
Machinery & Tools - 7.7%                 
Greenbrier Cos., Inc.      10,403     $ 520,150  
Herman Miller, Inc.      23,586       843,199  
IPG Photonics Corp. (a)      5,600       1,282,288  
ITT, Inc.      22,699       1,230,286  
Knoll, Inc.      19,922       433,702  

 

7


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Common Stocks - continued                 
Machinery & Tools - continued                 
Park-Ohio Holdings Corp.      6,731     $ 312,992  
Regal Beloit Corp.      15,031       1,156,635  
SPX FLOW, Inc. (a)      29,131       1,304,195  
Steelcase, Inc., “A”      11,789       179,193  
Titan Machinery, Inc. (a)      21,412       406,828  
    

 

 

 
             $ 7,669,468  
Medical & Health Technology & Services - 0.9%                 
American Renal Associates (a)      31,724     $ 459,364  
Kindred Healthcare, Inc.      60,041       441,301  
    

 

 

 
             $ 900,665  
Medical Equipment - 5.4%                 
AngioDynamics, Inc. (a)      29,108     $ 500,076  
Biotelemetry, Inc. (a)      24,223       702,467  
CONMED Corp.      19,696       1,053,736  
Halyard Health, Inc. (a)      20,208       980,896  
Integer Holdings Corp. (a)      16,585       803,543  
Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corp. (a)      12,099       588,253  
OraSure Technologies, Inc. (a)      47,908       792,878  
    

 

 

 
             $ 5,421,849  
Metals & Mining - 0.2%                 
Ryerson Holding Corp. (a)      20,987     $ 194,130  
Natural Gas - Distribution - 0.2%                 
Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc.      2,813     $ 241,749  
Oil Services - 1.8%                 
Exterran Holdings, Inc. (a)      18,260     $ 559,487  
McDermott International, Inc. (a)      77,155       560,145  
U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc.      18,947       628,472  
    

 

 

 
             $ 1,748,104  
Other Banks & Diversified Financials - 12.1%                 
BancFirst Corp.      5,916     $ 336,029  
Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Ltd.      15,266       607,282  
CAI International, Inc. (a)      21,504       736,512  
Cathay General Bancorp, Inc.      28,148       1,221,342  
East West Bancorp, Inc.      24,252       1,492,468  
Enova International, Inc. (a)      34,824       517,136  
First Interstate BancSystem, Inc.      28,348       1,125,416  
Glacier Bancorp, Inc.      3,389       135,729  
OneMain Holdings, Inc. (a)      18,230       470,516  

 

8


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Common Stocks - continued                 
Other Banks & Diversified Financials - continued                 
Popular, Inc.      13,243     $ 468,273  
Preferred Bank      14,360       898,936  
Regional Management Corp. (a)      19,715       486,369  
Triton International Ltd. of Bermuda      18,044       714,001  
Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (a)      9,416       464,020  
Western Alliance Bancorp. (a)      13,527       787,001  
Wintrust Financial Corp.      18,063       1,514,583  
World Acceptance Corp. (a)      2,136       177,245  
    

 

 

 
             $ 12,152,858  
Pharmaceuticals - 1.2%                 
Catalent, Inc. (a)      6,386     $ 254,099  
Endo International PLC (a)      22,351       164,056  
Horizon Pharma PLC (a)      46,482       668,411  
Impax Laboratories, Inc. (a)      2,469       41,109  
Mallinckrodt PLC (a)      2,294       50,055  
Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (a)      4,983       63,284  
    

 

 

 
             $ 1,241,014  
Pollution Control - 0.6%                 
Evoqua Water Technologies LLC (a)      25,866     $ 559,740  
Printing & Publishing - 1.2%                 
LSC Communications, Inc.      3,043     $ 49,783  
Quad/Graphics, Inc.      25,364       570,944  
Time, Inc.      33,576       624,514  
    

 

 

 
             $ 1,245,241  
Real Estate - 8.4%                 
Ashford Hospitality Trust, REIT      71,121     $ 462,998  
CoreCivic, Inc., REIT      15,408       362,242  
Gramercy Property Trust, REIT      47,174       1,345,402  
Hospitality Properties Trust, REIT      13,928       417,701  
Medical Properties Trust, Inc., REIT      89,856       1,230,129  
RE/MAX Holdings, Inc., “A”      18,009       960,780  
Realogy Holdings Corp.      34,118       952,233  
RLJ Lodging Trust, REIT      15,331       332,376  
Sabra Healthcare, REIT      32,080       617,219  
STAG Industrial, Inc., REIT      9,410       266,303  
Washington Prime Group, Inc., REIT      151,743       1,078,893  
Xenia Hotels & Resorts Inc., REIT      16,839       370,290  
    

 

 

 
             $ 8,396,566  

 

9


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Common Stocks - continued                 
Restaurants - 1.7%                 
BJ’s Restaurants, Inc.      4,602     $ 164,522  
Bloomin Brands, Inc.      32,100       689,187  
Brinker International, Inc.      21,825       801,632  
    

 

 

 
             $ 1,655,341  
Specialty Chemicals - 4.0%                 
Andersons, Inc.      15,118     $ 488,311  
Chemours Co.      5,665       291,181  
Kronos Worldwide, Inc.      25,133       701,462  
Renewable Energy Group, Inc. (a)      25,817       293,023  
Trinseo S.A.      13,008       959,990  
Univar, Inc. (a)      44,075       1,298,450  
    

 

 

 
             $ 4,032,417  
Specialty Stores - 4.4%                 
Citi Trends, Inc.      45,026     $ 1,161,221  
Express, Inc. (a)      37,495       365,201  
Michaels Co., Inc. (a)      61,366       1,325,506  
Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. (a)      12,956       220,900  
Urban Outfitters, Inc. (a)      32,146       1,000,383  
Zumiez, Inc. (a)      12,786       278,735  
    

 

 

 
             $ 4,351,946  
Telecommunications - Wireless - 0.5%                 
Telephone and Data Systems, Inc.      16,955     $ 469,484  
Trucking - 0.6%                 
Hub Group, Inc., “A” (a)      8,206     $ 392,247  
Werner Enterprises, Inc.      6,424       245,397  
    

 

 

 
             $ 637,644  
Utilities - Electric Power - 3.4%                 
Atlantica Yield PLC      35,139     $ 789,573  
NRG Energy, Inc.      41,123       1,137,051  
NRG Yield, Inc., “A”      19,234       361,792  
PNM Resources, Inc.      16,293       741,331  
Spark Energy, Inc., “A” (l)      29,582       369,775  
    

 

 

 
             $ 3,399,522  
Total Common Stocks (Identified Cost, $88,374,713)            $ 97,572,404  
Investment Companies (h) - 2.0%                 
Money Market Funds - 2.0%                 
MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio, 1.19% (v)
(Identified Cost, $1,950,641)
     1,950,650     $ 1,950,455  

 

10


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Collateral for Securities Loaned - 0.6%                 
Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
State Street Navigator Securities Lending Government Money Market Portfolio, 1.04% (j) (Identified Cost, $581,657)      581,657     $ 581,657  
Other Assets, Less Liabilities - 0.0%              28,382  
Net Assets - 100.0%            $ 100,132,898  

 

(a) Non-income producing security.
(h) An affiliated issuer may be considered one in which the fund owns 5% or more of the outstanding voting securities, or a company which is under common control. At period end, the aggregate values of the fund’s investments in affiliated issuers and in unaffiliated issuers were $1,950,455 and $98,154,061, respectively.
(j) The rate quoted is the annualized seven-day yield of the fund at period end.
(l) A portion of this security is on loan.
(v) Affiliated issuer that is available only to investment companies managed by MFS. The rate quoted for the MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio is the annualized seven-day yield of the fund at period end.

The following abbreviations are used in this report and are defined:

 

PLC   Public Limited Company

 

REIT   Real Estate Investment Trust

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

11


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

 

STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

At 11/30/17 (unaudited)

This statement represents your fund’s balance sheet, which details the assets and liabilities comprising the total value of the fund.

 

Assets         

Investments in unaffiliated issuers, at value, including $634,110 of securities on loan (identified cost, $88,956,370)

     $98,154,061  

Investments in affiliated issuers, at value (identified cost, $1,950,641)

     1,950,455  

Receivables for

  

Fund shares sold

     512,386  

Interest and dividends

     135,833  

Receivable from investment adviser

     19,242  

Receivable from distributor

     277  

Other assets

     46,493  

Total assets

     $100,818,747  
Liabilities         

Payables for fund shares reacquired

     $55,100  

Collateral for securities loaned, at value (c)

     581,657  

Payable to affiliates

  

Shareholder servicing costs

     3,614  

Program manager fee

     2  

Accrued expenses and other liabilities

     45,476  

Total liabilities

     $685,849  

Net assets

     $100,132,898  
Net assets consist of         

Paid-in capital

     $88,201,817  

Unrealized appreciation (depreciation)

     9,197,505  

Accumulated net realized gain (loss)

     2,322,775  
Undistributed net investment income      410,801  

Net assets

     $100,132,898  

Shares of beneficial interest outstanding

     7,497,792  

 

(c) Non-cash collateral is not included.

 

12


Table of Contents

Statement of Assets and Liabilities (unaudited) – continued

 

 

     Net assets      Shares
outstanding
     Net asset value
per share (a)
 

Class A

     $40,235,761        3,020,559        $13.32  

Class B

     288,827        21,953        13.16  

Class C

     423,128        32,172        13.15  

Class I

     4,838,062        361,728        13.37  

Class R1

     71,802        5,457        13.16  

Class R2

     66,772        5,026        13.28  

Class R3

     67,142        5,034        13.34  

Class R4

     67,514        5,048        13.37  

Class R6

     53,587,653        4,004,135        13.38  

Class 529A

     331,586        24,916        13.31  

Class 529B

     67,955        5,167        13.15  

Class 529C

     86,696        6,597        13.14  

 

(a) Maximum offering price per share was equal to the net asset value per share for all share classes, except for Class A and 529A, for which the maximum offering price per share was $14.13 [100 / 94.25 x $13.32] and $14.12 [100 / 94.25 x $13.31], respectively. On sales of $50,000 or more, the maximum offering prices of Class A and Class 529A shares are reduced. A contingent deferred sales charge may be imposed on redemptions of Class A, Class B, Class C, Class 529B, and Class 529C shares. Redemption price per share was equal to the net asset value per share for Classes I, R1, R2, R3, R4, R6, and 529A. Net asset value per share is calculated using actual net assets and shares outstanding rather than amounts that have been rounded for presentation purposes.

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

13


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

 

STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS

Six months ended 11/30/17 (unaudited)

This statement describes how much your fund earned in investment income and accrued in expenses. It also describes any gains and/or losses generated by fund operations.

 

Net investment income (loss)         

Income

  

Dividends

     $478,627  

Income on securities loaned

     36,346  

Dividends from affiliated issuers

     6,475  

Foreign taxes withheld

     (600

Total investment income

     $520,848  

Expenses

  

Management fee

     $204,658  

Distribution and service fees

     16,729  

Shareholder servicing costs

     8,033  

Program manager fees

     227  

Administrative services fee

     9,756  

Independent Trustees’ compensation

     623  

Custodian fee

     5,452  

Shareholder communications

     4,821  

Audit and tax fees

     27,333  

Legal fees

     315  

Registration fees

     60,557  

Miscellaneous

     9,277  

Total expenses

     $347,781  

Reduction of expenses by investment adviser and distributor

     (119,115

Net expenses

     $228,666  

Net investment income (loss)

     $292,182  
Realized and unrealized gain (loss)         

Realized gain (loss) (identified cost basis)

  

Unaffiliated issuers

     $872,227  

Affiliated issuers

     113  

Net realized gain (loss)

     $872,340  

Change in unrealized appreciation (depreciation)

  

Unaffiliated issuers

     $6,477,012  

Affiliated issuers

     (250

Net unrealized gain (loss)

     $6,476,762  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     $7,349,102  

Change in net assets from operations

     $7,641,284  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

14


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

 

STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN NET ASSETS

These statements describe the increases and/or decreases in net assets resulting from operations, any distributions, and any shareholder transactions.

 

Change in net assets    Six months ended
11/30/17
     Year ended
5/31/17
 
From operations                  

Net investment income (loss)

     $292,182        $263,478  

Net realized gain (loss)

     872,340        1,719,157  

Net unrealized gain (loss)

     6,476,762        2,550,271  

Change in net assets from operations

     $7,641,284        $4,532,906  
Distributions declared to shareholders                  

From net investment income

     $—        $(149,993

From net realized gain

            (177,120

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—        $(327,113

Change in net assets from fund share transactions

     $40,467,529        $44,561,973  

Total change in net assets

     $48,108,813        $48,767,766  
Net assets                  

At beginning of period

     52,024,085        3,256,319  

At end of period (including undistributed net investment income of $410,801 and $118,619, respectively)

     $100,132,898        $52,024,085  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

15


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

 

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

The financial highlights table is intended to help you understand the fund’s financial performance for the semiannual period and the past 5 fiscal years (or life of a particular share class, if shorter). Certain information reflects financial results for a single fund share. The total returns in the table represent the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the fund share class (assuming reinvestment of all distributions) held for the entire period.

 

    

Six months

ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class A      5/31/17     5/31/16 (c)  
                

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $11.91       $10.36       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations  

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $0.07       $0.05       $0.04  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.34       1.57       0.35  

Total from investment operations

     $1.41       $1.62       $0.39  
Less distributions declared to shareholders  

From net investment income

     $—       $(0.03     $(0.03

From net realized gain

           (0.04      

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.07     $(0.03

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $13.32       $11.91       $10.36  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     11.84 (n)      15.63       3.89 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
 

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     1.29 (a)      1.88       5.46 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     0.96 (a)      0.96       0.96 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     1.07 (a)      0.45       0.52 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     38 (n)      90       47 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $40,236       $3,700       $637  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

16


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

    

Six months

ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class B      5/31/17     5/31/16 (c)  
                

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $11.81       $10.33       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations  

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $(0.01     $(0.04     $(0.02

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.36       1.56       0.35  

Total from investment operations

     $1.35       $1.52       $0.33  
Less distributions declared to shareholders  

From net investment income

     $—       $—       $(0.00 )(w) 

From net realized gain

           (0.04      

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.04     $(0.00 )(w) 

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $13.16       $11.81       $10.33  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     11.43 (n)      14.73       3.34 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
 

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     2.12 (a)      3.04       7.17 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     1.74 (a)      1.74       1.71 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     (0.17 )(a)      (0.34     (0.25 )(a) 

Portfolio turnover

     38 (n)      90       47 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $289       $243       $98  
    

Six months

ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class C      5/31/17     5/31/16 (c)  
                

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $11.80       $10.33       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations  

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $(0.01     $(0.03     $(0.02

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.36       1.54       0.36  

Total from investment operations

     $1.35       $1.51       $0.34  
Less distributions declared to shareholders  

From net investment income

     $—       $—       $(0.01

From net realized gain

           (0.04      

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.04     $(0.01

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $13.15       $11.80       $10.33  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     11.44 (n)      14.64       3.38 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
 

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     2.12 (a)      2.87       7.03 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     1.74 (a)      1.74       1.71 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     (0.18 )(a)      (0.28     (0.24 )(a) 

Portfolio turnover

     38 (n)      90       47 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $423       $408       $89  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

17


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

    

Six months

ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class I      5/31/17     5/31/16 (c)  
                

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $11.94       $10.38       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations  

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $0.06       $0.08       $0.05  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.37       1.55       0.36  

Total from investment operations

     $1.43       $1.63       $0.41  
Less distributions declared to shareholders  

From net investment income

     $—       $(0.03     $(0.03

From net realized gain

           (0.04      

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.07     $(0.03

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $13.37       $11.94       $10.38  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     11.98 (n)      15.77       4.14 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
 

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     1.11 (a)      2.02       5.39 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     0.74 (a)      0.74       0.71 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     0.92 (a)      0.68       0.73 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     38 (n)      90       47 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $4,838       $752       $351  
    

Six months

ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R1      5/31/17     5/31/16 (c)  
                

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $11.81       $10.33       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations  

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $(0.01     $(0.04     $(0.02

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.36       1.56       0.35  

Total from investment operations

     $1.35       $1.52       $0.33  
Less distributions declared to shareholders  

From net investment income

     $—       $—       $(0.00 )(w) 

From net realized gain

           (0.04      

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.04     $(0.00 )(w) 

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $13.16       $11.81       $10.33  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     11.43 (n)      14.73       3.33 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
 

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     2.12 (a)      3.32       7.32 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     1.74 (a)      1.74       1.71 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     (0.16 )(a)      (0.35     (0.24 )(a) 

Portfolio turnover

     38 (n)      90       47 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $72       $63       $52  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

18


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

    

Six months

ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R2      5/31/17     5/31/16 (c)  
                

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $11.89       $10.35       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations  

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $0.02       $0.02       $0.02  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.37       1.56       0.35  

Total from investment operations

     $1.39       $1.58       $0.37  
Less distributions declared to shareholders  

From net investment income

     $—       $—       $(0.02

From net realized gain

           (0.04      

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.04     $(0.02

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $13.28       $11.89       $10.35  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     11.69 (n)      15.29       3.68 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
 

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     1.62 (a)      2.84       6.82 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     1.24 (a)      1.24       1.21 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     0.34 (a)      0.15       0.26 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     38 (n)      90       47 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $67       $60       $52  
    

Six months

ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R3      5/31/17     5/31/16 (c)  
                

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $11.92       $10.36       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations  

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $0.04       $0.05       $0.04  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.38       1.56       0.34  

Total from investment operations

     $1.42       $1.61       $0.38  
Less distributions declared to shareholders  

From net investment income

     $—       $(0.01     $(0.02

From net realized gain

           (0.04      

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.05     $(0.02

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $13.34       $11.92       $10.36  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     11.91 (n)      15.54       3.86 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
 

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     1.37 (a)      2.59       6.57 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     0.99 (a)      0.99       0.96 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     0.59 (a)      0.40       0.51 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     38 (n)      90       47 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $67       $60       $52  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

19


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

    

Six months

ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R4      5/31/17     5/31/16 (c)  
                

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $11.94       $10.37       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations  

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $0.05       $0.07       $0.05  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.38       1.57       0.35  

Total from investment operations

     $1.43       $1.64       $0.40  
Less distributions declared to shareholders  

From net investment income

     $—       $(0.03     $(0.03

From net realized gain

           (0.04      

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.07     $(0.03

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $13.37       $11.94       $10.37  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     11.98 (n)      15.87       4.04 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
 

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     1.12 (a)      2.34       6.32 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     0.74 (a)      0.74       0.71 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     0.83 (a)      0.65       0.76 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     38 (n)      90       47 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $68       $60       $52  
    

Six months

ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R6      5/31/17     5/31/16 (c)  
                

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $11.94       $10.37       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations  

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $0.06       $0.08       $0.05  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.38       1.57       0.35  

Total from investment operations

     $1.44       $1.65       $0.40  
Less distributions declared to shareholders  

From net investment income

     $—       $(0.04     $(0.03

From net realized gain

           (0.04      

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.08     $(0.03

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $13.38       $11.94       $10.37  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     12.06 (n)      15.90       4.04 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
 

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     1.05 (a)      1.22       6.31 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     0.66 (a)      0.69       0.70 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     0.92 (a)      0.73       0.77 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     38 (n)      90       47 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $53,588       $46,259       $1,874  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

20


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Financial Highlights – continued

 

    

Six months

ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class 529A      5/31/17 (i)  
          

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $11.90       $10.74  
Income (loss) from investment operations  

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $0.03       $0.04  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.38       1.19 (g) 

Total from investment operations

     $1.41       $1.23  
Less distributions declared to shareholders  

From net investment income

     $—       $(0.03

From net realized gain

           (0.04

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.07

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $13.31       $11.90  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     11.85 (n)      11.47 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
 

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     1.47 (a)      1.77 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     1.04 (a)      1.04 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     0.54 (a)      0.36 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     38 (n)      90  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $332       $287  
    

Six months

ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class 529B      5/31/17 (i)  
          

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $11.80       $10.70  
Income (loss) from investment operations  

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $(0.01     $(0.04

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.36       1.18 (g) 

Total from investment operations

     $1.35       $1.14  
Less distributions declared to shareholders  

From net realized gain

     $—       $(0.04

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.04

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $13.15       $11.80  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     11.44 (n)      10.67 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
 

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     2.22 (a)      2.91 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     1.79 (a)      1.79 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     (0.21 )(a)      (0.42 )(a) 

Portfolio turnover

     38 (n)      90  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $68       $55  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

21


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Financial Highlights – continued

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class 529C      5/31/17 (i)  
          

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $11.79       $10.69  
Income (loss) from investment operations  

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $(0.01     $(0.04

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.36       1.18 (g) 

Total from investment operations

     $1.35       $1.14  
Less distributions declared to shareholders  

From net realized gain

     $—       $(0.04

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.04

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $13.14       $11.79  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     11.45 (n)      10.68 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
 

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     2.22 (a)      2.84 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     1.79 (a)      1.79 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     (0.21 )(a)      (0.39 )(a) 

Portfolio turnover

     38 (n)      90  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $87       $78  

 

(a) Annualized.
(c) For the period from the commencement of the fund’s investment operations, September 15, 2015, through the stated period end.
(d) Per share data is based on average shares outstanding.
(f) Ratios do not reflect reductions from fees paid indirectly, if applicable.
(g) The per share amount varies from the net realized and unrealized gain/loss for the period because of the timing of sales of fund shares and the per share amount of realized and unrealized gains and losses at such time.
(i) For the period from the class inception, July 14, 2016 (Classes 529A, 529B, and 529C), through the stated period end.
(n) Not annualized.
(r) Certain expenses have been reduced without which performance would have been lower.
(s) From time to time the fund may receive proceeds from litigation settlements, without which performance would be lower.
(t) Total returns do not include any applicable sales charges.
(w) Per share amount was less than $0.01.
(x) The net asset values and total returns have been calculated on net assets which include adjustments made in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles required at period end for financial reporting purposes.

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

22


Table of Contents

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(unaudited)

(1) Business and Organization

MFS Blended Research Small Cap Equity Fund (the fund) is a diversified series of MFS Series Trust X (the trust). The trust is organized as a Massachusetts business trust and is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, as an open-end management investment company.

The fund is an investment company and accordingly follows the investment company accounting and reporting guidance of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification Topic 946 Financial Services – Investment Companies.

(2) Significant Accounting Policies

General – The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of increases and decreases in net assets from operations during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. In the preparation of these financial statements, management has evaluated subsequent events occurring after the date of the fund’s Statement of Assets and Liabilities through the date that the financial statements were issued.

In October 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released its Final Rule on Investment Company Reporting Modernization (the “Rule”). The Rule, which introduced two new regulatory reporting forms for investment companies – Form N-PORT and Form N-CEN – also contained amendments to Regulation S-X which impact financial statement presentation, particularly the presentation of derivative investments, for all reporting periods ending after August 1, 2017. The fund has adopted the Rule’s Regulation S-X amendments and believes that the fund’s financial statements are in compliance with those amendments.

Balance Sheet Offsetting – The fund’s accounting policy with respect to balance sheet offsetting is that, absent an event of default by the counterparty or a termination of the agreement, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) Master Agreement, or similar agreement, does not result in an offset of reported amounts of financial assets and financial liabilities in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities across transactions between the fund and the applicable counterparty. The fund’s right to setoff may be restricted or prohibited by the bankruptcy or insolvency laws of the particular jurisdiction to which a specific master netting agreement counterparty is subject. Balance sheet offsetting disclosures, to the extent applicable to the fund, have been included in the fund’s Significant Accounting Policies note under the captions for each of the fund’s in-scope financial instruments and transactions.

Investment Valuations – Equity securities, including restricted equity securities, are generally valued at the last sale or official closing price on their primary market or exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Equity securities, for which there were no sales reported that day, are generally valued at the last quoted daily bid quotation on their primary market or exchange as provided by a third-party pricing

 

23


Table of Contents

Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

service. Short-term instruments with a maturity at issuance of 60 days or less may be valued at amortized cost, which approximates market value. Open-end investment companies are generally valued at net asset value per share. Securities and other assets generally valued on the basis of information from a third-party pricing service may also be valued at a broker/dealer bid quotation. Values obtained from third-party pricing services can utilize both transaction data and market information such as yield, quality, coupon rate, maturity, type of issue, trading characteristics, and other market data.

The Board of Trustees has delegated primary responsibility for determining or causing to be determined the value of the fund’s investments (including any fair valuation) to the adviser pursuant to valuation policies and procedures approved by the Board. If the adviser determines that reliable market quotations are not readily available, investments are valued at fair value as determined in good faith by the adviser in accordance with such procedures under the oversight of the Board of Trustees. Under the fund’s valuation policies and procedures, market quotations are not considered to be readily available for most types of debt instruments and floating rate loans and many types of derivatives. These investments are generally valued at fair value based on information from third-party pricing services. In addition, investments may be valued at fair value if the adviser determines that an investment’s value has been materially affected by events occurring after the close of the exchange or market on which the investment is principally traded (such as foreign exchange or market) and prior to the determination of the fund’s net asset value, or after the halting of trading of a specific security where trading does not resume prior to the close of the exchange or market on which the security is principally traded. Events that occur on a frequent basis after foreign markets close (such as developments in foreign markets and significant movements in the U.S. markets) and prior to the determination of the fund’s net asset value may be deemed to have a material effect on the value of securities traded in foreign markets.

Accordingly, the fund’s foreign equity securities may often be valued at fair value. The adviser generally relies on third-party pricing services or other information (such as the correlation with price movements of similar securities in the same or other markets; the type, cost and investment characteristics of the security; the business and financial condition of the issuer; and trading and other market data) to assist in determining whether to fair value and at what value to fair value an investment. The value of an investment for purposes of calculating the fund’s net asset value can differ depending on the source and method used to determine value. When fair valuation is used, the value of an investment used to determine the fund’s net asset value may differ from quoted or published prices for the same investment. There can be no assurance that the fund could obtain the fair value assigned to an investment if it were to sell the investment at the same time at which the fund determines its net asset value per share.

Various inputs are used in determining the value of the fund’s assets or liabilities. These inputs are categorized into three broad levels. In certain cases, the inputs used to measure fair value may fall into different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In such cases, an investment’s level within the fair value hierarchy is based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement. The fund’s assessment of the significance of a particular input to the fair value measurement in its entirety requires judgment, and considers factors specific to the investment. Level 1 includes unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. Level 2 includes other

 

24


Table of Contents

Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

significant observable market-based inputs (including quoted prices for similar securities, interest rates, prepayment speed, and credit risk). Level 3 includes unobservable inputs, which may include the adviser’s own assumptions in determining the fair value of investments. The following is a summary of the levels used as of November 30, 2017 in valuing the fund’s assets or liabilities:

 

Financial Instruments    Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  
Equity Securities      $97,572,404        $—        $—        $97,572,404  
Mutual Funds      2,532,112                      2,532,112  
Total      $100,104,516        $—        $—        $100,104,516  

For further information regarding security characteristics, see the Portfolio of Investments.

Security Loans – Under its Securities Lending Agency Agreement with the fund, State Street Bank and Trust Company (“State Street”), as lending agent, loans the securities of the fund to certain qualified institutions (the “Borrowers”) approved by the fund. Security loans can be terminated at the discretion of either the lending agent or the fund and the related securities must be returned within the earlier of the standard trade settlement period for such securities or within three business days. The loans are collateralized by cash and/or U.S. Treasury and federal agency obligations in an amount typically at least equal to the market value of the securities loaned. On loans collateralized by cash, the cash collateral is invested in a money market fund. The market value of the loaned securities is determined at the close of business of the fund and any additional required collateral is delivered to the fund on the next business day. State Street provides the fund with indemnification against Borrower default. In the event of Borrower default, State Street will, for the benefit of the fund, either purchase securities identical to those loaned or, when such purchase is commercially impracticable, pay the fund the market value of the loaned securities. In return, State Street assumes the fund’s rights to the related collateral. If the collateral value is less than the cost to purchase identical securities, State Street is responsible for the shortfall, but only to the extent that such shortfall is not due to a decline in collateral value resulting from collateral reinvestment for which the fund bears the risk of loss. At period end, the fund had investment securities on loan, all of which were classified as equity securities in the fund’s Portfolio of Investments, with a fair value of $634,110. The fair value of the fund’s investment securities on loan and a related liability of $581,657 for cash collateral received on securities loaned are both presented gross in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. Additionally, these loans were collateralized by U.S. Treasury Obligations of $67,438. The collateral on securities loaned exceeded the value of securities on loan at period end. The liability for cash collateral for securities loaned is carried at fair value, which is categorized as level 2 within the fair value hierarchy. A portion of the income generated upon investment of the collateral is remitted to the Borrowers, and the remainder is allocated between the fund and the lending agent. On loans collateralized by U.S. Treasury and/or federal agency obligations, a fee is received from the Borrower, and is allocated between the fund and the lending agent. Income from securities lending is separately reported in the Statement of Operations. The dividend and interest income earned on the securities loaned is accounted for in the same manner as other dividend and interest income.

 

25


Table of Contents

Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

Indemnifications – Under the fund’s organizational documents, its officers and Trustees may be indemnified against certain liabilities and expenses arising out of the performance of their duties to the fund. Additionally, in the normal course of business, the fund enters into agreements with service providers that may contain indemnification clauses. The fund’s maximum exposure under these agreements is unknown as this would involve future claims that may be made against the fund that have not yet occurred.

Investment Transactions and Income – Investment transactions are recorded on the trade date. Dividends received in cash are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Certain dividends from foreign securities will be recorded when the fund is informed of the dividend if such information is obtained subsequent to the ex-dividend date. Dividend payments received in additional securities are recorded on the ex-dividend date in an amount equal to the value of the security on such date.

The fund may receive proceeds from litigation settlements. Any proceeds received from litigation involving portfolio holdings are reflected in the Statement of Operations in realized gain/loss if the security has been disposed of by the fund or in unrealized gain/loss if the security is still held by the fund. Any other proceeds from litigation not related to portfolio holdings are reflected as other income in the Statement of Operations.

Tax Matters and Distributions – The fund intends to qualify as a regulated investment company, as defined under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code, and to distribute all of its taxable income, including realized capital gains. As a result, no provision for federal income tax is required. The fund’s federal tax returns, when filed, will remain subject to examination by the Internal Revenue Service for a three year period. Management has analyzed the fund’s tax positions taken on federal and state tax returns for all open tax years and does not believe that there are any uncertain tax positions that require recognition of a tax liability. Foreign taxes, if any, have been accrued by the fund in the accompanying financial statements in accordance with the applicable foreign tax law. Foreign income taxes may be withheld by certain countries in which the fund invests. Additionally, capital gains realized by the fund on securities issued in or by certain foreign countries may be subject to capital gains tax imposed by those countries.

Distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Income and capital gain distributions are determined in accordance with income tax regulations, which may differ from U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Certain capital accounts in the financial statements are periodically adjusted for permanent differences in order to reflect their tax character. These adjustments have no impact on net assets or net asset value per share. Temporary differences which arise from recognizing certain items of income, expense, gain or loss in different periods for financial statement and tax purposes will reverse at some time in the future. Distributions in excess of net investment income or net realized gains are temporary overdistributions for financial statement purposes resulting from differences in the recognition or classification of income or distributions for financial statement and tax purposes.

Book/tax differences primarily relate to wash sale loss deferral and treating a portion of the proceeds from redemptions as a distribution for tax purposes.

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

The tax character of distributions declared to shareholders for the last fiscal year is as follows:

 

     Year ended
5/31/17
 
Ordinary income (including any
short-term capital gains)
     $323,011  
Long-term capital gains      4,102  
Total distributions      $327,113  

The federal tax cost and the tax basis components of distributable earnings were as follows:

 

As of 11/30/17       
Cost of investments      $91,297,608  
Gross appreciation      11,322,934  
Gross depreciation      (2,516,026
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation)      $8,806,908  
As of 5/31/17       
Undistributed ordinary income      1,959,651  
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation)      2,330,146  

The aggregate cost above includes prior fiscal year end tax adjustments, if applicable.

Multiple Classes of Shares of Beneficial Interest – The fund offers multiple classes of shares, which differ in their respective distribution, service, and program manager fees. The fund’s income, realized and unrealized gain (loss), and common expenses are allocated to shareholders based on the daily net assets of each class. Dividends are declared separately for each class. Differences in per share dividend rates are generally due to differences in separate class expenses. Class B and Class 529B shares will convert to Class A and Class 529A shares, respectively, approximately eight years after

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

purchase. Effective April 23, 2018, Class C and Class 529C shares will convert to Class A and Class 529A shares, respectively, approximately ten years after purchase. Any shares with an original purchase date of April 30, 2008 or earlier will automatically convert to Class A and Class 529A shares on April 23, 2018. The fund’s distributions declared to shareholders as reported in the Statements of Changes in Net Assets are presented by class as follows:

 

     From net investment
income
     From net realized gain on
investments
 
     Six months
ended
11/30/17
     Year
ended
5/31/17 (i)
     Six months
ended
11/30/17
     Year
ended
5/31/17 (i)
 
Class A      $—        $7,110        $—        $10,903  
Class B                           778  
Class C                           537  
Class I             1,779               2,196  
Class R1                           217  
Class R2                           212  
Class R3             39               212  
Class R4             169               212  
Class R6             140,478               160,856  
Class 529A             418               600  
Class 529B                           198  
Class 529C                           199  
Total      $—        $149,993        $—        $177,120  

 

(i) For the period from the class inception, July 14, 2016 (Classes 529A, 529B, and 529C), through the stated period end.

(3) Transactions with Affiliates

Investment Adviser – The fund has an investment advisory agreement with MFS to provide overall investment management and related administrative services and facilities to the fund. The management fee is computed daily and paid monthly at the following annual rates based on the fund’s average daily net assets:

 

Up to $ 1 billion      0.65
In excess of $ 1 billion and up to $ 2.5 billion      0.60
In excess of $ 2.5 billion      0.575

MFS has agreed in writing to reduce its management fee by a specified amount if certain MFS mutual fund assets exceed thresholds agreed to by MFS and the fund’s Board of Trustees. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, this management fee reduction amounted to $2,597, which is included in the reduction of total expenses in the Statement of Operations. The management fee incurred for the six months ended November 30, 2017 was equivalent to an annual effective rate of 0.64% of the fund’s average daily net assets.

The investment adviser has agreed in writing to pay a portion of the fund’s total annual operating expenses, excluding interest, taxes, extraordinary expenses, brokerage and transaction costs, and investment-related expenses, such that total fund operating

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

expenses do not exceed the following rates annually of each class’s average daily net assets:

 

Classes  
A   B     C     I     R1     R2     R3     R4     R6     529A     529B     529C  
0.99%     1.74%       1.74%       0.74%       1.74%       1.24%       0.99%       0.74%       0.70%       1.04%       1.79%       1.79%  

This written agreement will continue until modified by the fund’s Board of Trustees, but such agreement will continue at least until September 30, 2018. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, this reduction amounted to $115,160, which is included in the reduction of total expenses in the Statement of Operations.

Distributor – MFS Fund Distributors, Inc. (MFD), a wholly-owned subsidiary of MFS, as distributor, received $1,417 and $437 for the six months ended November 30, 2017, as its portion of the initial sales charge on sales of Class A and Class 529A shares of the fund, respectively.

The Board of Trustees has adopted a distribution plan for certain share classes pursuant to Rule 12b-1 of the Investment Company Act of 1940.

The fund’s distribution plan provides that the fund will pay MFD for services provided by MFD and financial intermediaries in connection with the distribution and servicing of certain share classes. One component of the plan is a distribution fee paid to MFD and another component of the plan is a service fee paid to MFD. MFD may subsequently pay all, or a portion, of the distribution and/or service fees to financial intermediaries.

Distribution Plan Fee Table:

 

     Distribution
Fee Rate (d)
     Service
Fee Rate (d)
     Total
Distribution
Plan (d)
     Annual
Effective
Rate (e)
     Distribution
and Service
Fee
 
Class A             0.25%        0.25%        0.22%        $11,617  
Class B      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        1,353  
Class C      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        2,084  
Class R1      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        337  
Class R2      0.25%        0.25%        0.50%        0.50%        158  
Class R3             0.25%        0.25%        0.25%        79  
Class 529A             0.25%        0.25%        0.25%        391  
Class 529B      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        301  
Class 529C      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        409  
Total Distribution and Service Fees              $16,729  

 

(d) In accordance with the distribution plan for certain classes, the fund pays distribution and/or service fees equal to these annual percentage rates of each class’s average daily net assets. The distribution and service fee rates disclosed by class represent the current rates in effect at the end of the reporting period. Any rate changes, if applicable, are detailed below.
(e) The annual effective rates represent actual fees incurred under the distribution plan for the six months ended November 30, 2017 based on each class’s average daily net assets. MFD has voluntarily agreed to rebate a portion of each class’s 0.25% service fee attributable to accounts for which MFD retains the 0.25% service fee except for accounts attributable to MFS or its affiliates’ seed money. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, this rebate amounted to $1,244 for Class A, and is included in the reduction of total expenses in the Statement of Operations.

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

Certain Class A shares are subject to a contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) in the event of a shareholder redemption within 18 months of purchase. Class C and Class 529C shares are subject to a CDSC in the event of a shareholder redemption within 12 months of purchase. Class B and Class 529B shares are subject to a CDSC in the event of a shareholder redemption within six years of purchase. All contingent deferred sales charges are paid to MFD and during the six months ended November 30, 2017, were as follows:

 

     Amount  
Class A      $70  
Class B      42  
Class C      4  

The fund has entered into and may from time to time enter into contracts with program managers and other parties which administer the tuition programs through which an investment in the fund’s 529 share classes is made. The fund had entered into an agreement with MFD pursuant to which MFD receives an annual fee of up to 0.10% of the average daily net assets attributable to each 529 share class. MFD had agreed to waive a portion of this fee in an amount equal to 0.05% of the average daily net assets for each 529 share class. Effective December 10, 2017, this waiver agreement was terminated. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, this waiver amounted to $114 and is included in the reduction of total expenses in the Statement of Operations. The program manager fee incurred for the six months ended November 30, 2017 was equivalent to an annual effective rate of 0.05% of the average daily net assets attributable to each 529 share class. Effective December 11, 2017, the fund entered into an agreement with MFD pursuant to which MFD receives an annual fee of up to 0.05% of average daily net assets attributable to each 529 share class. The services provided by MFD, or a third party with which MFD contracts, include recordkeeping and tax reporting and account services, as well as services designed to maintain the program’s compliance with the Internal Revenue Code and other regulatory requirements. Program manager fees and waivers for the six months ended November 30, 2017, were as follows:

 

     Fee      Waiver  
Class 529A      $156        $78  
Class 529B      30        15  
Class 529C      41        21  
Total Program Manager Fees and Waivers      $227        $114  

Shareholder Servicing Agent – MFS Service Center, Inc. (MFSC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of MFS, receives a fee from the fund for its services as shareholder servicing agent calculated as a percentage of the average daily net assets of the fund as determined periodically under the supervision of the fund’s Board of Trustees. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fee was $1,302, which equated to 0.0041% annually of the fund’s average daily net assets. MFSC also receives payment from the fund for out-of-pocket expenses, sub-accounting and other shareholder servicing costs which may be paid to affiliated and unaffiliated service providers. Class R6 shares do not incur sub-accounting fees. For the six months ended

 

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November 30, 2017, these out-of-pocket expenses, sub-accounting and other shareholder servicing costs amounted to $6,731.

Administrator – MFS provides certain financial, legal, shareholder communications, compliance, and other administrative services to the fund. Under an administrative services agreement, the fund reimburses MFS the costs incurred to provide these services. The fund is charged an annual fixed amount of $17,500 plus a fee based on average daily net assets. The administrative services fee incurred for the six months ended November 30, 2017 was equivalent to an annual effective rate of 0.0309% of the fund’s average daily net assets.

Trustees’ and Officers’ Compensation – The fund pays compensation to independent Trustees in the form of a retainer, attendance fees, and additional compensation to Board and Committee chairpersons. The fund does not pay compensation directly to Trustees or officers of the fund who are also officers of the investment adviser, all of whom receive remuneration for their services to the fund from MFS. Certain officers and Trustees of the fund are officers or directors of MFS, MFD, and MFSC.

Other – This fund and certain other funds managed by MFS (the funds) have entered into a service agreement (the ISO Agreement) which provides for payment of fees solely by the funds to Tarantino LLC in return for the provision of services of an Independent Senior Officer (ISO) for the funds. Frank L. Tarantino serves as the ISO and is an officer of the funds and the sole member of Tarantino LLC. The funds can terminate the ISO Agreement with Tarantino LLC at any time under the terms of the ISO Agreement. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fee paid by the fund under this agreement was $48 and is included in “Miscellaneous” expense in the Statement of Operations. MFS has agreed to bear all expenses associated with office space, other administrative support, and supplies provided to the ISO.

The fund invests in the MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio which is managed by MFS and seeks current income consistent with preservation of capital and liquidity. This money market fund does not pay a management fee to MFS.

On July 13, 2016, MFS purchased 4,655 shares of Class 529A, 4,673 shares of Class 529B, and 4,677 shares of Class 529C for an aggregate amount of $150,000 as an initial investment in the classes.

On July 22, 2016, MFS redeemed 171,017 shares of Class R6 for an aggregate amount of $1,900,000.

On August 15, 2017, MFS redeemed 5,042 shares of Class A, 821 shares of Class B, 823 shares of Class C, and 9,633 shares of Class R6 for an aggregate amount of $199,101.

At November 30, 2017, MFS held approximately 92%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 91%, and 71% of the outstanding shares of Class R1, Class R2, Class R3, Class R4, Class 529B, and Class 529C, respectively.

(4) Portfolio Securities

For the six months ended November 30, 2017, purchases and sales of investments, other than short-term obligations, aggregated $65,036,038 and $25,280,385, respectively.

 

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(5) Shares of Beneficial Interest

The fund’s Declaration of Trust permits the Trustees to issue an unlimited number of full and fractional shares of beneficial interest. Transactions in fund shares were as follows:

 

     Six months ended
11/30/17
     Year ended
5/31/17 (i)
 
     Shares      Amount      Shares      Amount  
Shares sold            

Class A

     2,884,592        $37,294,069        331,427        $3,861,273  

Class B

     3,864        47,545        13,012        145,914  

Class C

     1,772        22,540        28,415        330,013  

Class I

     328,208        4,123,164        60,917        712,336  

Class R1

     125        1,542        325        3,767  

Class R6

     485,407        6,085,260        4,587,991        50,927,705  

Class 529A

     4,470        55,994        27,780        322,988  

Class 529B

     478        6,166        4,673        50,000  

Class 529C

     40        500        6,580        72,593  
     3,708,956        $47,636,780        5,061,120        $56,426,589  
Shares issued to shareholders in reinvestment of distributions            

Class A

            $—        1,507        $17,997  

Class B

                   66        778  

Class C

                   45        537  

Class I

                   332        3,975  

Class R1

                   18        217  

Class R2

                   17        212  

Class R3

                   21        251  

Class R4

                   32        381  

Class R6

                   25,195        301,334  

Class 529A

                   88        1,018  

Class 529B

                   17        198  

Class 529C

                   17        199  
            $—        27,355        $327,097  
Shares reacquired            

Class A

     (174,771      $(2,167,828      (83,676      $(1,003,561

Class B

     (2,466      (30,503      (1,998      (23,365

Class C

     (4,132      (51,451      (2,590      (29,758

Class I

     (29,468      (373,054      (32,076      (382,066

Class R1

     (11      (141      (1      (11

Class R6

     (354,361      (4,499,370      (920,685      (10,708,036

Class 529A

     (3,642      (46,434      (3,780      (44,916

Class 529C

     (39      (470              
     (568,890      $(7,169,251      (1,044,806      $(12,191,713

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

     Six months ended
11/30/17
     Year ended
5/31/17 (i)
 
     Shares      Amount      Shares      Amount  
Net change            

Class A

     2,709,821        $35,126,241        249,258        $2,875,709  

Class B

     1,398        17,042        11,080        123,327  

Class C

     (2,360      (28,911      25,870        300,792  

Class I

     298,740        3,750,110        29,173        334,245  

Class R1

     114        1,401        342        3,973  

Class R2

                   17        212  

Class R3

                   21        251  

Class R4

                   32        381  

Class R6

     131,046        1,585,890        3,692,501        40,521,003  

Class 529A

     828        9,560        24,088        279,090  

Class 529B

     478        6,166        4,690        50,198  

Class 529C

     1        30        6,597        72,792  
     3,140,066        $40,467,529        4,043,669        $44,561,973  

 

(i) For the period from the class inception, July 14, 2016 (Classes 529A, 529B, and 529C), through the stated period end.

Class T shares were not publicly available for sale during the period. Please see the fund’s prospectus for details.

The fund is one of several mutual funds in which certain MFS funds may invest. The MFS funds do not invest in the underlying funds for the purpose of exercising management or control. At the end of the period, the MFS Lifetime 2040 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2030 Fund, the MFS Lifetime Income Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2035 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2050 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2020 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2045 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2025 Fund, and the MFS Lifetime 2055 Fund were the owners of record of approximately 11%, 11%, 6%, 5%, 5%, 4%, 4%, 4%, and 2%, respectively, of the value of outstanding voting shares of the fund. In addition, the MFS Lifetime 2060 Fund was the owner of record of less than 1% of the value of outstanding voting shares of the fund.

(6) Line of Credit

The fund and certain other funds managed by MFS participate in a $1.25 billion unsecured committed line of credit, subject to a $1 billion sublimit, provided by a syndication of banks under a credit agreement. Borrowings may be made for temporary financing needs. Interest is charged to each fund, based on its borrowings, generally at a rate equal to the higher of the Overnight Federal Reserve funds rate or daily one month LIBOR plus an agreed upon spread. A commitment fee, based on the average daily, unused portion of the committed line of credit, is allocated among the participating funds at the end of each calendar quarter. In addition, the fund and other funds managed by MFS have established unsecured uncommitted borrowing arrangements with certain banks for temporary financing needs. Interest is charged to each fund, based on its borrowings, at a rate equal to the Overnight Federal Reserve funds rate plus an agreed upon spread. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fund’s commitment fee and interest expense were $172 and $0, respectively, and are included in “Miscellaneous” expense in the Statement of Operations.

 

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(7) Investments in Affiliated Issuers

An affiliated issuer may be considered one in which the fund owns 5% or more of the outstanding voting securities, or a company which is under common control. For the purposes of this report, the fund assumes the following to be affiliated issuers:

 

Affiliated Issuers          Beginning
Shares/Par
Amount
    Acquisitions
Shares/Par
Amount
    Dispositions
Shares/Par
Amount
    Ending
Shares/Par
Amount
 
MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio       1,122,118       45,013,404       (44,184,872     1,950,650  
Affiliated Issuers  

Realized

Gain (Loss)

    Change in
Unrealized
Appreciation
(Depreciation)
    Capital Gain
Distributions
    Dividend
Income
   

Ending

Value

 
MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio     $113       $(250     $—       $6,475       $1,950,455  

 

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BOARD REVIEW OF INVESTMENT ADVISORY AGREEMENT

The Investment Company Act of 1940 requires that both the full Board of Trustees and a majority of the non-interested (“independent”) Trustees, voting separately, annually approve the continuation of the Fund’s investment advisory agreement with MFS. The Trustees consider matters bearing on the Fund and its advisory arrangements at their meetings throughout the year, including a review of performance data at each regular meeting. In addition, the independent Trustees met several times over the course of three months beginning in May and ending in July, 2017 (“contract review meetings”) for the specific purpose of considering whether to approve the continuation of the investment advisory agreement for the Fund and the other investment companies that the Board oversees (the “MFS Funds”). The independent Trustees were assisted in their evaluation of the Fund’s investment advisory agreement by independent legal counsel, from whom they received separate legal advice and with whom they met separately from MFS during various contract review meetings. The independent Trustees were also assisted in this process by the MFS Funds’ Independent Senior Officer, a senior officer appointed by and reporting to the independent Trustees.

In connection with their deliberations regarding the continuation of the investment advisory agreement, the Trustees, including the independent Trustees, considered such information and factors as they believed, in light of the legal advice furnished to them and their own business judgment, to be relevant. The investment advisory agreement for the Fund was considered separately, although the Trustees also took into account the common interests of all MFS Funds in their review. As described below, the Trustees considered the nature, quality, and extent of the various investment advisory, administrative, and shareholder services performed by MFS under the existing investment advisory agreement and other arrangements with the Fund.

In connection with their contract review meetings, the Trustees received and relied upon materials that included, among other items: (i) information provided by Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (“Broadridge”), an independent third party, on the investment performance of the Fund for the one-year period ended December 31, 2016 and the investment performance of a group of funds with substantially similar investment classifications/objectives (the “Lipper performance universe”), (ii) information provided by Broadridge on the Fund’s advisory fees and other expenses and the advisory fees and other expenses of comparable funds identified by Broadridge (the “Broadridge expense group”), (iii) information provided by MFS on the advisory fees of portfolios of other clients of MFS, including institutional separate accounts and other clients, (iv) information as to whether and to what extent applicable expense waivers, reimbursements or fee “breakpoints” are observed for the Fund, (v) information regarding MFS’ financial results and financial condition, including MFS’ and certain of its affiliates’ estimated profitability from services performed for the Fund and the MFS Funds as a whole, and compared to MFS’ institutional business, (vi) MFS’ views regarding the outlook for the mutual fund industry and the strategic business plans of MFS, (vii) descriptions of various functions performed by MFS for the Funds, such as compliance monitoring and portfolio trading practices, and (viii) information regarding the overall organization of MFS, including information about MFS’ senior management and other personnel providing investment advisory,

 

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administrative and other services to the Fund and the other MFS Funds. The comparative performance, fee and expense information prepared and provided by Broadridge was not independently verified and the independent Trustees did not independently verify any information provided to them by MFS.

The Trustees’ conclusion as to the continuation of the investment advisory agreement was based on a comprehensive consideration of all information provided to the Trustees and not the result of any single factor. Some of the factors that figured particularly in the Trustees’ deliberations are described below, although individual Trustees may have evaluated the information presented differently from one another, giving different weights to various factors. It is also important to recognize that the fee arrangements for the Fund and other MFS Funds are the result of years of review and discussion between the independent Trustees and MFS, that certain aspects of such arrangements may receive greater scrutiny in some years than in others, and that the Trustees’ conclusions may be based, in part, on their consideration of these same arrangements during the course of the year and in prior years.

Based on information provided by Broadridge and MFS, the Trustees reviewed the Fund’s total return investment performance as well as Lipper performance universe over the one-year period ended December 31, 2016. The total return performance of the Fund’s Class A shares was in the 3rd quintile relative to the other funds in the universe for this one-year period (the 1st quintile being the best performers and the 5th quintile being the worst performers). The Fund commenced operations on September 15, 2015, and has a limited operating history and performance record; therefore no performance data for the three- or five-year periods was available. Because of the passage of time, these performance results may differ from the performance results for more recent periods, including those shown elsewhere in this report.

In assessing the reasonableness of the Fund’s advisory fee, the Trustees considered, among other information, the Fund’s advisory fee and the total expense ratio of the Fund’s Class A shares as a percentage of average daily net assets and the advisory fee and total expense ratios of peer groups of funds based on information provided by Broadridge. The Trustees considered that MFS currently observes an expense limitation for the Fund, which may not be changed without the Trustees’ approval. The Trustees also considered that, according to the data provided by Broadridge (which takes into account any fee reductions or expense limitations that were in effect during the Fund’s last fiscal year), the Fund’s effective advisory fee rate and total expense ratio were each lower than the Broadridge expense group median.

The Trustees also considered the advisory fees charged by MFS to any institutional separate accounts advised by MFS (“separate accounts”) and unaffiliated investment companies for which MFS serves as subadviser (“subadvised funds”) that have comparable investment strategies to the Fund, if any. In comparing these fees, the Trustees considered information provided by MFS as to the generally broader scope of services provided by MFS to the Fund, as well as the more extensive regulatory burdens imposed on MFS in managing the Fund, in comparison to separate accounts and subadvised funds. The Trustees also considered the higher demands placed on MFS’ investment personnel and trading infrastructure as a result of the daily cash in-flows and out-flows of the Fund in comparison to separate accounts.

 

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Board Review of Investment Advisory Agreement – continued

 

The Trustees also considered whether the Fund may benefit from any economies of scale in the management of the Fund in the event of growth in assets of the Fund and/or growth in assets of the MFS Funds as a whole. They noted that the Fund’s advisory fee rate schedule is subject to contractual breakpoints that reduce the Fund’s advisory fee rate on average daily net assets over $1 billion and $2.5 billion. The Trustees also noted that MFS has agreed in writing to waive a portion of the management fees of certain MFS Funds, including the Fund, if the total combined assets of certain funds within the MFS Funds’ complex increase above agreed upon thresholds (the “group fee waiver”), enabling the Fund’s shareholders to share in the benefits from any economies of scale at the complex level. The group fee waiver is reviewed and renewed annually between the Board and MFS. The Trustees concluded that the breakpoints and the group fee waiver were sufficient to allow the Fund to benefit from economies of scale as its assets and overall complex assets grow.

The Trustees also considered information prepared by MFS relating to MFS’ costs and profits with respect to the Fund, the MFS Funds considered as a group, and other investment companies and accounts advised by MFS, as well as MFS’ methodologies used to determine and allocate its costs to the MFS Funds, the Fund, and other accounts and products for purposes of estimating profitability.

After reviewing these and other factors described herein, the Trustees concluded, within the context of their overall conclusions regarding the investment advisory agreement, that the advisory fees charged to the Fund represent reasonable compensation in light of the services being provided by MFS to the Fund.

In addition, the Trustees considered MFS’ resources and related efforts to continue to retain, attract and motivate capable personnel to serve the Fund. The Trustees also considered current and developing conditions in the financial services industry, including the presence of large and well-capitalized companies which are spending, and appear to be prepared to continue to spend, substantial sums to engage personnel and to provide services to competing investment companies. In this regard, the Trustees also considered the financial resources of MFS and its ultimate parent, Sun Life Financial Inc. The Trustees also considered the advantages and possible disadvantages to the Fund of having an adviser that also serves other investment companies as well as other accounts.

The Trustees also considered the nature, quality, cost, and extent of administrative, transfer agency, and distribution services provided to the Fund by MFS and its affiliates under agreements and plans other than the investment advisory agreement, including any 12b-1 fees the Fund pays to MFS Fund Distributors, Inc., an affiliate of MFS. The Trustees also considered the nature, extent and quality of certain other services MFS performs or arranges for on the Fund’s behalf, which may include securities lending programs, directed expense payment programs, class action recovery programs, and MFS’ interaction with third-party service providers, principally custodians and sub-custodians. The Trustees concluded that the various non-advisory services provided by MFS and its affiliates on behalf of the Fund were satisfactory.

The Trustees also considered benefits to MFS from the use of the Fund’s portfolio brokerage commissions, if applicable, to pay for investment research and various other

 

37


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Board Review of Investment Advisory Agreement – continued

 

factors. Additionally, the Trustees considered so-called “fall-out benefits” to MFS such as reputational value derived from serving as investment manager to the Fund.

Based on their evaluation of factors that they deemed to be material, including those factors described above, the Board of Trustees, including the independent Trustees, concluded that the Fund’s investment advisory agreement with MFS should be continued for an additional one-year period, commencing August 1, 2017.

 

38


Table of Contents

PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND INFORMATION

MFS votes proxies on behalf of the fund pursuant to proxy voting policies and procedures that are available without charge, upon request, by calling 1-800-225-2606, by visiting mfs.com/proxyvoting, or by visiting the SEC’s Web site at http://www.sec.gov.

Information regarding how the fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the most recent twelve-month period ended June 30 is available by August 31 of each year without charge by visiting mfs.com/proxyvoting, or by visiting the SEC’s Web site at http://www.sec.gov.

QUARTERLY PORTFOLIO DISCLOSURE

The fund will file a complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission) for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-Q. A shareholder can obtain the quarterly portfolio holdings report at mfs.com. The fund’s Form N-Q is also available on the EDGAR database on the Commission’s Internet Web site at http://www.sec.gov, and may be reviewed and copied at the:

Public Reference Room

Securities and Exchange Commission

100 F Street, NE, Room 1580

Washington, D.C. 20549

Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling the Commission at 1-800-SEC-0330. Copies of the fund’s Form N-Q also may be obtained, upon payment of a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov or by writing the Public Reference Section at the above address.

FURTHER INFORMATION

From time to time, MFS may post important information about the fund or the MFS funds on the MFS web site (mfs.com). This information is available at https://www.mfs.com/en-us/what-we-do/announcements.html or at mfs.com/openendfunds by choosing the fund’s name.

 

39


Table of Contents

INFORMATION ABOUT FUND CONTRACTS AND LEGAL CLAIMS

The fund has entered into contractual arrangements with an investment adviser, administrator, distributor, shareholder servicing agent, 529 program manager (if applicable), and custodian who each provide services to the fund. Unless expressly stated otherwise, shareholders are not parties to, or intended beneficiaries of these contractual arrangements, and these contractual arrangements are not intended to create any shareholder right to enforce them against the service providers or to seek any remedy under them against the service providers, either directly or on behalf of the fund.

Under the Trust’s By-Laws and Declaration of Trust, any claims asserted against or on behalf of the MFS Funds, including claims against Trustees and Officers, must be brought in state and federal courts located within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

PROVISION OF FINANCIAL REPORTS AND SUMMARY PROSPECTUSES

The fund produces financial reports every six months and updates its summary prospectus and prospectus annually. To avoid sending duplicate copies of materials to households, only one copy of the fund’s annual and semiannual report and summary prospectus may be mailed to shareholders having the same last name and residential address on the fund’s records. However, any shareholder may contact MFSC (please see back cover for address and telephone number) to request that copies of these reports and summary prospectuses be sent personally to that shareholder.

 

40


Table of Contents

LOGO

 

Save paper with eDelivery.

 

LOGO

MFS® will send you prospectuses,

reports, and proxies directly via e-mail so you will get information faster with less mailbox clutter.

To sign up:

1. Go to mfs.com.

2. Log in via MFS® Access.

3. Select eDelivery.

If you own your MFS fund shares through a financial institution or a retirement plan, MFS® TALK, MFS® Access, or eDelivery may not be available to you.

 

CONTACT

WEB SITE

mfs.com

MFS TALK

1-800-637-8255

24 hours a day

ACCOUNT SERVICE AND LITERATURE

Shareholders

1-800-225-2606

Financial advisors

1-800-343-2829

Retirement plan services

1-800-637-1255

MAILING ADDRESS

MFS Service Center, Inc.

P.O. Box 55824

Boston, MA 02205-5824

OVERNIGHT MAIL

MFS Service Center, Inc.

c/o DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc.

30 Dan Road

Canton, MA 02021-2809

 


Table of Contents

SEMIANNUAL REPORT

November 30, 2017

 

LOGO

 

MFS® BLENDED RESEARCH®

GROWTH EQUITY FUND

 

LOGO

 

BRW-SEM


Table of Contents

MFS® BLENDED RESEARCH® GROWTH EQUITY FUND

 

CONTENTS

 

Letter from the Executive Chairman     1  
Portfolio composition     2  
Expense table     3  
Portfolio of investments     5  
Statement of assets and liabilities     10  
Statement of operations     12  
Statements of changes in net assets     13  
Financial highlights     14  
Notes to financial statements     20  
Board review of investment advisory agreement     30  
Proxy voting policies and information     34  
Quarterly portfolio disclosure     34  
Further information     34  
Information about fund contracts and legal claims     35  
Provision of financial reports and summary prospectuses     35  
Contact information    back cover  

The report is prepared for the general information of shareholders.

It is authorized for distribution to prospective investors only when preceded or accompanied by a current prospectus.

 

NOT FDIC INSURED MAY LOSE VALUE NO BANK GUARANTEE



Table of Contents

LOGO

 

LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN

 

Dear Shareholders:

Most markets have proved resilient over the past year, despite uncertainty accompanying a new presidential administration in the United States and unease over

ongoing negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union regarding Brexit. U.S. share prices have reached new highs in recent months although the U.S. Federal Reserve has continued to gradually hike interest rates and has begun to shrink its balance sheet.

Globally, we’ve experienced a synchronized upturn in economic growth for more than a year. Despite the improvement in economic activity, there are few immediate signs of worrisome inflation amid muted wage gains around the world. Emerging market economies have been boosted in part by a weaker

U.S. dollar and are recovering despite lingering concerns over the potential for restrictive U.S. trade policies. Commodity markets have recovered somewhat in response to solid global demand and robust global trade, though not enough to rekindle inflation fears.

At MFS®, we believe having a disciplined, long-term investment approach through a full market cycle is essential to capturing the best opportunities while also managing risk. In our view, such a strategy, along with the professional guidance of a financial advisor, will help you reach your investment objectives.

Respectfully,

 

LOGO

Robert J. Manning

Executive Chairman

MFS Investment Management

January 16, 2018

The opinions expressed in this letter are subject to change and may not be relied upon for investment advice. No forecasts can be guaranteed.

 

1


Table of Contents

PORTFOLIO COMPOSITION

 

Portfolio structure

 

LOGO

 

Top ten holdings  
Apple, Inc.     5.9%  
Facebook, Inc., “A “     4.2%  
Microsoft Corp.     3.8%  
Amazon.com, Inc.     3.6%  
Alphabet, Inc., “C”     2.9%  
Boeing Co.     2.3%  
Comcast Corp., “A”     2.2%  
Alphabet, Inc., “A”     2.1%  
PepsiCo, Inc.     2.1%  
NVIDIA Corp.     2.1%  
Equity sectors  
Technology     28.4%  
Health Care     12.4%  
Retailing     10.2%  
Leisure     9.3%  
Industrial Goods & Services     8.2%  
Special Products & Services     7.9%  
Consumer Staples     6.6%  
Financial Services     5.2%  
Basic Materials     3.8%  
Transportation     2.5%  
Utilities & Communications     2.1%  
Autos & Housing     1.3%  
 

 

Cash & Cash Equivalents includes any cash, investments in money market funds, short-term securities, and other assets less liabilities. Please see the Statement of Assets and Liabilities for additional information related to the fund’s cash position and other assets and liabilities.

Percentages are based on net assets as of November 30, 2017.

The portfolio is actively managed and current holdings may be different.

 

2


Table of Contents

EXPENSE TABLE

Fund expenses borne by the shareholders during the period, June 1, 2017 through November 30, 2017

As a shareholder of the fund, you incur two types of costs: (1) transaction costs, including sales charges (loads) on certain purchase or redemption payments, and (2) ongoing costs, including management fees; distribution and service (12b-1) fees; and other fund expenses. This example is intended to help you understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the fund and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds.

The example is based on an investment of $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period June 1, 2017 through November 30, 2017.

Actual Expenses

The first line for each share class in the following table provides information about actual account values and actual expenses. You may use the information in this line, together with the amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you paid over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000 = 8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first line under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid During Period” to estimate the expenses you paid on your account during this period.

Hypothetical Example for Comparison Purposes

The second line for each share class in the following table provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the fund’s actual expense ratio and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses, which is not the fund’s actual return. The hypothetical account values and expenses may not be used to estimate the actual ending account balance or expenses you paid for the period. You may use this information to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the fund and other funds. To do so, compare this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of the other funds.

Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only and do not reflect any transactional costs, such as sales charges (loads). Therefore, the second line for each share class in the table is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds. In addition, if these transactional costs were included, your costs would have been higher.

 

3


Table of Contents

Expense Table – continued

 

 

Share
Class
       Annualized
Expense
Ratio
  Beginning
Account Value
6/01/17
 

Ending

Account Value
11/30/17

 

Expenses

Paid During
Period (p)

6/01/17-11/30/17

 
A   Actual   0.74%   $1,000.00   $1,116.82     $3.93  
  Hypothetical (h)   0.74%   $1,000.00   $1,021.36     $3.75  
B   Actual   1.49%   $1,000.00   $1,112.69     $7.89  
  Hypothetical (h)   1.49%   $1,000.00   $1,017.60     $7.54  
C   Actual   1.49%   $1,000.00   $1,112.78     $7.89  
  Hypothetical (h)   1.49%   $1,000.00   $1,017.60     $7.54  
I   Actual   0.49%   $1,000.00   $1,117.36     $2.60  
  Hypothetical (h)   0.49%   $1,000.00   $1,022.61     $2.48  
R1   Actual   1.49%   $1,000.00   $1,111.85     $7.89  
  Hypothetical (h)   1.49%   $1,000.00   $1,017.60     $7.54  
R2   Actual   0.99%   $1,000.00   $1,115.26     $5.25  
  Hypothetical (h)   0.99%   $1,000.00   $1,020.10     $5.01  
R3   Actual   0.74%   $1,000.00   $1,116.63     $3.93  
  Hypothetical (h)   0.74%   $1,000.00   $1,021.36     $3.75  
R4   Actual   0.49%   $1,000.00   $1,118.18     $2.60  
  Hypothetical (h)   0.49%   $1,000.00   $1,022.61     $2.48  
R6   Actual   0.40%   $1,000.00   $1,118.08     $2.12  
  Hypothetical (h)   0.40%   $1,000.00   $1,023.06     $2.03  

 

(h) 5% class return per year before expenses.
(p) “Expenses Paid During Period” are equal to each class’s annualized expense ratio, as shown above, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/365 (to reflect the one-half year period). Expenses paid do not include any applicable sales charges (loads). If these transaction costs had been included, your costs would have been higher.

 

4


Table of Contents

PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS

11/30/17 (unaudited)

The Portfolio of Investments is a complete list of all securities owned by your fund. It is categorized by broad-based asset classes.

 

Common Stocks - 97.9%                 
Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Aerospace - 4.2%                 
Boeing Co.      15,814     $ 4,377,315  
Textron, Inc.      33,877       1,887,288  
United Technologies Corp.      16,000       1,943,200  
    

 

 

 
             $ 8,207,803  
Airlines - 0.6%                 
Copa Holdings S.A., “A”      8,029     $ 1,077,411  
Alcoholic Beverages - 0.8%                 
Constellation Brands, Inc., “A”      7,088     $ 1,542,278  
Automotive - 0.7%                 
Lear Corp.      7,039     $ 1,273,285  
Biotechnology - 3.8%                 
Amgen, Inc.      7,639     $ 1,341,867  
Biogen, Inc. (a)      9,496       3,059,326  
Celgene Corp. (a)      25,353       2,556,343  
Illumina, Inc. (a)      2,118       487,204  
    

 

 

 
             $ 7,444,740  
Brokerage & Asset Managers - 0.7%                 
Affiliated Managers Group, Inc.      7,128     $ 1,416,120  
Business Services - 6.4%                 
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp., “A”      33,109     $ 2,393,119  
DXC Technology Co.      26,853       2,581,647  
Fidelity National Information Services, Inc.      13,677       1,290,151  
First Data Corp. (a)      107,198       1,763,407  
Global Payments, Inc.      20,692       2,080,788  
Total System Services, Inc.      31,631       2,352,081  
    

 

 

 
             $ 12,461,193  
Cable TV - 2.2%                 
Comcast Corp., “A”      114,248     $ 4,288,870  
Chemicals - 1.8%                 
FMC Corp.      21,915     $ 2,068,776  
Monsanto Co.      12,031       1,423,749  
    

 

 

 
             $ 3,492,525  

 

5


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Common Stocks - continued                 
Computer Software - 7.2%                 
Adobe Systems, Inc. (a)      19,661     $ 3,567,882  
Intuit, Inc.      18,819       2,958,723  
Microsoft Corp.      87,221       7,341,391  
    

 

 

 
             $ 13,867,996  
Computer Software - Systems - 6.6%                 
Apple, Inc.      66,644     $ 11,452,771  
NetApp, Inc.      24,257       1,370,763  
    

 

 

 
             $ 12,823,534  
Construction - 0.7%                 
Owens Corning      14,521     $ 1,282,930  
Consumer Services - 1.5%                 
Priceline Group, Inc. (a)      1,684     $ 2,929,672  
Containers - 1.4%                 
Berry Global Group, Inc. (a)      24,795     $ 1,481,997  
Sealed Air Corp.      24,479       1,176,216  
    

 

 

 
             $ 2,658,213  
Electronics - 4.5%                 
Applied Materials, Inc.      49,595     $ 2,617,128  
NVIDIA Corp.      19,998       4,013,799  
Texas Instruments, Inc.      21,934       2,133,959  
    

 

 

 
             $ 8,764,886  
Food & Beverages - 3.7%                 
Archer Daniels Midland Co.      15,078     $ 601,311  
Coca-Cola Co.      2,733       125,089  
PepsiCo, Inc.      34,655       4,038,000  
Tyson Foods, Inc., “A”      30,347       2,496,041  
    

 

 

 
             $ 7,260,441  
Gaming & Lodging - 2.9%                 
Carnival Corp.      12,013     $ 788,533  
Marriott International, Inc., “A”      21,438       2,722,626  
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (a)      5,167       279,845  
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.      15,315       1,897,222  
    

 

 

 
             $ 5,688,226  
General Merchandise - 2.4%                 
Costco Wholesale Corp.      17,657     $ 3,256,481  
Dollar Tree, Inc. (a)      13,441       1,381,197  
    

 

 

 
             $ 4,637,678  

 

6


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Common Stocks - continued                 
Health Maintenance Organizations - 2.0%                 
Humana Inc.      4,198     $ 1,095,090  
UnitedHealth Group, Inc.      4,910       1,120,315  
WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (a)      8,244       1,755,889  
    

 

 

 
             $ 3,971,294  
Insurance - 1.7%                 
MetLife, Inc.      31,916     $ 1,713,251  
Prudential Financial, Inc.      13,698       1,586,776  
    

 

 

 
             $ 3,300,027  
Internet - 9.2%                 
Alphabet, Inc., “A” (a)      3,905     $ 4,046,244  
Alphabet, Inc., “C” (a)      5,431       5,547,278  
Facebook, Inc., “A” (a)      45,956       8,142,484  
    

 

 

 
             $ 17,736,006  
Leisure & Toys - 2.5%                 
Electronic Arts, Inc. (a)      22,755     $ 2,419,994  
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (a)      22,406       2,499,390  
    

 

 

 
             $ 4,919,384  
Machinery & Tools - 4.0%                 
Eaton Corp. PLC      18,762     $ 1,459,308  
Ingersoll-Rand Co. Ltd., “A”      21,806       1,910,642  
Roper Technologies, Inc.      6,663       1,780,420  
United Rentals, Inc. (a)      15,914       2,537,965  
    

 

 

 
             $ 7,688,335  
Medical & Health Technology & Services - 1.7%                 
Express Scripts Holding Co. (a)      4,953     $ 322,836  
HCA Healthcare, Inc. (a)      19,487       1,656,395  
McKesson Corp.      8,905       1,315,625  
    

 

 

 
             $ 3,294,856  
Medical Equipment - 2.9%                 
Align Technology, Inc. (a)      3,761     $ 981,170  
Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (a)      20,998       2,460,965  
Medtronic PLC      17,170       1,410,172  
Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.      3,608       695,478  
    

 

 

 
             $ 5,547,785  
Network & Telecom - 0.9%                 
Cisco Systems, Inc.      49,247     $ 1,836,913  

 

7


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Common Stocks - continued                 
Other Banks & Diversified Financials - 2.1%                 
Discover Financial Services      29,539     $ 2,085,454  
Visa, Inc., “A”      17,960       2,022,116  
    

 

 

 
             $ 4,107,570  
Pharmaceuticals - 2.0%                 
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.      12,698     $ 802,387  
Eli Lilly & Co.      36,033       3,049,833  
    

 

 

 
             $ 3,852,220  
Railroad & Shipping - 2.0%                 
Kansas City Southern Co.      3,231     $ 362,324  
Union Pacific Corp.      27,269       3,449,529  
    

 

 

 
             $ 3,811,853  
Real Estate - 0.6%                 
Realogy Holdings Corp.      40,834     $ 1,139,677  
Restaurants - 1.6%                 
Domino’s Pizza, Inc.      6,095     $ 1,134,645  
Starbucks Corp.      28,362       1,639,891  
YUM! Brands, Inc.      3,307       276,035  
    

 

 

 
             $ 3,050,571  
Specialty Chemicals - 0.6%                 
Univar, Inc. (a)      41,271     $ 1,215,844  
Specialty Stores - 7.8%                 
Amazon.com, Inc. (a)      5,934     $ 6,982,834  
Best Buy Co., Inc.      35,307       2,104,650  
Home Depot, Inc.      13,322       2,395,562  
Michaels Co., Inc. (a)      60,193       1,300,169  
Ross Stores, Inc.      15,520       1,179,986  
TJX Cos., Inc.      15,561       1,175,634  
    

 

 

 
             $ 15,138,835  
Telecommunications - Wireless - 1.6%                 
American Tower Corp., REIT      5,435     $ 782,260  
SBA Communications Corp., REIT (a)      13,838       2,349,000  
    

 

 

 
             $ 3,131,260  
Tobacco - 2.1%                 
Altria Group, Inc.      34,255     $ 2,323,517  
Philip Morris International, Inc.      16,746       1,720,651  
    

 

 

 
             $ 4,044,168  

 

8


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
Common Stocks - continued                 
Utilities - Electric Power - 0.5%                 
AES Corp.      87,543     $ 926,205  
Total Common Stocks (Identified Cost, $160,402,581)            $ 189,830,604  
Investment Companies (h) - 0.3%                 
Money Market Funds - 0.3%                 
MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio, 1.19% (v)
(Identified Cost, $556,610)
     556,666     $ 556,610  
Other Assets, Less Liabilities - 1.8%              3,480,027  
Net Assets - 100.0%            $ 193,867,241  

 

(a) Non-income producing security.
(h) An affiliated issuer may be considered one in which the fund owns 5% or more of the outstanding voting securities, or a company which is under common control. At period end, the aggregate values of the fund’s investments in affiliated issuers and in unaffiliated issuers were $556,610 and $189,830,604, respectively.
(v) Affiliated issuer that is available only to investment companies managed by MFS. The rate quoted for the MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio is the annualized seven-day yield of the fund at period end.

The following abbreviations are used in this report and are defined:

 

PLC   Public Limited Company

 

REIT   Real Estate Investment Trust

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

9


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

 

STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

At 11/30/17 (unaudited)

This statement represents your fund’s balance sheet, which details the assets and liabilities comprising the total value of the fund.

 

Assets         

Investments in unaffiliated issuers, at value (identified cost, $160,402,581)

     $189,830,604  

Investments in affiliated issuers, at value (identified cost, $556,610)

     556,610  

Receivables for

  

Investments sold

     1,379,681  

Fund shares sold

     2,394,514  

Dividends

     266,915  

Receivable from investment adviser

     34,300  

Other assets

     45,115  

Total assets

     $194,507,739  
Liabilities         

Payables for

  

Investments purchased

     $533,226  

Fund shares reacquired

     57,481  

Payable to affiliates

  

Shareholder servicing costs

     4,731  

Distribution and service fees

     770  

Payable for independent Trustees’ compensation

     11  

Accrued expenses and other liabilities

     44,279  

Total liabilities

     $640,498  

Net assets

     $193,867,241  
Net assets consist of         

Paid-in capital

     $161,590,122  

Unrealized appreciation (depreciation)

     29,428,023  

Accumulated net realized gain (loss)

     1,836,854  

Undistributed net investment income

     1,012,242  

Net assets

     $193,867,241  

Shares of beneficial interest outstanding

     14,336,146  

 

10


Table of Contents

Statement of Assets and Liabilities (unaudited) – continued

 

 

     Net assets      Shares
outstanding
     Net asset value
per share (a)
 

Class A

     $53,417,140        3,963,721        $13.48  

Class B

     271,362        20,363        13.33  

Class C

     281,951        21,161        13.32  

Class I

     257,622        19,050        13.52  

Class R1

     155,064        11,638        13.32  

Class R2

     150,734        11,205        13.45  

Class R3

     67,775        5,021        13.50  

Class R4

     68,151        5,036        13.53  

Class R6

     139,197,442        10,278,951        13.54  

 

(a) Maximum offering price per share was equal to the net asset value per share for all share classes, except for Class A, for which the maximum offering price per share was $14.30 [100 / 94.25 x $13.48]. On sales of $50,000 or more, the maximum offering price of Class A shares is reduced. A contingent deferred sales charge may be imposed on redemptions of Class A, Class B, and Class C shares. Redemption price per share was equal to the net asset value per share for Classes I, R1, R2, R3, R4, and R6. Net asset value per share is calculated using actual net assets and shares outstanding rather than amounts that have been rounded for presentation purposes.

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

11


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

 

STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS

Six months ended 11/30/17 (unaudited)

This statement describes how much your fund earned in investment income and accrued in expenses. It also describes any gains and/or losses generated by fund operations.

 

Net investment income (loss)         

Income

  

Dividends

     $891,012  

Dividends from affiliated issuers

     9,107  

Other

     28  

Foreign taxes withheld

     (605

Total investment income

     $899,542  

Expenses

  

Management fee

     $280,720  

Distribution and service fees

     16,272  

Shareholder servicing costs

     6,606  

Administrative services fee

     15,859  

Independent Trustees’ compensation

     2,278  

Custodian fee

     5,813  

Shareholder communications

     3,643  

Audit and tax fees

     26,387  

Legal fees

     706  

Registration fees

     60,379  

Miscellaneous

     9,043  

Total expenses

     $427,706  

Reduction of expenses by investment adviser and distributor

     (127,356

Net expenses

     $300,350  

Net investment income (loss)

     $599,192  
Realized and unrealized gain (loss)         

Realized gain (loss) (identified cost basis)

  

Unaffiliated issuers

     $2,111,521  

Affiliated issuers

     59  

Net realized gain (loss)

     $2,111,580  

Change in unrealized appreciation (depreciation)

  

Unaffiliated issuers

     $13,976,342  

Affiliated issuers

     (67

Net unrealized gain (loss)

     $13,976,275  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     $16,087,855  

Change in net assets from operations

     $16,687,047  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

12


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

 

STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN NET ASSETS

These statements describe the increases and/or decreases in net assets resulting from operations, any distributions, and any shareholder transactions.

 

Change in net assets   

Six months ended
11/30/17

(unaudited)

     Year ended
5/31/17
 
From operations                  

Net investment income (loss)

     $599,192        $853,200  

Net realized gain (loss)

     2,111,580        (241,880

Net unrealized gain (loss)

     13,976,275        15,334,422  

Change in net assets from operations

     $16,687,047        $15,945,742  
Distributions declared to shareholders                  

From net investment income

     $—        $(450,037

Change in net assets from fund share transactions

     $52,176,470        $105,636,340  

Total change in net assets

     $68,863,517        $121,132,045  
Net assets                  

At beginning of period

     125,003,724        3,871,679  

At end of period (including undistributed net investment income of $1,012,242 and $413,050, respectively)

     $193,867,241        $125,003,724  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

13


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

 

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

The financial highlights table is intended to help you understand the fund’s financial performance for the semiannual period and the past 5 fiscal years (or life of a particular share class, if shorter). Certain information reflects financial results for a single fund share. The total returns in the table represent the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the fund share class (assuming reinvestment of all distributions) held for the entire period.

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class A      5/31/17     5/31/16 (c)  
                

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $12.07       $10.25       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations                         

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $0.08       $0.08       $0.06  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.33       1.77       0.22  

Total from investment operations

     $1.41       $1.85       $0.28  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                         

From net investment income

     $—       $(0.03     $(0.03

From net realized gain

                 (0.00 )(w) 

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.03     $(0.03

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $13.48       $12.07       $10.25  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     11.68 (n)      18.05       2.81 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                        

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     0.89 (a)      1.47       5.24 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     0.74 (a)      0.74       0.69 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     1.22 (a)      0.68       0.82 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     32 (n)      57       28 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $53,417       $1,318       $352  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

14


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class B      5/31/17     5/31/16 (c)  
                

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $11.98       $10.22       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations                         

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $(0.02     $(0.01     (0.00 )(w) 

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.37       1.77       0.22  

Total from investment operations

     $1.35       $1.76       $0.22  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                         

From net investment income

     $—       $—       (0.00 )(w) 

From net realized gain

                 (0.00 )(w) 

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $—       $(0.00 )(w) 

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $13.33       $11.98       $10.22  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     11.27 (n)      17.22       2.27 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                        

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     1.65 (a)      2.42       6.82 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     1.49 (a)      1.49       1.46 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     (0.26 )(a)      (0.08     0.01 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     32 (n)      57       28 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $271       $249       $113  
    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class C      5/31/17     5/31/16 (c)  
                

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $11.97       $10.22       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations                         

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $(0.02     $(0.01     (0.00 )(w) 

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.37       1.76       0.22  

Total from investment operations

     $1.35       $1.75       $0.22  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                         

From net investment income

     $—       $—       (0.00 )(w) 

From net realized gain

                 (0.00 )(w) 

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $—       $(0.00 )(w) 

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $13.32       $11.97       $10.22  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     11.28 (n)      17.12       2.26 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                        

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     1.65 (a)      2.41       6.92 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     1.49 (a)      1.49       1.46 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     (0.26 )(a)      (0.05     0.02 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     32 (n)      57       28 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $282       $159       $62  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

15


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class I      5/31/17     5/31/16 (c)  
                

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $12.10       $10.26       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations                         

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $0.05       $0.10       $0.08  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.37       1.78       0.21  

Total from investment operations

     $1.42       $1.88       $0.29  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                         

From net investment income

     $—       $(0.04     $(0.03

From net realized gain

                 (0.00 )(w) 

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.04     $(0.03

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $13.52       $12.10       $10.26  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     11.74 (n)      18.38       2.97 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                        

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     0.65 (a)      1.32       4.67 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     0.49 (a)      0.49       0.46 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     0.77 (a)      0.91       1.06 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     32 (n)      57       28 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $258       $673       $286  
    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R1      5/31/17     5/31/16 (c)  
                

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $11.98       $10.22       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations                         

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $(0.02     $(0.01     (0.00 )(w) 

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.36       1.77       0.22  

Total from investment operations

     $1.34       $1.76       $0.22  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                         

From net investment income

     $—       $—       (0.00 )(w) 

From net realized gain

                 (0.00 )(w) 

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $—       $(0.00 )(w) 

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $13.32       $11.98       $10.22  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     11.19 (n)      17.22       2.26 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                        

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     1.65 (a)      2.49       7.04 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     1.49 (a)      1.49       1.46 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     (0.29 )(a)      (0.05     0.01 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     32 (n)      57       28 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $155       $175       $51  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

16


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R2      5/31/17     5/31/16 (c)  
                

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $12.06       $10.24       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations                         

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $0.02       $0.05       $0.04  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.37       1.77       0.22  

Total from investment operations

     $1.39       $1.82       $0.26  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                         

From net investment income

     $—       $—       $(0.02

From net realized gain

                 (0.00 )(w) 

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $—       $(0.02

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $13.45       $12.06       $10.24  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     11.53 (n)      17.77       2.61 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                        

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     1.15 (a)      2.02       6.54 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     0.99 (a)      0.99       0.96 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     0.25 (a)      0.44       0.51 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     32 (n)      57       28 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $151       $130       $51  
    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R3      5/31/17     5/31/16 (c)  
                

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $12.09       $10.25       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations                         

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $0.03       $0.07       $0.05  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.38       1.79       0.23  

Total from investment operations

     $1.41       $1.86       $0.28  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                         

From net investment income

     $—       $(0.02     $(0.03

From net realized gain

                 (0.00 )(w) 

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.02     $(0.03

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $13.50       $12.09       $10.25  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     11.66 (n)      18.11       2.79 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                        

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     0.90 (a)      1.84       6.29 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     0.74 (a)      0.74       0.71 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     0.49 (a)      0.67       0.76 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     32 (n)      57       28 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $68       $61       $51  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

17


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R4      5/31/17     5/31/16 (c)  
                

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $12.10       $10.26       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations                         

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $0.05       $0.10       $0.07  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.38       1.78       0.22  

Total from investment operations

     $1.43       $1.88       $0.29  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                         

From net investment income

     $—       $(0.04     $(0.03

From net realized gain

                 (0.00 )(w) 

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.04     $(0.03

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $13.53       $12.10       $10.26  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     11.82 (n)      18.37       2.97 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                        

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     0.65 (a)      1.58       6.04 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     0.49 (a)      0.49       0.46 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     0.74 (a)      0.93       1.01 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     32 (n)      57       28 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $68       $61       $51  
    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R6      5/31/17     5/31/16 (c)  
                

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $12.11       $10.26       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations                         

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $0.05       $0.11       $0.07  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.38       1.78       0.22  

Total from investment operations

     $1.43       $1.89       $0.29  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                         

From net investment income

     $—       $(0.04     $(0.03

From net realized gain

                 (0.00 )(w) 

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.04     $(0.03

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $13.54       $12.11       $10.26  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     11.81 (n)      18.51       2.97 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                        

Expenses before expense reductions (f)

     0.58 (a)      0.65       5.80 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)

     0.40 (a)      0.43       0.45 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     0.83 (a)      0.97       1.01 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     32 (n)      57       28 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $139,197       $122,177       $2,853  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

18


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

 

(a) Annualized.
(c) For the period from the commencement of the fund’s investment operations, September 15, 2015, through the stated period end.
(d) Per share data is based on average shares outstanding.
(f) Ratios do not reflect reductions from fees paid indirectly, if applicable.
(n) Not annualized.
(r) Certain expenses have been reduced without which performance would have been lower.
(s) From time to time the fund may receive proceeds from litigation settlements, without which performance would be lower.
(t) Total returns do not include any applicable sales charges.
(w) Per share amount was less than $0.01.
(x) The net asset values and total returns have been calculated on net assets which include adjustments made in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles required at period end for financial reporting purposes.

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

19


Table of Contents

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(unaudited)

(1) Business and Organization

MFS Blended Research Growth Equity Fund (the fund) is a diversified series of MFS Series Trust X (the trust). The trust is organized as a Massachusetts business trust and is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, as an open-end management investment company.

The fund is an investment company and accordingly follows the investment company accounting and reporting guidance of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification Topic 946 Financial Services – Investment Companies.

(2) Significant Accounting Policies

General – The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of increases and decreases in net assets from operations during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. In the preparation of these financial statements, management has evaluated subsequent events occurring after the date of the fund’s Statement of Assets and Liabilities through the date that the financial statements were issued.

In October 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released its Final Rule on Investment Company Reporting Modernization (the “Rule”). The Rule, which introduced two new regulatory reporting forms for investment companies – Form N-PORT and Form N-CEN – also contained amendments to Regulation S-X which impact financial statement presentation, particularly the presentation of derivative investments, for all reporting periods ending after August 1, 2017. The fund has adopted the Rule’s Regulation S-X amendments and believes that the fund’s financial statements are in compliance with those amendments.

Balance Sheet Offsetting – The fund’s accounting policy with respect to balance sheet offsetting is that, absent an event of default by the counterparty or a termination of the agreement, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) Master Agreement, or similar agreement, does not result in an offset of reported amounts of financial assets and financial liabilities in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities across transactions between the fund and the applicable counterparty. The fund’s right to setoff may be restricted or prohibited by the bankruptcy or insolvency laws of the particular jurisdiction to which a specific master netting agreement counterparty is subject. Balance sheet offsetting disclosures, to the extent applicable to the fund, have been included in the fund’s Significant Accounting Policies note under the captions for each of the fund’s in-scope financial instruments and transactions.

Investment Valuations – Equity securities, including restricted equity securities, are generally valued at the last sale or official closing price on their primary market or exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Equity securities, for which there were no sales reported that day, are generally valued at the last quoted daily bid quotation on their primary market or exchange as provided by a third-party pricing

 

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service. Short-term instruments with a maturity at issuance of 60 days or less may be valued at amortized cost, which approximates market value. Open-end investment companies are generally valued at net asset value per share. Securities and other assets generally valued on the basis of information from a third-party pricing service may also be valued at a broker/dealer bid quotation. Values obtained from third-party pricing services can utilize both transaction data and market information such as yield, quality, coupon rate, maturity, type of issue, trading characteristics, and other market data. The values of foreign securities and other assets and liabilities expressed in foreign currencies are converted to U.S. dollars using the mean of bid and asked prices for rates provided by a third-party pricing service.

The Board of Trustees has delegated primary responsibility for determining or causing to be determined the value of the fund’s investments (including any fair valuation) to the adviser pursuant to valuation policies and procedures approved by the Board. If the adviser determines that reliable market quotations are not readily available, investments are valued at fair value as determined in good faith by the adviser in accordance with such procedures under the oversight of the Board of Trustees. Under the fund’s valuation policies and procedures, market quotations are not considered to be readily available for most types of debt instruments and floating rate loans and many types of derivatives. These investments are generally valued at fair value based on information from third-party pricing services. In addition, investments may be valued at fair value if the adviser determines that an investment’s value has been materially affected by events occurring after the close of the exchange or market on which the investment is principally traded (such as foreign exchange or market) and prior to the determination of the fund’s net asset value, or after the halting of trading of a specific security where trading does not resume prior to the close of the exchange or market on which the security is principally traded. Events that occur on a frequent basis after foreign markets close (such as developments in foreign markets and significant movements in the U.S. markets) and prior to the determination of the fund’s net asset value may be deemed to have a material effect on the value of securities traded in foreign markets. Accordingly, the fund’s foreign equity securities may often be valued at fair value. The adviser generally relies on third-party pricing services or other information (such as the correlation with price movements of similar securities in the same or other markets; the type, cost and investment characteristics of the security; the business and financial condition of the issuer; and trading and other market data) to assist in determining whether to fair value and at what value to fair value an investment. The value of an investment for purposes of calculating the fund’s net asset value can differ depending on the source and method used to determine value. When fair valuation is used, the value of an investment used to determine the fund’s net asset value may differ from quoted or published prices for the same investment. There can be no assurance that the fund could obtain the fair value assigned to an investment if it were to sell the investment at the same time at which the fund determines its net asset value per share.

Various inputs are used in determining the value of the fund’s assets or liabilities. These inputs are categorized into three broad levels. In certain cases, the inputs used to measure fair value may fall into different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In such cases, an investment’s level within the fair value hierarchy is based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement. The fund’s assessment of the significance of a particular input to the fair value measurement in its entirety requires

 

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judgment, and considers factors specific to the investment. Level 1 includes unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. Level 2 includes other significant observable market-based inputs (including quoted prices for similar securities, interest rates, prepayment speed, and credit risk). Level 3 includes unobservable inputs, which may include the adviser’s own assumptions in determining the fair value of investments. The following is a summary of the levels used as of November 30, 2017 in valuing the fund’s assets or liabilities:

 

Financial Instruments    Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  
Equity Securities      $189,830,604        $—        $—        $189,830,604  
Mutual Funds      556,610                      556,610  
Total      $190,387,214        $—        $—        $190,387,214  

For further information regarding security characteristics, see the Portfolio of Investments.

Indemnifications – Under the fund’s organizational documents, its officers and Trustees may be indemnified against certain liabilities and expenses arising out of the performance of their duties to the fund. Additionally, in the normal course of business, the fund enters into agreements with service providers that may contain indemnification clauses. The fund’s maximum exposure under these agreements is unknown as this would involve future claims that may be made against the fund that have not yet occurred.

Investment Transactions and Income – Investment transactions are recorded on the trade date. Dividends received in cash are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Certain dividends from foreign securities will be recorded when the fund is informed of the dividend if such information is obtained subsequent to the ex-dividend date. Dividend payments received in additional securities are recorded on the ex-dividend date in an amount equal to the value of the security on such date.

The fund may receive proceeds from litigation settlements. Any proceeds received from litigation involving portfolio holdings are reflected in the Statement of Operations in realized gain/loss if the security has been disposed of by the fund or in unrealized gain/loss if the security is still held by the fund. Any other proceeds from litigation not related to portfolio holdings are reflected as other income in the Statement of Operations.

Tax Matters and Distributions – The fund intends to qualify as a regulated investment company, as defined under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code, and to distribute all of its taxable income, including realized capital gains. As a result, no provision for federal income tax is required. The fund’s federal tax returns, when filed, will remain subject to examination by the Internal Revenue Service for a three year period. Management has analyzed the fund’s tax positions taken on federal and state tax returns for all open tax years and does not believe that there are any uncertain tax positions that require recognition of a tax liability. Foreign taxes, if any, have been accrued by the fund in the accompanying financial statements in accordance with the applicable foreign tax law. Foreign income taxes may be withheld by certain countries in which the fund invests. Additionally, capital gains realized by the fund on securities issued in or by certain foreign countries may be subject to capital gains tax imposed by those countries.

 

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Distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Income and capital gain distributions are determined in accordance with income tax regulations, which may differ from U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Certain capital accounts in the financial statements are periodically adjusted for permanent differences in order to reflect their tax character. These adjustments have no impact on net assets or net asset value per share. Temporary differences which arise from recognizing certain items of income, expense, gain or loss in different periods for financial statement and tax purposes will reverse at some time in the future. Distributions in excess of net investment income or net realized gains are temporary overdistributions for financial statement purposes resulting from differences in the recognition or classification of income or distributions for financial statement and tax purposes.

Book/tax differences primarily relate to wash sale loss deferrals.

The tax character of distributions declared to shareholders for the last fiscal year is as follows:

 

    

Year ended

5/31/17

 
Ordinary income (including any
short-term capital gains)
     $450,037  

The federal tax cost and the tax basis components of distributable earnings were as follows:

 

As of 11/30/17       
Cost of investments      $161,109,201  
Gross appreciation      30,283,625  
Gross depreciation      (1,005,612
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation)      $29,278,013  
As of 5/31/17       
Undistributed ordinary income      413,050  
Capital loss carryforwards      (125,013
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation)      15,302,035  

The aggregate cost above includes prior fiscal year end tax adjustments, if applicable.

As of May 31, 2017, the fund had capital loss carryforwards available to offset future realized gains. These net capital losses may be carried forward indefinitely and their character is retained as short-term and/or long-term losses. Such losses are characterized as follows:

 

Short-Term      $(118,728
Long-Term      (6,285
Total      $(125,013

Multiple Classes of Shares of Beneficial Interest – The fund offers multiple classes of shares, which differ in their respective distribution and service fees. The fund’s income, realized and unrealized gain (loss), and common expenses are allocated to shareholders based on the daily net assets of each class. Dividends are declared separately for each class. Differences in per share dividend rates are generally due to

 

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differences in separate class expenses. Class B shares will convert to Class A shares approximately eight years after purchase. Effective April 23, 2018, Class C will convert to Class A shares approximately ten years after purchase. Any shares with an original purchase date of April 30, 2008 or earlier will automatically convert to Class A shares on April 23, 2018. The fund’s distributions declared to shareholders as reported in the Statements of Changes in Net Assets are presented by class as follows:

 

     From net investment
income
 
     Six months
ended
11/30/17
     Year
ended
5/31/17
 
Class A      $—        $1,674  
Class I             1,615  
Class R3             76  
Class R4             204  
Class R6             446,468  
Total      $—        $450,037  

(3) Transactions with Affiliates

Investment Adviser – The fund has an investment advisory agreement with MFS to provide overall investment management and related administrative services and facilities to the fund. The management fee is computed daily and paid monthly at the following annual rates based on the fund’s average daily net assets:

 

Up to $1 billion      0.40
In excess of $1 billion and up to $2.5 billion      0.375
In excess of $2.5 billion      0.35

MFS has agreed in writing to reduce its management fee by a specified amount if certain MFS mutual fund assets exceed thresholds agreed to by MFS and the fund’s Board of Trustees. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, this management fee reduction amounted to $5,773, which is included in the reduction of total expenses in the Statement of Operations. The management fee incurred for the six months ended November 30, 2017 was equivalent to an annual effective rate of 0.39% of the fund’s average daily net assets.

The investment adviser has agreed in writing to pay a portion of the fund’s total annual operating expenses, excluding interest, taxes, extraordinary expenses, brokerage and transaction costs, and investment-related expenses, such that total fund operating expenses do not exceed the following rates annually of each class’s average daily net assets:

 

Classes  
A   B     C     I     R1     R2     R3     R4     R6  
0.74%     1.49%       1.49%       0.49%       1.49%       0.99%       0.74%       0.49%       0.45%  

This written agreement will continue until modified by the fund’s Board of Trustees, but such agreement will continue at least until September 30, 2018. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, this reduction amounted to $121,578, which is included in the reduction of total expenses in the Statement of Operations.

 

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Distributor – MFS Fund Distributors, Inc. (MFD), a wholly-owned subsidiary of MFS, as distributor, received $1,013 for the six months ended November 30, 2017, as its portion of the initial sales charge on sales of Class A shares of the fund.

The Board of Trustees has adopted a distribution plan for certain share classes pursuant to Rule 12b-1 of the Investment Company Act of 1940.

The fund’s distribution plan provides that the fund will pay MFD for services provided by MFD and financial intermediaries in connection with the distribution and servicing of certain share classes. One component of the plan is a distribution fee paid to MFD and another component of the plan is a service fee paid to MFD. MFD may subsequently pay all, or a portion, of the distribution and/or service fees to financial intermediaries.

Distribution Plan Fee Table:

 

    

Distribution

Fee Rate (d)

    

Service

Fee Rate (d)

    

Total

Distribution

Plan (d)

    

Annual

Effective

Rate (e)

    

Distribution

and Service

Fee

 
Class A             0.25%        0.25%        0.25%        $12,544  
Class B      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        1,264  
Class C      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        1,247  
Class R1      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        796  
Class R2      0.25%        0.25%        0.50%        0.50%        342  
Class R3             0.25%        0.25%        0.25%        79  
Total Distribution and Service Fees              $16,272  

 

(d) In accordance with the distribution plan for certain classes, the fund pays distribution and/or service fees equal to these annual percentage rates of each class’s average daily net assets. The distribution and service fee rates disclosed by class represent the current rates in effect at the end of the reporting period. Any rate changes, if applicable, are detailed below.
(e) The annual effective rates represent actual fees incurred under the distribution plan for the six months ended November 30, 2017 based on each class’s average daily net assets. MFD has voluntarily agreed to rebate a portion of each class’s 0.25% service fee attributable to accounts for which MFD retains the 0.25% service fee except for accounts attributable to MFS or its affiliates’ seed money. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, this rebate amounted to $5 for Class A and is included in the reduction of total expenses in the Statement of Operations.

Certain Class A shares are subject to a contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) in the event of a shareholder redemption within 18 months of purchase. Class C shares are subject to a CDSC in the event of a shareholder redemption within 12 months of purchase. Class B shares are subject to a CDSC in the event of a shareholder redemption within six years of purchase. All contingent deferred sales charges are paid to MFD and during the six months ended November 30, 2017, were as follows:

 

     Amount  
Class A      $—  
Class B      159  
Class C      56  

Shareholder Servicing Agent – MFS Service Center, Inc. (MFSC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of MFS, receives a fee from the fund for its services as shareholder servicing agent calculated as a percentage of the average daily net assets of the fund as

 

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determined periodically under the supervision of the fund’s Board of Trustees. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fee was $601, which equated to 0.0009% annually of the fund’s average daily net assets. MFSC also receives payment from the fund for out-of-pocket expenses, sub-accounting and other shareholder servicing costs which may be paid to affiliated and unaffiliated service providers. Class R6 shares do not incur sub-accounting fees. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, these out-of-pocket expenses, sub-accounting and other shareholder servicing costs amounted to $6,005.

Administrator – MFS provides certain financial, legal, shareholder communications, compliance, and other administrative services to the fund. Under an administrative services agreement, the fund reimburses MFS the costs incurred to provide these services. The fund is charged an annual fixed amount of $17,500 plus a fee based on average daily net assets. The administrative services fee incurred for the six months ended November 30, 2017 was equivalent to an annual effective rate of 0.0226% of the fund’s average daily net assets.

Trustees’ and Officers’ Compensation – The fund pays compensation to independent Trustees in the form of a retainer, attendance fees, and additional compensation to Board and Committee chairpersons. The fund does not pay compensation directly to Trustees or officers of the fund who are also officers of the investment adviser, all of whom receive remuneration for their services to the fund from MFS. Certain officers and Trustees of the fund are officers or directors of MFS, MFD, and MFSC.

Other – This fund and certain other funds managed by MFS (the funds) have entered into a service agreement (the ISO Agreement) which provides for payment of fees solely by the funds to Tarantino LLC in return for the provision of services of an Independent Senior Officer (ISO) for the funds. Frank L. Tarantino serves as the ISO and is an officer of the funds and the sole member of Tarantino LLC. The funds can terminate the ISO Agreement with Tarantino LLC at any time under the terms of the ISO Agreement. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fee paid by the fund under this agreement was $113 and is included in “Miscellaneous” expense in the Statement of Operations. MFS has agreed to bear all expenses associated with office space, other administrative support, and supplies provided to the ISO.

The fund invests in the MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio which is managed by MFS and seeks current income consistent with preservation of capital and liquidity. This money market fund does not pay a management fee to MFS.

On September 22, 2016, MFS redeemed 172,736 shares of Class R6 for an aggregate amount of $1,850,000.

On August 15, 2017, MFS redeemed 5,026, 878, 874, and 7,940 shares of Class A, Class B, Class C, and Class R6, respectively, for an aggregate amount of $184,910.

At November 30, 2017, MFS held approximately 100% of the outstanding shares of Class R3 and Class R4.

The fund is permitted to engage in purchase and sale transactions with funds and accounts for which MFS serves as investment adviser or sub-adviser (“cross-trades”) pursuant to a policy adopted by the Board of Trustees. This policy has been designed to

 

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ensure that cross-trades conducted by the fund comply with Rule 17a-7 under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Under this policy, cross-trades are effected at current market prices with no remuneration paid in connection with the transaction. During the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fund engaged in sale transactions pursuant to this policy, which amounted to $495,353. The sales transactions resulted in net realized gains (losses) of $146,595.

(4) Portfolio Securities

For the six months ended November 30, 2017, purchases and sales of investments, other than short-term obligations, aggregated $95,617,342 and $45,783,681, respectively.

(5) Shares of Beneficial Interest

The fund’s Declaration of Trust permits the Trustees to issue an unlimited number of full and fractional shares of beneficial interest. Transactions in fund shares were as follows:

 

     Six months ended
11/30/17
     Year ended
5/31/17 
 
     Shares      Amount      Shares      Amount  
Shares sold            

Class A

     3,935,097        $51,312,445        85,732        $956,562  

Class B

     1,129        14,399        9,961        108,921  

Class C

     10,606        129,032        9,827        112,586  

Class I

     6,619        83,441        37,960        414,394  

Class R1

     219        2,666        9,623        113,646  

Class R2

     419        5,439        5,776        68,667  

Class R6

     860,748        10,870,943        11,203,051        119,625,107  
     4,814,837        $62,418,365        11,361,930        $121,399,883  
Shares issued to shareholders in reinvestment of distributions            

Class A

            $—        153        $1,674  

Class I

                   147        1,615  

Class R3

                   7        76  

Class R4

                   18        204  

Class R6

                   40,736        446,468  
            $—        41,061        $450,037  
Shares reacquired            

Class A

     (80,547      $(1,049,733      (11,100      $(123,078

Class B

     (1,557      (19,265      (234      (2,591

Class C

     (2,715      (33,519      (2,591      (29,597

Class I

     (43,219      (520,001      (10,329      (112,509

Class R1

     (3,207      (39,538              

Class R6

     (674,594      (8,579,839      (1,429,093      (15,945,805
     (805,839      $(10,241,895      (1,453,347      $(16,213,580

 

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     Six months ended
11/30/17
     Year ended
5/31/17
 
     Shares      Amount      Shares      Amount  
Net change            

Class A

     3,854,550        $50,262,712        74,785        $835,158  

Class B

     (428      (4,866      9,727        106,330  

Class C

     7,891        95,513        7,236        82,989  

Class I

     (36,600      (436,560      27,778        303,500  

Class R1

     (2,988      (36,872      9,623        113,646  

Class R2

     419        5,439        5,776        68,667  

Class R3

                   7        76  

Class R4

                   18        204  

Class R6

     186,154        2,291,104        9,814,694        104,125,770  
     4,008,998        $52,176,470        9,949,644        $105,636,340  

Class T shares were not publicly available for sale during the period. Please see the fund’s prospectus for details.

The fund is one of several mutual funds in which certain MFS funds may invest. The MFS funds do not invest in the underlying funds for the purpose of exercising management or control. At the end of the period, the MFS Lifetime 2030 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2040 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2035 Fund, the MFS Lifetime Income Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2020 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2050 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2025 Fund, the MFS Lifetime 2045 Fund, and the MFS Lifetime 2055 Fund were the owners of record of approximately 15%, 14%, 7%, 6%, 6%, 5%, 5%, and 2%, respectively, of the value of outstanding voting shares of the fund. In addition, the MFS Lifetime 2060 Fund was the owner of record of less than 1% of the value of outstanding voting shares of the fund.

(6) Line of Credit

The fund and certain other funds managed by MFS participate in a $1.25 billion unsecured committed line of credit, subject to a $1 billion sublimit, provided by a syndication of banks under a credit agreement. Borrowings may be made for temporary financing needs. Interest is charged to each fund, based on its borrowings, generally at a rate equal to the higher of the Overnight Federal Reserve funds rate or daily one month LIBOR plus an agreed upon spread. A commitment fee, based on the average daily, unused portion of the committed line of credit, is allocated among the participating funds at the end of each calendar quarter. In addition, the fund and other funds managed by MFS have established unsecured uncommitted borrowing arrangements with certain banks for temporary financing needs. Interest is charged to each fund, based on its borrowings, at a rate equal to the Overnight Federal Reserve funds rate plus an agreed upon spread. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fund’s commitment fee and interest expense were $406 and $0, respectively, and are included in “Miscellaneous” expense in the Statement of Operations.

 

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(7) Investments in Affiliated Issuers

An affiliated issuer may be considered one in which the fund owns 5% or more of the outstanding voting securities, or a company which is under common control. For the purposes of this report, the fund assumes the following to be affiliated issuers:

 

Affiliated Issuers         

Beginning

Shares/Par

Amount

   

Acquisitions

Shares/Par

Amount

   

Dispositions

Shares/Par

Amount

   

Ending

Shares/Par

Amount

 
MFS Institutional Money
Market Portfolio
      1,184,572       59,097,678       (59,725,584     556,666  
Affiliated Issuers  

Realized

Gain (Loss)

    Change in
Unrealized
Appreciation
(Depreciation)
    Capital Gain
Distributions
    Dividend
Income
    Ending
Value
 
MFS Institutional Money
Market Portfolio
    $59       $(67     $—       $9,107       $556,610  

 

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BOARD REVIEW OF INVESTMENT ADVISORY AGREEMENT

The Investment Company Act of 1940 requires that both the full Board of Trustees and a majority of the non-interested (“independent”) Trustees, voting separately, annually approve the continuation of the Fund’s investment advisory agreement with MFS. The Trustees consider matters bearing on the Fund and its advisory arrangements at their meetings throughout the year, including a review of performance data at each regular meeting. In addition, the independent Trustees met several times over the course of three months beginning in May and ending in July, 2017 (“contract review meetings”) for the specific purpose of considering whether to approve the continuation of the investment advisory agreement for the Fund and the other investment companies that the Board oversees (the “MFS Funds”). The independent Trustees were assisted in their evaluation of the Fund’s investment advisory agreement by independent legal counsel, from whom they received separate legal advice and with whom they met separately from MFS during various contract review meetings. The independent Trustees were also assisted in this process by the MFS Funds’ Independent Senior Officer, a senior officer appointed by and reporting to the independent Trustees.

In connection with their deliberations regarding the continuation of the investment advisory agreement, the Trustees, including the independent Trustees, considered such information and factors as they believed, in light of the legal advice furnished to them and their own business judgment, to be relevant. The investment advisory agreement for the Fund was considered separately, although the Trustees also took into account the common interests of all MFS Funds in their review. As described below, the Trustees considered the nature, quality, and extent of the various investment advisory, administrative, and shareholder services performed by MFS under the existing investment advisory agreement and other arrangements with the Fund.

In connection with their contract review meetings, the Trustees received and relied upon materials that included, among other items: (i) information provided by Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (“Broadridge”), an independent third party, on the investment performance of the Fund for the one-year period ended December 31, 2016 and the investment performance of a group of funds with substantially similar investment classifications/objectives (the “Lipper performance universe”), (ii) information provided by Broadridge on the Fund’s advisory fees and other expenses and the advisory fees and other expenses of comparable funds identified by Broadridge (the “Broadridge expense group”), (iii) information provided by MFS on the advisory fees of portfolios of other clients of MFS, including institutional separate accounts and other clients, (iv) information as to whether and to what extent applicable expense waivers, reimbursements or fee “breakpoints” are observed for the Fund, (v) information regarding MFS’ financial results and financial condition, including MFS’ and certain of its affiliates’ estimated profitability from services performed for the Fund and the MFS Funds as a whole, and compared to MFS’ institutional business, (vi) MFS’ views regarding the outlook for the mutual fund industry and the strategic business plans of MFS, (vii) descriptions of various functions performed by MFS for the Funds, such as compliance monitoring and portfolio trading practices, and (viii) information regarding the overall organization of MFS, including information about MFS’ senior management and other personnel providing investment advisory,

 

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administrative and other services to the Fund and the other MFS Funds. The comparative performance, fee and expense information prepared and provided by Broadridge was not independently verified and the independent Trustees did not independently verify any information provided to them by MFS.

The Trustees’ conclusion as to the continuation of the investment advisory agreement was based on a comprehensive consideration of all information provided to the Trustees and not the result of any single factor. Some of the factors that figured particularly in the Trustees’ deliberations are described below, although individual Trustees may have evaluated the information presented differently from one another, giving different weights to various factors. It is also important to recognize that the fee arrangements for the Fund and other MFS Funds are the result of years of review and discussion between the independent Trustees and MFS, that certain aspects of such arrangements may receive greater scrutiny in some years than in others, and that the Trustees’ conclusions may be based, in part, on their consideration of these same arrangements during the course of the year and in prior years.

Based on information provided by Broadridge and MFS, the Trustees reviewed the Fund’s total return investment performance as well as Lipper performance universe over the one-year period ended December 31, 2016. The total return performance of the Fund’s Class A shares was in the 1st quintile relative to the other funds in the universe for this one-year period (the 1st quintile being the best performers and the 5th quintile being the worst performers). The Fund commenced operations on September 15, 2015, and has a limited operating history and performance record; therefore no performance data for the three- or five-year periods was available. Because of the passage of time, these performance results may differ from the performance results for more recent periods, including those shown elsewhere in this report.

In assessing the reasonableness of the Fund’s advisory fee, the Trustees considered, among other information, the Fund’s advisory fee and the total expense ratio of the Fund’s Class A shares as a percentage of average daily net assets and the advisory fee and total expense ratios of peer groups of funds based on information provided by Broadridge. The Trustees considered that MFS currently observes an expense limitation for the Fund, which may not be changed without the Trustees’ approval. The Trustees also considered that, according to the data provided by Broadridge (which takes into account any fee reductions or expense limitations that were in effect during the Fund’s last fiscal year), the Fund’s effective advisory fee rate and total expense ratio were each lower than the Broadridge expense group median.

The Trustees also considered the advisory fees charged by MFS to any institutional separate accounts advised by MFS (“separate accounts”) and unaffiliated investment companies for which MFS serves as subadviser (“subadvised funds”) that have comparable investment strategies to the Fund, if any. In comparing these fees, the Trustees considered information provided by MFS as to the generally broader scope of services provided by MFS to the Fund, as well as the more extensive regulatory burdens imposed on MFS in managing the Fund, in comparison to separate accounts and subadvised funds. The Trustees also considered the higher demands placed on MFS’ investment personnel and trading infrastructure as a result of the daily cash in-flows and out-flows of the Fund in comparison to separate accounts.

 

31


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Board Review of Investment Advisory Agreement – continued

 

The Trustees also considered whether the Fund may benefit from any economies of scale in the management of the Fund in the event of growth in assets of the Fund and/or growth in assets of the MFS Funds as a whole. They noted that the Fund’s advisory fee rate schedule is subject to contractual breakpoints that reduce the Fund’s advisory fee rate on average daily net assets over $1 billion and $2.5 billion. The Trustees also noted that MFS has agreed in writing to waive a portion of the management fees of certain MFS Funds, including the Fund, if the total combined assets of certain funds within the MFS Funds’ complex increase above agreed upon thresholds (the “group fee waiver”), enabling the Fund’s shareholders to share in the benefits from any economies of scale at the complex level. The group fee waiver is reviewed and renewed annually between the Board and MFS. The Trustees concluded that the breakpoints and the group fee waiver were sufficient to allow the Fund to benefit from economies of scale as its assets and overall complex assets grow.

The Trustees also considered information prepared by MFS relating to MFS’ costs and profits with respect to the Fund, the MFS Funds considered as a group, and other investment companies and accounts advised by MFS, as well as MFS’ methodologies used to determine and allocate its costs to the MFS Funds, the Fund, and other accounts and products for purposes of estimating profitability.

After reviewing these and other factors described herein, the Trustees concluded, within the context of their overall conclusions regarding the investment advisory agreement, that the advisory fees charged to the Fund represent reasonable compensation in light of the services being provided by MFS to the Fund.

In addition, the Trustees considered MFS’ resources and related efforts to continue to retain, attract and motivate capable personnel to serve the Fund. The Trustees also considered current and developing conditions in the financial services industry, including the presence of large and well-capitalized companies which are spending, and appear to be prepared to continue to spend, substantial sums to engage personnel and to provide services to competing investment companies. In this regard, the Trustees also considered the financial resources of MFS and its ultimate parent, Sun Life Financial Inc. The Trustees also considered the advantages and possible disadvantages to the Fund of having an adviser that also serves other investment companies as well as other accounts.

The Trustees also considered the nature, quality, cost, and extent of administrative, transfer agency, and distribution services provided to the Fund by MFS and its affiliates under agreements and plans other than the investment advisory agreement, including any 12b-1 fees the Fund pays to MFS Fund Distributors, Inc., an affiliate of MFS. The Trustees also considered the nature, extent and quality of certain other services MFS performs or arranges for on the Fund’s behalf, which may include securities lending programs, directed expense payment programs, class action recovery programs, and MFS’ interaction with third-party service providers, principally custodians and sub-custodians. The Trustees concluded that the various non-advisory services provided by MFS and its affiliates on behalf of the Fund were satisfactory.

The Trustees also considered benefits to MFS from the use of the Fund’s portfolio brokerage commissions, if applicable, to pay for investment research and various other

 

32


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Board Review of Investment Advisory Agreement – continued

 

factors. Additionally, the Trustees considered so-called “fall-out benefits” to MFS such as reputational value derived from serving as investment manager to the Fund.

Based on their evaluation of factors that they deemed to be material, including those factors described above, the Board of Trustees, including the independent Trustees, concluded that the Fund’s investment advisory agreement with MFS should be continued for an additional one-year period, commencing August 1, 2017.

 

33


Table of Contents

PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND INFORMATION

MFS votes proxies on behalf of the fund pursuant to proxy voting policies and procedures that are available without charge, upon request, by calling 1-800-225-2606, by visiting mfs.com/proxyvoting, or by visiting the SEC’s Web site at http://www.sec.gov.

Information regarding how the fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the most recent twelve-month period ended June 30 is available by August 31 of each year without charge by visiting mfs.com/proxyvoting, or by visiting the SEC’s Web site at http://www.sec.gov.

QUARTERLY PORTFOLIO DISCLOSURE

The fund will file a complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission) for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-Q. A shareholder can obtain the quarterly portfolio holdings report at mfs.com. The fund’s Form N-Q is also available on the EDGAR database on the Commission’s Internet Web site at http://www.sec.gov, and may be reviewed and copied at the:

Public Reference Room

Securities and Exchange Commission

100 F Street, NE, Room 1580

Washington, D.C. 20549

Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling the Commission at 1-800-SEC-0330. Copies of the fund’s Form N-Q also may be obtained, upon payment of a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov or by writing the Public Reference Section at the above address.

FURTHER INFORMATION

From time to time, MFS may post important information about the fund or the MFS funds on the MFS web site (mfs.com). This information is available at https://www.mfs.com/en-us/what-we-do/announcements.html or at mfs.com/openendfunds by choosing the fund’s name.

 

34


Table of Contents

INFORMATION ABOUT FUND CONTRACTS AND LEGAL CLAIMS

The fund has entered into contractual arrangements with an investment adviser, administrator, distributor, shareholder servicing agent, 529 program manager (if applicable), and custodian who each provide services to the fund. Unless expressly stated otherwise, shareholders are not parties to, or intended beneficiaries of these contractual arrangements, and these contractual arrangements are not intended to create any shareholder right to enforce them against the service providers or to seek any remedy under them against the service providers, either directly or on behalf of the fund.

Under the Trust’s By-Laws and Declaration of Trust, any claims asserted against or on behalf of the MFS Funds, including claims against Trustees and Officers, must be brought in state and federal courts located within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

PROVISION OF FINANCIAL REPORTS AND SUMMARY PROSPECTUSES

The fund produces financial reports every six months and updates its summary prospectus and prospectus annually. To avoid sending duplicate copies of materials to households, only one copy of the fund’s annual and semiannual report and summary prospectus may be mailed to shareholders having the same last name and residential address on the fund’s records. However, any shareholder may contact MFSC (please see back cover for address and telephone number) to request that copies of these reports and summary prospectuses be sent personally to that shareholder.

 

35


Table of Contents

LOGO

 

Save paper with eDelivery.

 

LOGO

MFS® will send you prospectuses,

reports, and proxies directly via e-mail so you will get information faster with less mailbox clutter.

To sign up:

1. Go to mfs.com.

2. Log in via MFS® Access.

3. Select eDelivery.

If you own your MFS fund shares through a financial institution or a retirement plan, MFS® TALK, MFS® Access, or eDelivery may not be available to you.

 

CONTACT

WEB SITE

mfs.com

MFS TALK

1-800-637-8255

24 hours a day

ACCOUNT SERVICE AND LITERATURE

Shareholders

1-800-225-2606

Financial advisors

1-800-343-2829

Retirement plan services

1-800-637-1255

MAILING ADDRESS

MFS Service Center, Inc.

P.O. Box 55824

Boston, MA 02205-5824

OVERNIGHT MAIL

MFS Service Center, Inc.

c/o DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc.

30 Dan Road

Canton, MA 02021-2809

 


Table of Contents

SEMIANNUAL REPORT

November 30, 2017

 

LOGO

 

MFS® ASSET ALLOCATION FUNDS

MFS® Conservative Allocation Fund

MFS® Moderate Allocation Fund

MFS® Growth Allocation Fund

MFS® Aggressive Growth Allocation Fund

 

LOGO

 

AAF-SEM


Table of Contents

MFS® ASSET ALLOCATION FUNDS

 

CONTENTS

 

Letter from the Executive Chairman     1  
Portfolio composition     2  
Expense tables     6  
Portfolio of investments     11  
Statements of assets and liabilities     15  
Statements of operations     18  
Statements of changes in net assets     19  
Financial highlights     20  
Notes to financial statements     44  
Board review of investment advisory agreement     59  
Proxy voting policies and information     62  
Quarterly portfolio disclosure     62  
Further information     62  
Information about fund contracts and legal claims     62  
Provision of financial reports and summary prospectuses     62  
Contact information    back cover  

The report is prepared for the general information of shareholders. It is authorized for distribution to prospective investors only when preceded or accompanied by a current prospectus.

 

NOT FDIC INSURED MAY LOSE VALUE NO BANK GUARANTEE



Table of Contents

LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN

 

LOGO

Dear Shareholders:

Most markets have proved resilient over the past year, despite uncertainty accompanying a new presidential administration in the United States and unease over ongoing negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union regarding Brexit. U.S. share prices have reached new highs in recent months although the U.S. Federal Reserve has continued to gradually hike interest rates and has begun to shrink its balance sheet.

Globally, we’ve experienced a synchronized upturn in economic growth for more than a year. Despite the improvement in economic activity, there are few immediate signs of worrisome inflation amid muted wage gains around the world. Emerging market economies have been boosted in part by a weaker U.S. dollar and are recovering despite lingering concerns over the potential for restrictive U.S. trade policies. Commodity markets have recovered somewhat in response to solid global demand and robust global trade, though not enough to rekindle inflation fears.

At MFS®, we believe having a disciplined, long-term investment approach through a full market cycle is essential to capturing the best opportunities while also managing risk. In our view, such a strategy, along with the professional guidance of a financial advisor, will help you reach your investment objectives.

Respectfully,

 

LOGO

Robert J. Manning

Executive Chairman

MFS Investment Management

January 16, 2018

The opinions expressed in this letter are subject to change and may not be relied upon for investment advice. No forecasts can be guaranteed.

 

 

1


Table of Contents

PORTFOLIO COMPOSITION

 

MFS Conservative Allocation Fund

Portfolio target allocation

 

LOGO

 

Portfolio holdings  
MFS Total Return Bond Fund     14.9%  
MFS Limited Maturity Fund     10.0%  
MFS Government Securities Fund     10.0%  
MFS Inflation-Adjusted Bond Fund     9.9%  
MFS Value Fund     6.1%  
MFS Research Fund     6.0%  
MFS Growth Fund     6.0%  
MFS High Income Fund     5.0%  
MFS Global Bond Fund     5.0%  
MFS Mid Cap Value Fund     4.1%  
MFS Mid Cap Growth Fund     4.0%  
MFS Research International Fund     4.0%  
MFS Emerging Markets Debt Fund     3.0%  
MFS Emerging Markets Debt Local Currency Fund     2.0%  
MFS International Value Fund     2.0%  
MFS Absolute Return Fund     2.0%  
MFS International Growth Fund     2.0%  
MFS New Discovery Value Fund     1.0%  
MFS New Discovery Fund     1.0%  
MFS Global Real Estate Fund     1.0%  
MFS Commodity Strategy Fund     1.0%  
Cash & Cash Equivalents (o)     0.0%  

Portfolio actual allocation

 

LOGO

 

 

 

 

(o) Less than 0.1%.

Cash & Cash Equivalents includes any cash, investments in money market funds, short-term securities, and other assets less liabilities. MFS endeavors to fully invest all MFS funds-of-funds in underlying funds on a daily basis. Any divergence from 0.0% in Cash & Cash Equivalents is typically due to the timing of fund subscriptions/redemptions and the settlement of subsequent investment in/divestment from the underlying funds. While the MFS funds-of-funds’ subscriptions/redemptions are processed at the same day NAV of the underlying funds, a positive/negative cash balance will be reflected on the MFS funds-of-funds’ Statements of Assets and Liabilities until the trades with the underlying funds settle. Please see the Statements of Assets and Liabilities for additional information related to the fund’s cash position and other assets and liabilities.

Percentages are based on net assets as of November 30, 2017.

The portfolio is actively managed and current holdings may be different.

 

2


Table of Contents

Portfolio Composition – continued

 

MFS Moderate Allocation Fund

Portfolio target allocation

 

LOGO

 

Portfolio holdings  
MFS Government Securities Fund     9.8%  
MFS Value Fund     8.1%  
MFS Research Fund     8.1%  
MFS Growth Fund     8.0%  
MFS Total Return Bond Fund     7.9%  
MFS Mid Cap Value Fund     7.1%  
MFS Mid Cap Growth Fund     7.1%  
MFS Inflation-Adjusted Bond Fund     6.9%  
MFS Research International Fund     6.1%  
MFS High Income Fund     5.0%  
MFS Global Bond Fund     4.9%  
MFS International Value Fund     3.0%  
MFS International Growth Fund     3.0%  
MFS Emerging Markets Debt Fund     3.0%  
MFS Commodity Strategy Fund     2.9%  
MFS Global Real Estate Fund     2.0%  
MFS Emerging Markets Debt Local Currency Fund     2.0%  
MFS New Discovery Value Fund     1.6%  
MFS New Discovery Fund     1.5%  
MFS International New Discovery Fund     1.0%  
MFS Absolute Return Fund     1.0%  
Cash & Cash Equivalents (o)     0.0%  

Portfolio actual allocation

 

LOGO

 

 

 

 

(o) Less than 0.1%.

Cash & Cash Equivalents includes any cash, investments in money market funds, short-term securities, and other assets less liabilities. MFS endeavors to fully invest all MFS funds-of-funds in underlying funds on a daily basis. Any divergence from 0.0% in Cash & Cash Equivalents is typically due to the timing of fund subscriptions/redemptions and the settlement of subsequent investment in/divestment from the underlying funds. While the MFS funds-of-funds’ subscriptions/redemptions are processed at the same day NAV of the underlying funds, a positive/negative cash balance will be reflected on the MFS funds-of-funds’ Statements of Assets and Liabilities until the trades with the underlying funds settle. Please see the Statements of Assets and Liabilities for additional information related to the fund’s cash position and other assets and liabilities.

Percentages are based on net assets as of November 30, 2017.

The portfolio is actively managed and current holdings may be different.

 

3


Table of Contents

Portfolio Composition – continued

 

MFS Growth Allocation Fund

Portfolio target allocation

 

LOGO

 

Portfolio holdings  
MFS Value Fund     11.1%  
MFS Growth Fund     11.0%  
MFS Mid Cap Value Fund     9.1%  
MFS Mid Cap Growth Fund     9.0%  
MFS Research Fund     8.1%  
MFS Research International Fund     7.0%  
MFS International Value Fund     5.0%  
MFS International Growth Fund     5.0%  
MFS High Income Fund     4.9%  
MFS Inflation-Adjusted Bond Fund     4.9%  
MFS Commodity Strategy Fund     3.9%  
MFS Global Real Estate Fund     3.0%  
MFS Emerging Markets Debt Fund     3.0%  
MFS Total Return Bond Fund     2.9%  
MFS New Discovery Value Fund     2.0%  
MFS New Discovery Fund     2.0%  
MFS International New Discovery Fund     2.0%  
MFS Global Bond Fund     2.0%  
MFS Emerging Markets Debt Local Currency Fund     1.9%  
MFS Emerging Markets Equity Fund     1.0%  
MFS Absolute Return Fund     1.0%  
Cash & Cash Equivalents     0.2%  

Portfolio actual allocation

 

LOGO

 

 

 

Cash & Cash Equivalents includes any cash, investments in money market funds, short-term securities, and other assets less liabilities. MFS endeavors to fully invest all MFS funds-of-funds in underlying funds on a daily basis. Any divergence from 0.0% in Cash & Cash Equivalents is typically due to the timing of fund subscriptions/redemptions and the settlement of subsequent investment in/divestment from the underlying funds. While the MFS funds-of-funds’ subscriptions/redemptions are processed at the same day NAV of the underlying funds, a positive/negative cash balance will be reflected on the MFS funds-of-funds’ Statements of Assets and Liabilities until the trades with the underlying funds settle. Please see the Statements of Assets and Liabilities for additional information related to the fund’s cash position and other assets and liabilities.

Percentages are based on net assets as of November 30, 2017.

The portfolio is actively managed and current holdings may be different.

 

4


Table of Contents

Portfolio Composition – continued

 

MFS Aggressive Growth Allocation Fund

Portfolio target allocation

 

LOGO

 

Portfolio holdings  
MFS Value Fund     13.1%  
MFS Growth Fund     13.0%  
MFS Mid Cap Value Fund     10.1%  
MFS Mid Cap Growth Fund     10.0%  
MFS Research Fund     9.1%  
MFS Research International Fund     8.0%  
MFS International Value Fund     8.0%  
MFS International Growth Fund     7.9%  
MFS Global Real Estate Fund     5.0%  
MFS Commodity Strategy Fund     4.9%  
MFS International New Discovery Fund     4.0%  
MFS New Discovery Value Fund     2.5%  
MFS New Discovery Fund     2.5%  
MFS Emerging Markets Equity Fund     1.9%  
Cash & Cash Equivalents (o)     0.0%  

Portfolio actual allocation

 

LOGO

 

 

 

(o) Less than 0.1%.

Cash & Cash Equivalents includes any cash, investments in money market funds, short-term securities, and other assets less liabilities. MFS endeavors to fully invest all MFS funds-of-funds in underlying funds on a daily basis. Any divergence from 0.0% in Cash & Cash Equivalents is typically due to the timing of fund subscriptions/redemptions and the settlement of subsequent investment in/divestment from the underlying funds. While the MFS funds-of-funds’ subscriptions/redemptions are processed at the same day NAV of the underlying funds, a positive/negative cash balance will be reflected on the MFS funds-of-funds’ Statements of Assets and Liabilities until the trades with the underlying funds settle. Please see the Statements of Assets and Liabilities for additional information related to the fund’s cash position and other assets and liabilities.

Percentages are based on net assets as of November 30, 2017.

The portfolio is actively managed and current holdings may be different.

 

5


Table of Contents

EXPENSE TABLES

Fund expenses borne by the shareholders during the period, June 1, 2017 through November 30, 2017

As a shareholder of the funds, you incur two types of costs: (1) transaction costs, including sales charges (loads) on certain purchase or redemption payments, and (2) ongoing costs, including distribution and service (12b-1) fees; and other fund expenses. These examples are intended to help you understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the funds and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds.

In addition to the fees and expenses which each fund bears directly, each fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of the underlying funds in which each fund invests. Because the underlying funds have varied expenses and fee levels and each fund may own different proportions of the underlying funds at different times, the amount of fees and expenses incurred indirectly by each fund will vary. If these transactional and indirect costs were included, your costs would have been higher.

These examples are based on an investment of $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period June 1, 2017 through November 30, 2017.

Actual Expenses

The first line for each share class in the following tables provides information about actual account values and actual expenses. You may use the information in this line, together with the amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you paid over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000 = 8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first line under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid During Period” to estimate the expenses you paid on your account during this period.

Hypothetical Example for Comparison Purposes

The second line for each share class in the following tables provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on each fund’s actual expense ratio and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses, which is not each fund’s actual return. The hypothetical account values and expenses may not be used to estimate the actual ending account balance or expenses you paid for the period. You may use this information to compare the ongoing costs of investing in each fund and other funds. To do so, compare this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of the other funds.

Please note that the expenses shown in the tables are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only and do not reflect any transactional costs, such as sales charges (loads). Therefore, the second line for each share class in the tables is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds. In addition, if these transactional costs were included, your costs would have been higher.

 

6


Table of Contents

Expense Tables – continued

 

MFS CONSERVATIVE ALLOCATION FUND

 

Share

Class

      

Annualized
Expense

Ratio

    Beginning
Account Value
6/01/17
   

Ending

Account Value
11/30/17

   

Expenses

Paid During

Period (p)

6/01/17-11/30/17

 
A   Actual     0.32%       $1,000.00       $1,040.03       $1.64  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.32%       $1,000.00       $1,023.46       $1.62  
B   Actual     1.07%       $1,000.00       $1,036.39       $5.46  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.07%       $1,000.00       $1,019.70       $5.42  
C   Actual     1.07%       $1,000.00       $1,035.44       $5.46  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.07%       $1,000.00       $1,019.70       $5.42  
I   Actual     0.07%       $1,000.00       $1,040.94       $0.36  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.07%       $1,000.00       $1,024.72       $0.36  
R1   Actual     1.07%       $1,000.00       $1,035.47       $5.46  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.07%       $1,000.00       $1,019.70       $5.42  
R2   Actual     0.57%       $1,000.00       $1,038.53       $2.91  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.57%       $1,000.00       $1,022.21       $2.89  
R3   Actual     0.32%       $1,000.00       $1,039.71       $1.64  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.32%       $1,000.00       $1,023.46       $1.62  
R4   Actual     0.07%       $1,000.00       $1,041.28       $0.36  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.07%       $1,000.00       $1,024.72       $0.36  
529A   Actual     0.36%       $1,000.00       $1,040.09       $1.84  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.36%       $1,000.00       $1,023.26       $1.83  
529B   Actual     1.11%       $1,000.00       $1,035.53       $5.66  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.11%       $1,000.00       $1,019.50       $5.62  
529C   Actual     1.12%       $1,000.00       $1,035.70       $5.72  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.12%       $1,000.00       $1,019.45       $5.67  

 

  (h) 5% class return per year before expenses.
  (p) “Expenses Paid During Period” are equal to each class’s annualized expense ratio, as shown above, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/365 (to reflect the one-half year period). Expenses paid do not include any applicable sales charges (loads). If these transaction costs had been included, your costs would have been higher. In addition to the fees and expenses which the fund bears directly, the fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of the underlying funds in which the fund invests. If these indirect costs were included, your costs would have been higher.

Notes to Expense Table

For the MFS Conservative Allocation Fund, each class with a Rule 12b-1 service fee is subject to a rebate of a portion of such fee. Such rebates are included in the expense ratios above. For Class 529A and Class 529B shares, this rebate reduced the expense ratios above by 0.01%. See Note 3 in the Notes to Financial Statements for additional information.

 

7


Table of Contents

Expense Tables – continued

 

MFS MODERATE ALLOCATION FUND

 

Share

Class

      

Annualized
Expense

Ratio

    Beginning
Account Value
6/01/17
   

Ending

Account Value
11/30/17

   

Expenses

Paid During

Period (p)

6/01/17-11/30/17

 
A   Actual     0.33%       $1,000.00       $1,057.81       $1.70  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.33%       $1,000.00       $1,023.41       $1.67  
B   Actual     1.08%       $1,000.00       $1,053.97       $5.56  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.08%       $1,000.00       $1,019.65       $5.47  
C   Actual     1.08%       $1,000.00       $1,053.74       $5.56  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.08%       $1,000.00       $1,019.65       $5.47  
I   Actual     0.08%       $1,000.00       $1,058.90       $0.41  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.08%       $1,000.00       $1,024.67       $0.41  
R1   Actual     1.08%       $1,000.00       $1,053.71       $5.56  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.08%       $1,000.00       $1,019.65       $5.47  
R2   Actual     0.58%       $1,000.00       $1,056.57       $2.99  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.58%       $1,000.00       $1,022.16       $2.94  
R3   Actual     0.33%       $1,000.00       $1,057.69       $1.70  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.33%       $1,000.00       $1,023.41       $1.67  
R4   Actual     0.08%       $1,000.00       $1,059.14       $0.41  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.08%       $1,000.00       $1,024.67       $0.41  
529A   Actual     0.38%       $1,000.00       $1,057.30       $1.96  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.38%       $1,000.00       $1,023.16       $1.93  
529B   Actual     1.13%       $1,000.00       $1,053.75       $5.82  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.13%       $1,000.00       $1,019.40       $5.72  
529C   Actual     1.13%       $1,000.00       $1,053.63       $5.82  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.13%       $1,000.00       $1,019.40       $5.72  

 

  (h) 5% class return per year before expenses.
  (p) “Expenses Paid During Period” are equal to each class’s annualized expense ratio, as shown above, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/365 (to reflect the one-half year period). Expenses paid do not include any applicable sales charges (loads). If these transaction costs had been included, your costs would have been higher. In addition to the fees and expenses which the fund bears directly, the fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of the underlying funds in which the fund invests. If these indirect costs were included, your costs would have been higher.

Notes to Expense Table

For the MFS Moderate Allocation Fund, each class with a Rule 12b-1 service fee is subject to a rebate of a portion of such fee. Such rebates are included in the expense ratios above. For Class 529A and Class 529B shares, this rebate reduced the expense ratios above by 0.01%. See Note 3 in the Notes to Financial Statements for additional information.

 

8


Table of Contents

Expense Tables – continued

 

MFS GROWTH ALLOCATION FUND

 

Share

Class

      

Annualized
Expense

Ratio

    Beginning
Account Value
6/01/17
   

Ending

Account Value
11/30/17

   

Expenses

Paid During
Period (p)

6/01/17-11/30/17

 
A   Actual     0.35%       $1,000.00       $1,075.10       $1.82  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.35%       $1,000.00       $1,023.31       $1.78  
B   Actual     1.10%       $1,000.00       $1,071.28       $5.71  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.10%       $1,000.00       $1,019.55       $5.57  
C   Actual     1.10%       $1,000.00       $1,070.99       $5.71  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.10%       $1,000.00       $1,019.55       $5.57  
I   Actual     0.10%       $1,000.00       $1,076.42       $0.52  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.10%       $1,000.00       $1,024.57       $0.51  
R1   Actual     1.10%       $1,000.00       $1,070.79       $5.71  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.10%       $1,000.00       $1,019.55       $5.57  
R2   Actual     0.60%       $1,000.00       $1,073.67       $3.12  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.60%       $1,000.00       $1,022.06       $3.04  
R3   Actual     0.35%       $1,000.00       $1,074.70       $1.82  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.35%       $1,000.00       $1,023.31       $1.78  
R4   Actual     0.10%       $1,000.00       $1,076.11       $0.52  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.10%       $1,000.00       $1,024.57       $0.51  
529A   Actual     0.39%       $1,000.00       $1,074.62       $2.03  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.39%       $1,000.00       $1,023.11       $1.98  
529B   Actual     1.15%       $1,000.00       $1,070.92       $5.97  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.15%       $1,000.00       $1,019.30       $5.82  
529C   Actual     1.15%       $1,000.00       $1,070.80       $5.97  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.15%       $1,000.00       $1,019.30       $5.82  

 

  (h) 5% class return per year before expenses.
  (p) “Expenses Paid During Period” are equal to each class’s annualized expense ratio, as shown above, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/365 (to reflect the one-half year period). Expenses paid do not include any applicable sales charges (loads). If these transaction costs had been included, your costs would have been higher. In addition to the fees and expenses which the fund bears directly, the fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of the underlying funds in which the fund invests. If these indirect costs were included, your costs would have been higher.

Notes to Expense Table

For the MFS Growth Allocation Fund, each class with a Rule 12b-1 service fee is subject to a rebate of a portion of such fee. Such rebates are included in the expense ratios above and are outside of the expense limitation arrangement. For Class 529A shares, this rebate reduced the expense ratio above by 0.01%. See Note 3 in the Notes to Financial Statements for additional information.

 

9


Table of Contents

Expense Tables – continued

 

MFS AGGRESSIVE GROWTH ALLOCATION FUND

 

Share

Class

      

Annualized
Expense

Ratio

    Beginning
Account Value
6/01/17
   

Ending

Account Value
11/30/17

   

Expenses

Paid During

Period (p)

6/01/17-11/30/17

 
A   Actual     0.38%       $1,000.00       $1,090.83       $1.99  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.38%       $1,000.00       $1,023.16       $1.93  
B   Actual     1.13%       $1,000.00       $1,086.67       $5.91  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.13%       $1,000.00       $1,019.40       $5.72  
C   Actual     1.13%       $1,000.00       $1,086.55       $5.91  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.13%       $1,000.00       $1,019.40       $5.72  
I   Actual     0.13%       $1,000.00       $1,092.14       $0.68  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.13%       $1,000.00       $1,024.42       $0.66  
R1   Actual     1.13%       $1,000.00       $1,086.31       $5.91  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.13%       $1,000.00       $1,019.40       $5.72  
R2   Actual     0.63%       $1,000.00       $1,088.95       $3.30  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.63%       $1,000.00       $1,021.91       $3.19  
R3   Actual     0.38%       $1,000.00       $1,090.62       $1.99  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.38%       $1,000.00       $1,023.16       $1.93  
R4   Actual     0.13%       $1,000.00       $1,091.91       $0.68  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.13%       $1,000.00       $1,024.42       $0.66  
529A   Actual     0.42%       $1,000.00       $1,090.49       $2.20  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.42%       $1,000.00       $1,022.96       $2.13  
529B   Actual     1.18%       $1,000.00       $1,086.24       $6.17  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.18%       $1,000.00       $1,019.15       $5.97  
529C   Actual     1.17%       $1,000.00       $1,086.31       $6.12  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.17%       $1,000.00       $1,019.20       $5.92  

 

  (h) 5% class return per year before expenses.
  (p) “Expenses Paid During Period” are equal to each class’s annualized expense ratio, as shown above, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/365 (to reflect the one-half year period). Expenses paid do not include any applicable sales charges (loads). If these transaction costs had been included, your costs would have been higher. In addition to the fees and expenses which the fund bears directly, the fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of the underlying funds in which the fund invests. If these indirect costs were included, your costs would have been higher.

Notes to Expense Table

For the MFS Aggressive Growth Allocation Fund, each class with a Rule 12b-1 service fee is subject to a rebate of a portion of such fee. Such rebates are included in the expense ratios above and are outside of the expense limitation arrangement. For Class 529A and 529C shares, this rebate reduced the expense ratios above by 0.01%. See Note 3 in the Notes to Financial Statements for additional information.

 

10


Table of Contents

PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS

11/30/17 (unaudited)

 

The Portfolio of Investments is a complete list of all securities owned by your fund. It is categorized by broad-based asset classes.

MFS CONSERVATIVE ALLOCATION FUND

 

Investment Companies (h) - 100.0%                  
Issuer    Shares/Par      Value ($)  
Bond Funds - 59.8%                  
MFS Emerging Markets Debt Fund - Class R6      5,939,133      $ 89,383,958  
MFS Emerging Markets Debt Local Currency Fund - Class R6      8,396,026        59,611,784  
MFS Global Bond Fund - Class R6      16,629,609        148,336,110  
MFS Government Securities Fund - Class R6      30,427,550        296,972,885  
MFS High Income Fund - Class R6      43,250,484        149,214,169  
MFS Inflation-Adjusted Bond Fund - Class R6      28,698,146        296,451,844  
MFS Limited Maturity Fund - Class R6      49,949,279        297,198,213  
MFS Total Return Bond Fund - Class R6      41,606,004        445,184,248  
              $ 1,782,353,211  
International Stock Funds - 8.0%                  
MFS International Growth Fund - Class R6      1,741,472      $ 59,244,887  
MFS International Value Fund - Class R6      1,351,707        59,434,546  
MFS Research International Fund - Class R6      6,228,098        119,018,959  
              $ 237,698,392  
Specialty Funds - 4.0%                  
MFS Absolute Return Fund - Class R6      6,238,014      $ 59,385,899  
MFS Commodity Strategy Fund - Class R6 (v)      4,906,952        29,392,641  
MFS Global Real Estate Fund - Class R6      1,847,962        29,807,627  
              $ 118,586,167  
U.S. Stock Funds - 28.2%                  
MFS Growth Fund - Class R6      1,820,705      $ 177,846,440  
MFS Mid Cap Growth Fund - Class R6      6,435,688        119,188,948  
MFS Mid Cap Value Fund - Class R6      4,959,685        121,065,900  
MFS New Discovery Fund - Class R6      912,284        30,087,139  
MFS New Discovery Value Fund - Class R6      1,856,611        30,281,325  
MFS Research Fund - Class R6      3,952,219        180,221,162  
MFS Value Fund - Class R6      4,388,707        182,043,566  
              $ 840,734,480  
Money Market Funds - 0.0%                  
MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio, 1.19% (v)      1,436,174      $ 1,436,030  
Total Investment Companies (Identified Cost, $2,340,239,557)             $ 2,980,808,280  
Other Assets, Less Liabilities - 0.0%               210,939  
Net Assets - 100.0%             $ 2,981,019,219  

See Portfolio Footnotes and Notes to Financial Statements

 

11


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) - continued

 

MFS MODERATE ALLOCATION FUND

 

Investment Companies (h) - 100.0%                  
Issuer    Shares/Par      Value ($)  
Bond Funds - 39.5%                  
MFS Emerging Markets Debt Fund - Class R6      11,647,295      $ 175,291,796  
MFS Emerging Markets Debt Local Currency Fund - Class R6      16,176,380        114,852,301  
MFS Global Bond Fund - Class R6      32,534,273        290,205,713  
MFS Government Securities Fund - Class R6      59,304,211        578,809,094  
MFS High Income Fund - Class R6      84,685,912        292,166,397  
MFS Inflation-Adjusted Bond Fund - Class R6      39,278,623        405,748,173  
MFS Total Return Bond Fund - Class R6      43,411,812        464,506,390  
              $ 2,321,579,864  
International Stock Funds - 13.0%                  
MFS International Growth Fund - Class R6      5,186,860      $ 176,456,990  
MFS International New Discovery Fund - Class R6      1,648,866        59,045,884  
MFS International Value Fund - Class R6      4,023,146        176,897,737  
MFS Research International Fund - Class R6      18,543,919        354,374,289  
              $ 766,774,900  
Specialty Funds - 5.9%                  
MFS Absolute Return Fund - Class R6      6,026,095      $ 57,368,427  
MFS Commodity Strategy Fund - Class R6 (v)      29,083,710        174,211,422  
MFS Global Real Estate Fund - Class R6      7,301,232        117,768,863  
              $ 349,348,712  
U.S. Stock Funds - 41.5%                  
MFS Growth Fund - Class R6      4,828,828      $ 471,679,932  
MFS Mid Cap Growth Fund - Class R6      22,407,464        414,986,239  
MFS Mid Cap Value Fund - Class R6      17,144,639        418,500,640  
MFS New Discovery Fund - Class R6      2,726,484        89,919,434  
MFS New Discovery Value Fund - Class R6      5,533,907        90,258,015  
MFS Research Fund - Class R6      10,439,293        476,031,743  
MFS Value Fund - Class R6      11,501,447        477,080,038  
              $ 2,438,456,041  
Money Market Funds - 0.1%                  
MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio, 1.19% (v)      2,901,796      $ 2,901,506  
Total Investment Companies (Identified Cost, $4,242,493,270)             $ 5,879,061,023  
Other Assets, Less Liabilities - (0.0)%               (402,824)  
Net Assets - 100.0%             $ 5,878,658,199  

See Portfolio Footnotes and Notes to Financial Statements

 

12


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) – continued

 

MFS GROWTH ALLOCATION FUND

 

Investment Companies (h) - 100.0%                  
Issuer    Shares/Par      Value ($)  
Bond Funds - 19.6%                  
MFS Emerging Markets Debt Fund - Class R6      10,021,912      $ 150,829,783  
MFS Emerging Markets Debt Local Currency Fund - Class R6      13,927,552        98,885,621  
MFS Global Bond Fund - Class R6      11,200,116        99,905,031  
MFS High Income Fund - Class R6      72,986,666        251,803,998  
MFS Inflation-Adjusted Bond Fund - Class R6      24,131,296        249,276,284  
MFS Total Return Bond Fund - Class R6      14,002,269        149,824,277  
              $ 1,000,524,994  
International Stock Funds - 20.0%                  
MFS Emerging Markets Equity Fund - Class R6      1,394,041      $ 49,864,832  
MFS International Growth Fund - Class R6      7,486,085        254,676,616  
MFS International New Discovery Fund - Class R6      2,853,702        102,191,063  
MFS International Value Fund - Class R6      5,803,048        255,160,046  
MFS Research International Fund - Class R6      18,726,057        357,854,948  
              $ 1,019,747,505  
Specialty Funds - 7.9%                  
MFS Absolute Return Fund - Class R6      5,181,811      $ 49,330,842  
MFS Commodity Strategy Fund - Class R6 (v)      33,483,927        200,568,723  
MFS Global Real Estate Fund - Class R6      9,468,370        152,724,812  
              $ 402,624,377  
U.S. Stock Funds - 52.3%                  
MFS Growth Fund - Class R6      5,746,409      $ 561,309,207  
MFS Mid Cap Growth Fund - Class R6      24,922,260        461,560,246  
MFS Mid Cap Value Fund - Class R6      19,020,753        464,296,579  
MFS New Discovery Fund - Class R6      3,142,972        103,655,230  
MFS New Discovery Value Fund - Class R6      6,371,210        103,914,436  
MFS Research Fund - Class R6      9,022,044        411,405,211  
MFS Value Fund - Class R6      13,605,641        564,361,990  
              $ 2,670,502,899  
Money Market Funds - 0.2%                  
MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio, 1.19% (v)      10,735,087      $ 10,734,013  
Total Investment Companies (Identified Cost, $3,215,539,823)             $ 5,104,133,788  
Other Assets, Less Liabilities - (0.0)%               (6,468)  
Net Assets - 100.0%             $ 5,104,127,320  

See Portfolio Footnotes and Notes to Financial Statements

 

13


Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments (unaudited) - continued

 

MFS AGGRESSIVE GROWTH ALLOCATION FUND

 

Investment Companies (h) - 100.0%                  
Issuer    Shares/Par      Value ($)  
International Stock Funds - 29.8%                  
MFS Emerging Markets Equity Fund - Class R6      963,881      $ 34,478,017  
MFS International Growth Fund - Class R6      4,147,612        141,101,745  
MFS International New Discovery Fund - Class R6      1,979,530        70,886,983  
MFS International Value Fund - Class R6      3,218,230        141,505,565  
MFS Research International Fund - Class R6      7,416,875        141,736,486  
              $ 529,708,796  
Specialty Funds - 9.9%                  
MFS Commodity Strategy Fund - Class R6 (v)      14,502,545      $ 86,870,247  
MFS Global Real Estate Fund - Class R6      5,472,940        88,278,521  
              $ 175,148,768  
U.S. Stock Funds - 60.3%                  
MFS Growth Fund - Class R6      2,353,146      $ 229,855,267  
MFS Mid Cap Growth Fund - Class R6      9,610,586        177,988,049  
MFS Mid Cap Value Fund - Class R6      7,335,834        179,067,719  
MFS New Discovery Fund - Class R6      1,364,339        44,995,884  
MFS New Discovery Value Fund - Class R6      2,768,367        45,152,070  
MFS Research Fund - Class R6      3,525,190        160,748,661  
MFS Value Fund - Class R6      5,595,630        232,106,738  
              $ 1,069,914,388  
Money Market Funds - 0.0%                  
MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio, 1.19% (v)      618,346      $ 618,284  
Total Investment Companies (Identified Cost, $969,557,516)             $ 1,775,390,236  
Other Assets, Less Liabilities - (0.0)%               (336,452)  
Net Assets - 100.0%             $ 1,775,053,784  

Portfolio Footnotes:

 

(h) An affiliated issuer may be considered one in which the fund owns 5% or more of the outstanding voting securities, or a company which is under common control. At period end, the aggregate values of each fund’s investments in affiliated issuers were as follows:

 

     Affiliated Issuers
MFS Conservative Allocation Fund   $2,980,808,280
MFS Moderate Allocation Fund     5,879,061,023
MFS Growth Allocation Fund     5,104,133,788
MFS Aggressive Growth Allocation Fund     1,775,390,236

 

(v) Affiliated issuer that is available only to investment companies managed by MFS. The rate quoted for the MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio is the annualized seven-day yield of the fund at period end.

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

14


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

STATEMENTS OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

At 11/30/17 (unaudited)

These statements represent each fund’s balance sheet, which details the assets and liabilities comprising the total value of each fund.

 

     MFS Conservative
Allocation Fund
     MFS Moderate
Allocation Fund
     MFS Growth
Allocation Fund
     MFS Aggressive Growth
Allocation Fund
 
Assets                                    

Investments in affiliated issuers, at value (identified cost, $2,340,239,557, $4,242,493,270, $3,215,539,823,
and $969,557,516, respectively)

     $2,980,808,280        $5,879,061,023        $5,104,133,788        $1,775,390,236  
Receivables for            

Investments sold

     1,538,122        4,985,933        6,616,273        799,627  

Fund shares sold

     2,611,558        5,433,770        2,843,937        1,474,117  

Receivable from investment adviser

                   3,528        19,660  

Total assets

     $2,984,957,960        $5,889,480,726        $5,113,597,526        $1,777,683,640  
Liabilities                                    
Payables for            

Investments purchased

     $355,586        $945,024        $—        $—  

Fund shares reacquired

     2,874,695        8,287,910        7,843,393        1,969,723  
Payable to affiliates            

Administrator

     96        96        96        96  

Shareholder servicing costs

     482,679        1,124,574        1,186,469        508,356  

Distribution and service fees

     66,310        134,249        113,358        33,752  

Program manager fee

     482        852        859        480  
Payable for independent Trustees’ compensation      1,009        2,460        1,642        653  

Accrued expenses and other liabilities

     157,884        327,362        324,389        116,796  

Total liabilities

     $3,938,741        $10,822,527        $9,470,206        $2,629,856  

Net assets

     $2,981,019,219        $5,878,658,199        $5,104,127,320        $1,775,053,784  
Net assets consist of                                    
Paid-in capital      $2,311,307,084        $4,148,362,969        $3,116,091,462        $950,979,844  

Unrealized appreciation (depreciation)

     640,568,723        1,636,567,753        1,888,593,965        805,832,720  

Accumulated net realized gain (loss)

     14,858,462        71,383,894        75,042,512        22,305,609  

Accumulated undistributed (distributions in excess of)
net investment income

     14,284,950        22,343,583        24,399,381        (4,064,389

Net assets

     $2,981,019,219        $5,878,658,199        $5,104,127,320        $1,775,053,784  

 

15


Table of Contents

Statements of Assets and Liabilities (unaudited) – continued

 

 

    MFS Conservative
Allocation Fund
    MFS Moderate
Allocation Fund
    MFS Growth
Allocation Fund
    MFS Aggressive Growth
Allocation Fund
 

Net assets

       

Class A

    $1,305,440,042       $3,043,914,203       $2,786,193,150       $807,140,035  

Class B

    130,567,326       280,802,514       233,886,356       65,579,430  

Class C

    651,335,496       1,153,640,844       929,558,539       276,855,839  

Class I

    312,127,402       245,269,544       179,764,584       129,984,522  

Class R1

    14,021,304       29,829,110       31,997,120       16,446,746  

Class R2

    80,840,168       183,035,614       174,332,186       76,355,459  

Class R3

    134,416,509       353,454,952       242,366,414       149,135,322  

Class R4

    176,387,575       276,944,170       211,645,042       77,834,769  

Class 529A

    121,176,844       218,123,396       225,794,266       135,456,681  

Class 529B

    7,383,360       13,019,208       12,465,835       5,150,109  

Class 529C

    47,323,193       80,624,644       76,123,828       35,114,872  

Total net assets

    $2,981,019,219       $5,878,658,199       $5,104,127,320       $1,775,053,784  

Shares of beneficial interest outstanding

       

Class A

    81,799,212       166,436,039       130,615,453       33,945,981  

Class B

    8,234,708       15,537,668       11,118,737       2,811,997  

Class C

    41,449,573       64,253,855       44,646,230       11,985,806  

Class I

    19,385,149       13,235,612       8,343,082       5,375,532  

Class R1

    909,070       1,694,992       1,566,847       721,950  

Class R2

    5,206,909       10,220,392       8,366,333       3,282,468  

Class R3

    8,490,490       19,472,677       11,458,277       6,322,851  

Class R4

    11,044,552       15,152,464       9,913,760       3,259,166  

Class 529A

    7,632,005       11,985,107       10,666,374       5,735,529  

Class 529B

    472,654       727,643       598,174       223,409  

Class 529C

    3,039,863       4,535,603       3,701,412       1,541,683  

Total shares of beneficial interest outstanding

    187,664,185       323,252,052       240,994,679       75,206,372  

Class A shares

       

Net asset value per share

       

(net assets / shares of beneficial interest outstanding)

    $15.96       $18.29       $21.33       $23.78  

Offering price per share (100 / 94.25 x net asset value per share)

    $16.93       $19.41       $22.63       $25.23  

Class B shares

       

Net asset value and offering price per share

       

(net assets / shares of beneficial interest outstanding)

    $15.86       $18.07       $21.04       $23.32  

Class C shares

       

Net asset value and offering price per share

       

(net assets / shares of beneficial interest outstanding)

    $15.71       $17.95       $20.82       $23.10  

Class I shares

       

Net asset value, offering price, and redemption price per share

       

(net assets / shares of beneficial interest outstanding)

    $16.10       $18.53       $21.55       $24.18  

Class R1 shares

       

Net asset value, offering price, and redemption price per share

       

(net assets / shares of beneficial interest outstanding)

    $15.42       $17.60       $20.42       $22.78  

Class R2 shares

       

Net asset value, offering price, and redemption price per share

       

(net assets / shares of beneficial interest outstanding)

    $15.53       $17.91       $20.84       $23.26  

 

16


Table of Contents

Statements of Assets and Liabilities (unaudited) – continued

 

    MFS Conservative
Allocation Fund
    MFS Moderate
Allocation Fund
    MFS Growth
Allocation Fund
    MFS Aggressive Growth
Allocation Fund
 

Class R3 shares

       

Net asset value, offering price, and redemption price per share

       

(net assets / shares of beneficial interest outstanding)

    $15.83       $18.15       $21.15       $23.59  

Class R4 shares

       

Net asset value, offering price, and redemption price per share

       

(net assets / shares of beneficial interest outstanding)

    $15.97       $18.28       $21.35       $23.88  

Class 529A shares

       

Net asset value and redemption price per share

       

(net assets / shares of beneficial interest outstanding)

    $15.88       $18.20       $21.17       $23.62  

Offering price per share (100 / 94.25 x net asset value per share)

    $16.85       $19.31       $22.46       $25.06  

Class 529B shares

       

Net asset value and offering price per share

       

(net assets / shares of beneficial interest outstanding)

    $15.62       $17.89       $20.84       $23.05  

Class 529C shares

       

Net asset value and offering price per share

       

(net assets / shares of beneficial interest outstanding)

    $15.57       $17.78       $20.57       $22.78  

On sales of $50,000 or more, the maximum offering price of Class A and Class 529A shares is reduced. A contingent deferred sales charge may be imposed on redemptions of Class A, Class B, Class C, Class 529B, and Class 529C shares. Net asset value per share is calculated using actual net assets and shares outstanding rather than amounts that have been rounded for presentation purposes.

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

17


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

Six months ended 11/30/17 (unaudited)

These statements describe how much each fund earned in investment income and accrued in expenses. They also describe any gains or losses generated by each fund’s operations.

 

    MFS Conservative
Allocation Fund
    MFS Moderate
Allocation Fund
    MFS Growth
Allocation Fund
    MFS Aggressive Growth
Allocation Fund
 
Net investment income (loss)                                

Dividends from affiliated issuers

    $26,210,326       $40,012,564       $23,490,082       $2,222,058  
Expenses        

Distribution and service fees

    $6,495,844       $12,834,826       $10,845,454       $3,485,629  

Shareholder servicing costs

    801,906       1,954,267       2,090,747       983,150  

Program manager fees

    84,501       153,179       152,140       85,426  

Administrative services fee

    8,775       8,775       8,775       8,775  

Independent Trustees’ compensation

    22,535       47,512       25,351       17,054  

Custodian fee

    32,438       56,209       43,927       16,420  

Shareholder communications

    77,189       168,368       190,589       63,660  

Audit and tax fees

    18,042       18,668       18,461       17,770  

Legal fees

    16,663       33,275       28,309       9,373  

Miscellaneous

    120,487       165,335       147,008       94,619  

Total expenses

    $7,678,380       $15,440,414       $13,550,761       $4,781,876  

Reduction of expenses by investment adviser and distributor

    (57,024     (108,014     (113,393     (144,909

Net expenses

    $7,621,356       $15,332,400       $13,437,368       $4,636,967  

Net investment income (loss)

    $18,588,970       $24,680,164       $10,052,714       $(2,414,909
Realized and unrealized gain (loss)                          
Realized gain (loss) (identified cost basis)        

Investments in affiliated issuers

    $31,235,056       $64,715,050       $71,939,667       $17,414,217  

Capital gain distributions from affiliated issuers

    375,669       1,121,254       1,287,783       541,071  

Net realized gain (loss)

    $31,610,725       $65,836,304       $73,227,450       $17,955,288  

Change in unrealized appreciation (depreciation) Affiliated issuers

    $61,947,448       $232,517,911       $277,106,108       $133,001,944  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

    $93,558,173       $298,354,215       $350,333,558       $150,957,232  

Change in net assets from operations

    $112,147,143       $323,034,379       $360,386,272       $148,542,323  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

18


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN NET ASSETS

These statements describe the increases and/or decreases in net assets resulting from operations, any distributions, and any shareholder transactions.

 

Six months ended 11/30/17 (unaudited)    MFS Conservative
Allocation Fund
     MFS Moderate
Allocation Fund
     MFS Growth
Allocation Fund
     MFS Aggressive Growth
Allocation Fund
 
Change in net assets            
From operations                                    
Net investment income (loss)      $18,588,970        $24,680,164        $10,052,714        $(2,414,909

Net realized gain (loss)

     31,610,725        65,836,304        73,227,450        17,955,288  

Net unrealized gain (loss)

     61,947,448        232,517,911        277,106,108        133,001,944  

Change in net assets from operations

     $112,147,143        $323,034,379        $360,386,272        $148,542,323  
Distributions declared to shareholders                                    

From net investment income

     $(13,328,061      $(21,365,483      $—        $—  

Change in net assets from fund share transactions

     $(74,328,715      $(317,855,949      $(333,148,924      $(82,450,541

Total change in net assets

     $24,490,367        $(16,187,053      $27,237,348        $66,091,782  
Net assets                                    
At beginning of period      2,956,528,852        5,894,845,252        5,076,889,972        1,708,962,002  

At end of period

     $2,981,019,219        $5,878,658,199        $5,104,127,320        $1,775,053,784  

Accumulated undistributed (distributions in excess of) net investment income included in net assets at end of period

     $14,284,950        $22,343,583        $24,399,381        $(4,064,389
Year ended 5/31/17    MFS Conservative
Allocation Fund
     MFS Moderate
Allocation Fund
     MFS Growth
Allocation Fund
     MFS Aggressive Growth
Allocation Fund
 
Change in net assets            
From operations                                    
Net investment income (loss)      $45,282,202        $81,175,753        $58,374,434        $13,397,482  

Net realized gain (loss)

     38,767,058        80,681,467        84,680,501        31,837,048  

Net unrealized gain (loss)

     131,133,833        412,888,537        481,069,233        188,460,048  

Change in net assets from operations

     $215,183,093        $574,745,757        $624,124,168        $233,694,578  
Distributions declared to shareholders                                    
From net investment income      $(45,824,041      $(74,597,272      $(50,301,204      $(13,000,263

From net realized gain

     (22,620,610      (76,832,679      (79,905,445      (30,032,619

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $(68,444,651      $(151,429,951      $(130,206,649      $(43,032,882

Change in net assets from fund share transactions

     $(243,185,823      $(816,836,537      $(662,540,855      $(176,479,319

Total change in net assets

     $(96,447,381      $(393,520,731      $(168,623,336      $14,182,377  
Net assets                                    
At beginning of period      3,052,976,233        6,288,365,983        5,245,513,308        1,694,779,625  

At end of period

     $2,956,528,852        $5,894,845,252        $5,076,889,972        $1,708,962,002  

Accumulated undistributed (distributions in excess of) net investment income included in net assets at end of period

     $9,024,041        $19,028,902        $14,346,667        $(1,649,480

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

19


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

MFS CONSERVATIVE ALLOCATION FUND

The financial highlights table is intended to help you understand the fund’s financial performance for the semiannual period and the past 5 fiscal years. Certain information reflects financial results for a single fund share. The total returns in the table represent the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the fund share class (assuming reinvestment of all distributions) held for the entire period.

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

     Year ended  
        5/31/17     5/31/16      5/31/15      5/31/14      5/31/13  
Class A                                     

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $15.43        $14.69       $15.05        $14.91        $14.06        $12.93  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                     
Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)      $0.11        $0.26 (c)      $0.21        $0.25        $0.26        $0.27  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     0.51        0.85       (0.18      0.22        0.86        1.18  

Total from investment operations

     $0.62        $1.11       $0.03        $0.47        $1.12        $1.45  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                     
From net investment income      $(0.09      $(0.26     $(0.23      $(0.28      $(0.27      $(0.32

From net realized gain

            (0.11     (0.16      (0.05              

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $(0.09      $(0.37     $(0.39      $(0.33      $(0.27      $(0.32

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $15.96        $15.43       $14.69        $15.05        $14.91        $14.06  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     4.00 (n)       7.71 (c)      0.27        3.16        8.10        11.36  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                              
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)      0.32 (a)       0.33 (c)      0.33        0.33        0.32        0.32  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     0.32 (a)       0.33 (c)      0.33        0.33        0.32        0.32  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     1.45 (a)       1.72 (c)      1.45        1.70        1.80        1.99  

Portfolio turnover

     2 (n)       3       5        9        5        5  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $1,305,440        $1,330,751       $1,435,774        $1,423,985        $1,355,910        $1,197,922  

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

     Year ended  
        5/31/17     5/31/16      5/31/15      5/31/14      5/31/13  
Class B                                     

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $15.33        $14.60       $14.95        $14.82        $13.97        $12.85  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                     
Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)      $0.05        $0.14 (c)      $0.10        $0.14        $0.15        $0.17  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     0.51        0.85       (0.17      0.21        0.87        1.17  

Total from investment operations

     $0.56        $0.99       $(0.07      $0.35        $1.02        $1.34  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                     
From net investment income      $(0.03      $(0.15     $(0.12      $(0.17      $(0.17      $(0.22

From net realized gain

            (0.11     (0.16      (0.05              

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $(0.03      $(0.26     $(0.28      $(0.22      $(0.17      $(0.22

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $15.86        $15.33       $14.60        $14.95        $14.82        $13.97  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     3.64 (n)       6.87 (c)      (0.43      2.34        7.34        10.51  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                              
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)      1.07 (a)       1.08 (c)      1.08        1.08        1.07        1.07  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     1.07 (a)       1.08 (c)      1.08        1.08        1.07        1.07  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     0.70 (a)       0.97 (c)      0.71        0.95        1.04        1.24  

Portfolio turnover

     2 (n)       3       5        9        5        5  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $130,567        $137,431       $150,726        $165,711        $172,845        $166,748  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

20


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

MFS CONSERVATIVE ALLOCATION FUND – continued

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
       5/31/17     5/31/16      5/31/15      5/31/14      5/31/13  
Class C                                    

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $15.20       $14.47       $14.83        $14.70        $13.87        $12.76  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                    
Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)      $0.05       $0.14 (c)      $0.10        $0.14        $0.15        $0.17  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     0.49       0.85       (0.18      0.21        0.85        1.16  

Total from investment operations

     $0.54       $0.99       $(0.08      $0.35        $1.00        $1.33  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                    
From net investment income      $(0.03     $(0.15     $(0.12      $(0.17      $(0.17      $(0.22

From net realized gain

           (0.11     (0.16      (0.05              

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $(0.03     $(0.26     $(0.28      $(0.22      $(0.17      $(0.22

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $15.71       $15.20       $14.47        $14.83        $14.70        $13.87  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     3.54 (n)      6.94 (c)      (0.48      2.39        7.30        10.54  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                             
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)      1.07 (a)      1.08 (c)      1.08        1.08        1.08        1.07  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     1.07 (a)      1.08 (c)      1.08        1.08        1.07        1.07  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     0.70 (a)      0.97 (c)      0.71        0.95        1.05        1.24  

Portfolio turnover

     2 (n)      3       5        9        5        5  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $651,335       $670,914       $727,084        $748,188        $671,757        $503,578  
    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
       5/31/17     5/31/16      5/31/15      5/31/14      5/31/13  
Class I                                    

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $15.57       $14.82       $15.17        $15.03        $14.17        $13.03  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                    
Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)      $0.13       $0.29 (c)      $0.24        $0.28        $0.30        $0.31  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     0.50       0.87       (0.17      0.23        0.87        1.18  

Total from investment operations

     $0.63       $1.16       $0.07        $0.51        $1.17        $1.49  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                    
From net investment income      $(0.10     $(0.30     $(0.26      $(0.32      $(0.31      $(0.35

From net realized gain

           (0.11     (0.16      (0.05              

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $(0.10     $(0.41     $(0.42      $(0.37      $(0.31      $(0.35

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $16.10       $15.57       $14.82        $15.17        $15.03        $14.17  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     4.09 (n)      7.99 (c)      0.58        3.39        8.38        11.61  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                             
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)      0.07 (a)      0.08 (c)      0.08        0.09        0.08        0.07  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     N/A       N/A       N/A        0.09        0.08        0.07  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     1.70 (a)      1.92 (c)      1.66        1.84        2.04        2.23  

Portfolio turnover

     2 (n)      3       5        9        5        5  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $312,127       $271,960       $203,031        $160,405        $102,563        $71,965  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

21


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

MFS CONSERVATIVE ALLOCATION FUND – continued

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
       5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15      5/31/14      5/31/13  
Class R1                                   

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $14.92       $14.21       $14.56       $14.44        $13.62        $12.53  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                   
Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)      $0.05       $0.14 (c)      $0.10       $0.14        $0.14        $0.17  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     0.48       0.83       (0.17     0.20        0.85        1.14  

Total from investment operations

     $0.53       $0.97       $(0.07     $0.34        $0.99        $1.31  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                   
From net investment income      $(0.03     $(0.15     $(0.12     $(0.17      $(0.17      $(0.22

From net realized gain

           (0.11     (0.16     (0.05              

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $(0.03     $(0.26     $(0.28     $(0.22      $(0.17      $(0.22

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $15.42       $14.92       $14.21       $14.56        $14.44        $13.62  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     3.55 (n)      6.93 (c)      (0.42     2.33        7.35        10.55  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                            
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)      1.07 (a)      1.08 (c)      1.08       1.08        1.07        1.07  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     N/A       N/A       N/A       1.08        1.07        1.07  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     0.70 (a)      0.97 (c)      0.71       0.98        1.04        1.26  

Portfolio turnover

     2 (n)      3       5       9        5        5  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $14,021       $14,641       $18,875       $21,493        $23,321        $23,026  
    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
       5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15      5/31/14      5/31/13  
Class R2                                   

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $15.02       $14.31       $14.66       $14.54        $13.71        $12.62  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                   
Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)      $0.09       $0.22 (c)      $0.17       $0.21        $0.21        $0.23  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     0.49       0.82       (0.17     0.20        0.86        1.15  

Total from investment operations

     $0.58       $1.04       $0.00 (w)      $0.41        $1.07        $1.38  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                   
From net investment income      $(0.07     $(0.22     $(0.19     $(0.24      $(0.24      $(0.29

From net realized gain

           (0.11     (0.16     (0.05              

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $(0.07     $(0.33     $(0.35     $(0.29      $(0.24      $(0.29

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $15.53       $15.02       $14.31       $14.66        $14.54        $13.71  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     3.85 (n)      7.44 (c)      0.09       2.85        7.90        11.04  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                            
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)      0.57 (a)      0.58 (c)      0.58       0.58        0.57        0.57  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     0.57 (a)      0.58 (c)      0.58       0.58        0.57        0.57  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     1.20 (a)      1.48 (c)      1.23       1.44        1.53        1.74  

Portfolio turnover

     2 (n)      3       5       9        5        5  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $80,840       $85,187       $97,053       $112,187        $118,105        $112,807  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

22


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

MFS CONSERVATIVE ALLOCATION FUND – continued

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
       5/31/17     5/31/16      5/31/15      5/31/14      5/31/13  
Class R3                                    

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $15.31       $14.58       $14.93        $14.80        $13.96        $12.83  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                    
Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)      $0.11       $0.25 (c)      $0.21        $0.25        $0.26        $0.27  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     0.50       0.85       (0.17      0.21        0.85        1.18  

Total from investment operations

     $0.61       $1.10       $0.04        $0.46        $1.11        $1.45  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                    
From net investment income      $(0.09     $(0.26     $(0.23      $(0.28      $(0.27      $(0.32

From net realized gain

           (0.11     (0.16      (0.05              

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $(0.09     $(0.37     $(0.39      $(0.33      $(0.27      $(0.32

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $15.83       $15.31       $14.58        $14.93        $14.80        $13.96  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     3.97 (n)      7.70 (c)      0.34        3.12        8.08        11.45  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                             
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)      0.32 (a)      0.33 (c)      0.33        0.33        0.32        0.32  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     0.32 (a)      0.33 (c)      0.33        0.33        0.32        0.32  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     1.45 (a)      1.71 (c)      1.46        1.69        1.81        1.99  

Portfolio turnover

     2 (n)      3       5        9        5        5  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $134,417       $146,688       $172,074        $181,348        $168,208        $161,521  
    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
       5/31/17     5/31/16      5/31/15      5/31/14      5/31/13  
Class R4                                    

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $15.44       $14.70       $15.06        $14.92        $14.07        $12.93  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                    
Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)      $0.13       $0.29 (c)      $0.25        $0.29        $0.29        $0.30  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     0.50       0.86       (0.19      0.22        0.87        1.19  

Total from investment operations

     $0.63       $1.15       $0.06        $0.51        $1.16        $1.49  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                    
From net investment income      $(0.10     $(0.30     $(0.26      $(0.32      $(0.31      $(0.35

From net realized gain

           (0.11     (0.16      (0.05              

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $(0.10     $(0.41     $(0.42      $(0.37      $(0.31      $(0.35

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $15.97       $15.44       $14.70        $15.06        $14.92        $14.07  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     4.13 (n)      7.98 (c)      0.52        3.42        8.36        11.70  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                             
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)      0.07 (a)      0.08 (c)      0.08        0.08        0.08        0.07  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     N/A       N/A       N/A        0.08        0.08        0.07  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     1.70 (a)      1.95 (c)      1.73        1.95        1.98        2.23  

Portfolio turnover

     2 (n)      3       5        9        5        5  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $176,388       $135,695       $109,923        $123,347        $84,264        $22,688  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

23


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

MFS CONSERVATIVE ALLOCATION FUND – continued

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
       5/31/17     5/31/16      5/31/15      5/31/14      5/31/13  
Class 529A                                    

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $15.35       $14.62       $14.97        $14.84        $13.99        $12.87  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                    
Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)      $0.11       $0.25 (c)      $0.20        $0.26        $0.25        $0.26  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     0.50       0.84       (0.17      0.19        0.87        1.17  

Total from investment operations

     $0.61       $1.09       $0.03        $0.45        $1.12        $1.43  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                    
From net investment income      $(0.08     $(0.25     $(0.22      $(0.27      $(0.27      $(0.31

From net realized gain

           (0.11     (0.16      (0.05              

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $(0.08     $(0.36     $(0.38      $(0.32      $(0.27      $(0.31

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $15.88       $15.35       $14.62        $14.97        $14.84        $13.99  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     4.01 (n)      7.65 (c)      0.30        3.06        8.09        11.27  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                             
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)      0.42 (a)      0.43 (c)      0.43        0.43        0.42        0.42  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     0.36 (a)      0.37 (c)      0.37        0.37        0.37        0.37  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     1.41 (a)      1.66 (c)      1.41        1.77        1.74        1.94  

Portfolio turnover

     2 (n)      3       5        9        5        5  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $121,177       $109,297       $89,761        $83,149        $116,559        $97,214  
    

Six months

ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
       5/31/17     5/31/16      5/31/15      5/31/14      5/31/13  
Class 529B                                    

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $15.11       $14.39       $14.74        $14.61        $13.77        $12.66  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                    
Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)      $0.05       $0.13 (c)      $0.10        $0.15        $0.14        $0.16  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     0.49       0.84       (0.18      0.19        0.86        1.16  

Total from investment operations

     $0.54       $0.97       $(0.08      $0.34        $1.00        $1.32  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                    
From net investment income      $(0.03     $(0.14     $(0.11      $(0.16      $(0.16      $(0.21

From net realized gain

           (0.11     (0.16      (0.05              

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $(0.03     $(0.25     $(0.27      $(0.21      $(0.16      $(0.21

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $15.62       $15.11       $14.39        $14.74        $14.61        $13.77  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     3.55 (n)      6.87 (c)      (0.48      2.31        7.30        10.49  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                             
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)      1.17 (a)      1.18 (c)      1.18        1.18        1.17        1.17  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     1.11 (a)      1.12 (c)      1.13        1.13        1.12        1.12  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     0.66 (a)      0.90 (c)      0.68        1.01        0.99        1.20  

Portfolio turnover

     2 (n)      3       5        9        5        5  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $7,383       $6,852       $6,349        $6,953        $10,719        $11,707  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

24


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

MFS CONSERVATIVE ALLOCATION FUND – continued

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
       5/31/17     5/31/16      5/31/15      5/31/14      5/31/13  
Class 529C                                    

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $15.06       $14.35       $14.70        $14.58        $13.75        $12.65  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                    
Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)      $0.05       $0.13 (c)      $0.09        $0.15        $0.14        $0.16  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     0.49       0.84       (0.17      0.18        0.85        1.16  

Total from investment operations

     $0.54       $0.97       $(0.08      $0.33        $0.99        $1.32  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                    
From net investment income      $(0.03     $(0.15     $(0.11      $(0.16      $(0.16      $(0.22

From net realized gain

           (0.11     (0.16      (0.05              

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $(0.03     $(0.26     $(0.27      $(0.21      $(0.16      $(0.22

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $15.57       $15.06       $14.35        $14.70        $14.58        $13.75  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     3.57 (n)      6.84 (c)      (0.45      2.28        7.29        10.49  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                             
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)      1.17 (a)      1.18 (c)      1.18        1.18        1.17        1.17  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     1.12 (a)      1.13 (c)      1.13        1.13        1.12        1.12  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     0.66 (a)      0.90 (c)      0.65        1.02        1.00        1.19  

Portfolio turnover

     2 (n)      3       5        9        5        5  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $47,323       $47,113       $42,328        $41,140        $58,530        $49,778  
(a) Annualized.
(c) Amount reflects a one-time reimbursement of expenses by the custodian (or former custodian) without which net investment income and performance would be lower and expenses would be higher.
(d) Per share data is based on average shares outstanding.
(f) Ratios do not reflect reductions from fees paid indirectly, if applicable.
(h) In addition to the fees and expenses which the fund bears directly, the fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of the underlying affiliated funds in which the fund invests. Accordingly, the expense ratio for the fund reflects only those fees and expenses borne directly by the fund. Because the underlying affiliated funds have varied expense and fee levels and the fund may own different proportions of the underlying affiliated funds at different times, the amount of fees and expenses incurred indirectly by the fund will vary.
(l) Recognition of net investment income by the fund may be affected by the timing of the declaration of dividends by the underlying affiliated funds in which the fund invests and for interim net investment income ratios, the actual annual net investment income ratio may differ. The ratios and per share amounts do not include net investment income of the underlying affiliated funds in which the fund invests.
(n) Not annualized.
(r) Certain expenses have been reduced without which performance would have been lower.
(s) From time to time the fund may receive proceeds from litigation settlements, without which performance would be lower.
(t) Total returns do not include any applicable sales charges.
(w) Per share amount was less than $0.01.
(x) The net asset values and total returns have been calculated on net assets which include adjustments made in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles required at period end for financial reporting purposes.

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

25


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

MFS MODERATE ALLOCATION FUND

The financial highlights table is intended to help you understand the fund’s financial performance for the semiannual period and the past 5 fiscal years. Certain information reflects financial results for a single fund share. The total returns in the table represent the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the fund share class (assuming reinvestment of all distributions) held for the entire period.

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
      5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
Class A                                

Net asset value, beginning of period

    $17.37       $16.19       $17.17       $16.86       $15.40       $13.54  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                

Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)

    $0.09       $0.26 (c)      $0.20       $0.26       $0.25       $0.25  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

    0.91       1.37       (0.28     0.40       1.48       1.94  

Total from investment operations

    $1.00       $1.63       $(0.08     $0.66       $1.73       $2.19  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                

From net investment income

    $(0.08     $(0.24     $(0.24     $(0.31     $(0.27     $(0.33

From net realized gain

          (0.21     (0.66     (0.04            

Total distributions declared to shareholders

    $(0.08     $(0.45     $(0.90     $(0.35     $(0.27     $(0.33

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $18.29       $17.37       $16.19       $17.17       $16.86       $15.40  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    5.78 (n)      10.30 (c)      (0.31     4.02       11.34       16.40  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                          
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)     0.33 (a)      0.34 (c)      0.34       0.34       0.33       0.33  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

    0.33 (a)      0.34 (c)      0.33       0.34       0.33       0.33  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

    1.03 (a)      1.55 (c)      1.23       1.53       1.58       1.72  

Portfolio turnover

    0 (n)(y)      1       2       8       2       5  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

    $3,043,914       $3,077,471       $3,338,645       $3,376,781       $3,164,199       $2,414,807  

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
      5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
Class B                                

Net asset value, beginning of period

    $17.16       $16.01       $17.00       $16.69       $15.25       $13.41  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                

Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)

    $0.02       $0.13 (c)      $0.08       $0.13       $0.13       $0.14  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

    0.91       1.35       (0.29     0.41       1.46       1.92  

Total from investment operations

    $0.93       $1.48       $(0.21     $0.54       $1.59       $2.06  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                

From net investment income

    $(0.02     $(0.12     $(0.12     $(0.19     $(0.15     $(0.22

From net realized gain

          (0.21     (0.66     (0.04            

Total distributions declared to shareholders

    $(0.02     $(0.33     $(0.78     $(0.23     $(0.15     $(0.22

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $18.07       $17.16       $16.01       $17.00       $16.69       $15.25  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    5.40 (n)      9.43 (c)      (1.09     3.29       10.48       15.51  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                          
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)     1.08 (a)      1.09 (c)      1.09       1.09       1.08       1.08  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

    1.08 (a)      1.09 (c)      1.09       1.09       1.08       1.08  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

    0.28 (a)      0.80 (c)      0.50       0.78       0.82       0.98  

Portfolio turnover

    0 (n)(y)      1       2       8       2       5  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

    $280,803       $293,064       $320,406       $357,308       $375,305       $359,070  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

26


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

MFS MODERATE ALLOCATION FUND – continued

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
      5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
Class C                                

Net asset value, beginning of period

    $17.05       $15.91       $16.90       $16.60       $15.17       $13.35  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                

Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)

    $0.02       $0.13 (c)      $0.08       $0.13       $0.13       $0.14  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

    0.90       1.34       (0.29     0.40       1.46       1.91  

Total from investment operations

    $0.92       $1.47       $(0.21     $0.53       $1.59       $2.05  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                

From net investment income

    $(0.02     $(0.12     $(0.12     $(0.19     $(0.16     $(0.23

From net realized gain

          (0.21     (0.66     (0.04            

Total distributions declared to shareholders

    $(0.02     $(0.33     $(0.78     $(0.23     $(0.16     $(0.23

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $17.95       $17.05       $15.91       $16.90       $16.60       $15.17  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    5.37 (n)      9.43 (c)      (1.09     3.27       10.52       15.49  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                          

Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)

    1.08 (a)      1.09 (c)      1.09       1.09       1.08       1.08  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

    1.08 (a)      1.09 (c)      1.09       1.09       1.08       1.08  
Net investment income (loss) (l)     0.28 (a)      0.80 (c)      0.49       0.78       0.83       0.97  

Portfolio turnover

    0 (n)(y)      1       2       8       2       5  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

    $1,153,641       $1,181,728       $1,324,402       $1,397,796       $1,278,659       $915,801  
   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
      5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
Class I                                

Net asset value, beginning of period

    $17.60       $16.40       $17.38       $17.06       $15.58       $13.69  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                

Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)

    $0.12       $0.29 (c)      $0.24       $0.31       $0.30       $0.29  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

    0.91       1.40       (0.28     0.40       1.49       1.97  

Total from investment operations

    $1.03       $1.69       $(0.04     $0.71       $1.79       $2.26  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                

From net investment income

    $(0.10     $(0.28     $(0.28     $(0.35     $(0.31     $(0.37

From net realized gain

          (0.21     (0.66     (0.04            

Total distributions declared to shareholders

    $(0.10     $(0.49     $(0.94     $(0.39     $(0.31     $(0.37

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $18.53       $17.60       $16.40       $17.38       $17.06       $15.58  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    5.89 (n)      10.56 (c)      (0.06     4.28       11.60       16.72  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                          
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)     0.08 (a)      0.09 (c)      0.09       0.09       0.08       0.08  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

    N/A       N/A       N/A       0.09       0.08       0.08  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

    1.28 (a)      1.74 (c)      1.49       1.79       1.83       1.97  

Portfolio turnover

    0 (n)(y)      1       2       8       2       5  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

    $245,270       $206,826       $139,038       $137,468       $118,806       $75,339  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

27


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

MFS MODERATE ALLOCATION FUND – continued

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
      5/31/17     5/31/16      5/31/15      5/31/14     5/31/13  
Class R1                                  

Net asset value, beginning of period

    $16.72       $15.60       $16.59        $16.30        $14.90       $13.11  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                  

Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)

    $0.02       $0.13 (c)      $0.08        $0.13        $0.13       $0.15  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

    0.88       1.32       (0.29      0.39        1.43       1.86  

Total from investment operations

    $0.90       $1.45       $(0.21      $0.52        $1.56       $2.01  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                  

From net investment income

    $(0.02     $(0.12     $(0.12      $(0.19      $(0.16     $(0.22

From net realized gain

          (0.21     (0.66      (0.04             

Total distributions declared to shareholders

    $(0.02     $(0.33     $(0.78      $(0.23      $(0.16     $(0.22

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $17.60       $16.72       $15.60        $16.59        $16.30       $14.90  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    5.37 (n)      9.50 (c)      (1.10      3.26        10.49       15.50  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                            
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)     1.08 (a)      1.09 (c)      1.09        1.09        1.08       1.08  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

    N/A       N/A       N/A        1.09        1.08       1.08  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

    0.28 (a)      0.81 (c)      0.51        0.78        0.82       1.03  

Portfolio turnover

    0 (n)(y)      1       2        8        2       5  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

    $29,829       $31,037       $36,124        $43,975        $45,232       $40,786  
   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
      5/31/17     5/31/16      5/31/15      5/31/14     5/31/13  
Class R2                                  

Net asset value, beginning of period

    $17.01       $15.86       $16.85        $16.54        $15.12       $13.30  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                  

Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)

    $0.07       $0.21 (c)      $0.16        $0.21        $0.21       $0.21  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

    0.89       1.35       (0.29      0.41        1.44       1.91  

Total from investment operations

    $0.96       $1.56       $(0.13      $0.62        $1.65       $2.12  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                  

From net investment income

    $(0.06     $(0.20     $(0.20      $(0.27      $(0.23     $(0.30

From net realized gain

          (0.21     (0.66      (0.04             

Total distributions declared to shareholders

    $(0.06     $(0.41     $(0.86      $(0.31      $(0.23     $(0.30

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $17.91       $17.01       $15.86        $16.85        $16.54       $15.12  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    5.66 (n)      10.04 (c)      (0.63      3.83        11.01       16.10  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                            
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)     0.58 (a)      0.59 (c)      0.59        0.59        0.58       0.58  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

    0.58 (a)      0.59 (c)      0.59        0.59        0.58       0.58  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

    0.78 (a)      1.31 (c)      1.00        1.27        1.31       1.48  

Portfolio turnover

    0 (n)(y)      1       2        8        2       5  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

    $183,036       $191,974       $220,409        $254,012        $279,820       $246,535  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

28


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

MFS MODERATE ALLOCATION FUND – continued

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
      5/31/17     5/31/16      5/31/15      5/31/14     5/31/13  
Class R3                                  

Net asset value, beginning of period

    $17.24       $16.07       $17.06        $16.75        $15.30       $13.46  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                  

Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)

    $0.09       $0.25 (c)      $0.20        $0.25        $0.25       $0.25  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

    0.90       1.37       (0.29      0.41        1.47       1.92  

Total from investment operations

    $0.99       $1.62       $(0.09      $0.66        $1.72       $2.17  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                  

From net investment income

    $(0.08     $(0.24     $(0.24      $(0.31      $(0.27     $(0.33

From net realized gain

          (0.21     (0.66      (0.04             

Total distributions declared to shareholders

    $(0.08     $(0.45     $(0.90      $(0.35      $(0.27     $(0.33

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $18.15       $17.24       $16.07        $17.06        $16.75       $15.30  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    5.77 (n)      10.31 (c)      (0.37      4.04        11.35       16.34  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                            
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)     0.33 (a)      0.34 (c)      0.34        0.34        0.33       0.33  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

    0.33 (a)      0.34 (c)      0.34        0.34        0.33       0.33  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

    1.03 (a)      1.53 (c)      1.23        1.52        1.58       1.73  

Portfolio turnover

    0 (n)(y)      1       2        8        2       5  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

    $353,455       $344,821       $364,025        $424,215        $432,394       $336,430  
   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
      5/31/17     5/31/16      5/31/15      5/31/14     5/31/13  
Class R4                                  

Net asset value, beginning of period

    $17.36       $16.18       $17.17        $16.85        $15.39       $13.53  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                  

Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)

    $0.11       $0.30 (c)      $0.25        $0.30        $0.30       $0.28  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

    0.91       1.37       (0.30      0.41        1.47       1.95  

Total from investment operations

    $1.02       $1.67       $(0.05      $0.71        $1.77       $2.23  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                  

From net investment income

    $(0.10     $(0.28     $(0.28      $(0.35      $(0.31     $(0.37

From net realized gain

          (0.21     (0.66      (0.04             

Total distributions declared to shareholders

    $(0.10     $(0.49     $(0.94      $(0.39      $(0.31     $(0.37

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $18.28       $17.36       $16.18        $17.17        $16.85       $15.39  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    5.91 (n)      10.58 (c)      (0.12      4.34        11.62       16.69  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                            
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)     0.08 (a)      0.09 (c)      0.08        0.09        0.08       0.08  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

    N/A       N/A       N/A        0.09        0.08       0.08  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

    1.28 (a)      1.80 (c)      1.51        1.79        1.84       1.92  

Portfolio turnover

    0 (n)(y)      1       2        8        2       5  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

    $276,944       $264,589       $249,128        $292,471        $208,963       $105,771  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

29


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

MFS MODERATE ALLOCATION FUND – continued

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
      5/31/17     5/31/16      5/31/15      5/31/14     5/31/13  
Class 529A                                  

Net asset value, beginning of period

    $17.29       $16.11       $17.10        $16.79        $15.34       $13.49  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                  

Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)

    $0.09       $0.25 (c)      $0.19        $0.25        $0.24       $0.24  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

    0.90       1.37       (0.29      0.41        1.47       1.94  

Total from investment operations

    $0.99       $1.62       $(0.10      $0.66        $1.71       $2.18  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                  

From net investment income

    $(0.08     $(0.23     $(0.23      $(0.31      $(0.26     $(0.33

From net realized gain

          (0.21     (0.66      (0.04             

Total distributions declared to shareholders

    $(0.08     $(0.44     $(0.89      $(0.35      $(0.26     $(0.33

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $18.20       $17.29       $16.11        $17.10        $16.79       $15.34  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    5.73 (n)      10.31 (c)      (0.41      4.00        11.27       16.32  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                            
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)     0.43 (a)      0.44 (c)      0.44        0.44        0.43       0.43  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

    0.38 (a)      0.38 (c)      0.38        0.38        0.36       0.38  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

    0.99 (a)      1.50 (c)      1.18        1.48        1.53       1.68  

Portfolio turnover

    0 (n)(y)      1       2        8        2       5  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

    $218,123       $210,075       $198,159        $189,065        $164,539       $131,993  
   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
      5/31/17     5/31/16      5/31/15      5/31/14     5/31/13  
Class 529B                                  

Net asset value, beginning of period

    $16.99       $15.86       $16.85        $16.55        $15.12       $13.29  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                  

Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)

    $0.02       $0.12 (c)      $0.07        $0.12        $0.12       $0.13  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

    0.89       1.34       (0.28      0.40        1.45       1.91  

Total from investment operations

    $0.91       $1.46       $(0.21      $0.52        $1.57       $2.04  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                  

From net investment income

    $(0.01     $(0.12     $(0.12      $(0.18      $(0.14     $(0.21

From net realized gain

          (0.21     (0.66      (0.04             

Total distributions declared to shareholders

    $(0.01     $(0.33     $(0.78      $(0.22      $(0.14     $(0.21

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $17.89       $16.99       $15.86        $16.85        $16.55       $15.12  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    5.38 (n)      9.37 (c)      (1.13      3.21        10.45       15.50  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                            
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)     1.18 (a)      1.19 (c)      1.19        1.19        1.18       1.18  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

    1.13 (a)      1.13 (c)      1.13        1.13        1.12       1.13  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

    0.24 (a)      0.76 (c)      0.43        0.74        0.77       0.93  

Portfolio turnover

    0 (n)(y)      1       2        8        2       5  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

    $13,019       $14,214       $16,727        $17,630        $18,354       $18,465  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

30


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

MFS MODERATE ALLOCATION FUND – continued

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
      5/31/17     5/31/16      5/31/15      5/31/14     5/31/13  
Class 529C                                  

Net asset value, beginning of period

    $16.89       $15.76       $16.76        $16.47        $15.05       $13.24  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                  

Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)

    $0.02       $0.12 (c)      $0.07        $0.12        $0.12       $0.13  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

    0.89       1.34       (0.29      0.40        1.45       1.90  

Total from investment operations

    $0.91       $1.46       $(0.22      $0.52        $1.57       $2.03  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                  

From net investment income

    $(0.02     $(0.12     $(0.12      $(0.19      $(0.15     $(0.22

From net realized gain

          (0.21     (0.66      (0.04             

Total distributions declared to shareholders

    $(0.02     $(0.33     $(0.78      $(0.23      $(0.15     $(0.22

Net asset value, end of period (x)

    $17.78       $16.89       $15.76        $16.76        $16.47       $15.05  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    5.36 (n)      9.48 (c)      (1.18      3.20        10.48       15.47  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                            
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)     1.18 (a)      1.19 (c)      1.19        1.19        1.18       1.18  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

    1.13 (a)      1.13 (c)      1.13        1.14        1.12       1.13  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

    0.24 (a)      0.74 (c)      0.42        0.73        0.77       0.93  

Portfolio turnover

    0 (n)(y)      1       2        8        2       5  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

    $80,625       $79,047       $81,302        $79,455        $71,895       $57,475  
(a) Annualized.
(c) Amount reflects a one-time reimbursement of expenses by the custodian (or former custodian) without which net investment income and performance would be lower and expenses would be higher.
(d) Per share data is based on average shares outstanding.
(f) Ratios do not reflect reductions from fees paid indirectly, if applicable.
(h) In addition to the fees and expenses which the fund bears directly, the fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of the underlying affiliated funds in which the fund invests. Accordingly, the expense ratio for the fund reflects only those fees and expenses borne directly by the fund. Because the underlying affiliated funds have varied expense and fee levels and the fund may own different proportions of the underlying affiliated funds at different times, the amount of fees and expenses incurred indirectly by the fund will vary.
(l) Recognition of net investment income by the fund may be affected by the timing of the declaration of dividends by the underlying affiliated funds in which the fund invests and for interim net investment income ratios, the actual annual net investment income ratio may differ. The ratios and per share amounts do not include net investment income of the underlying affiliated funds in which the fund invests.
(n) Not annualized.
(r) Certain expenses have been reduced without which performance would have been lower.
(s) From time to time the fund may receive proceeds from litigation settlements, without which performance would be lower.
(t) Total returns do not include any applicable sales charges.
(x) The net asset values and total returns have been calculated on net assets which include adjustments made in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles required at period end for financial reporting purposes.
(y) Portfolio turnover is less than 1%.

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

31


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

MFS GROWTH ALLOCATION FUND

The financial highlights table is intended to help you understand the fund’s financial performance for the semiannual period and the past 5 fiscal years. Certain information reflects financial results for a single fund share. The total returns in the table represent the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the fund share class (assuming reinvestment of all distributions) held for the entire period.

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
       5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
Class A                                 

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $19.84       $18.02       $19.10       $18.51       $16.43       $13.76  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                 
Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)      $0.06       $0.25 (c)      $0.18       $0.24       $0.21       $0.20  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.43       2.09       (0.42     0.64       2.11       2.73  

Total from investment operations

     $1.49       $2.34       $(0.24     $0.88       $2.32       $2.93  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                 
From net investment income      $—       $(0.22     $(0.28     $(0.29     $(0.24     $(0.26

From net realized gain

           (0.30     (0.56                  

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.52     $(0.84     $(0.29     $(0.24     $(0.26

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $21.33       $19.84       $18.02       $19.10       $18.51       $16.43  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     7.51 (n)      13.26 (c)      (1.13     4.82       14.19       21.44  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                          
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)      0.35 (a)      0.36 (c)      0.36       0.36       0.34       0.34  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     0.35 (a)      0.35 (c)      0.35       0.35       0.34       0.34  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     0.58 (a)      1.34 (c)      1.00       1.26       1.20       1.32  

Portfolio turnover

     0 (n)(y)      1       3       6       2       5  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $2,786,193       $2,758,650       $2,915,599       $2,899,650       $2,660,188       $1,962,669  

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
       5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
Class B                                 

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $19.64       $17.83       $18.89       $18.30       $16.25       $13.60  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                 
Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)      $(0.02     $0.11 (c)      $0.05       $0.10       $0.08       $0.09  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.42       2.08       (0.42     0.63       2.08       2.69  

Total from investment operations

     $1.40       $2.19       $(0.37     $0.73       $2.16       $2.78  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                 
From net investment income      $—       $(0.08     $(0.13     $(0.14     $(0.11     $(0.13

From net realized gain

           (0.30     (0.56                  

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.38     $(0.69     $(0.14     $(0.11     $(0.13

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $21.04       $19.64       $17.83       $18.89       $18.30       $16.25  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     7.13 (n)      12.43 (c)      (1.85     4.03       13.29       20.56  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                          
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)      1.10 (a)      1.11 (c)      1.11       1.11       1.09       1.09  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     1.10 (a)      1.10 (c)      1.10       1.10       1.08       1.09  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     (0.17 )(a)      0.58 (c)      0.26       0.52       0.45       0.57  

Portfolio turnover

     0 (n)(y)      1       3       6       2       5  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $233,886       $237,525       $258,674       $295,247       $324,788       $328,982  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

32


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

MFS GROWTH ALLOCATION FUND – continued

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
       5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
Class C                                 

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $19.44       $17.66       $18.73       $18.17       $16.15       $13.54  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                 
Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)      $(0.02     $0.11 (c)      $0.04       $0.09       $0.08       $0.08  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.40       2.05       (0.40     0.64       2.07       2.68  

Total from investment operations

     $1.38       $2.16       $(0.36     $0.73       $2.15       $2.76  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                 
From net investment income      $—       $(0.08     $(0.15     $(0.17     $(0.13     $(0.15

From net realized gain

           (0.30     (0.56                  

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.38     $(0.71     $(0.17     $(0.13     $(0.15

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $20.82       $19.44       $17.66       $18.73       $18.17       $16.15  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     7.10 (n)      12.44 (c)      (1.85     4.02       13.36       20.50  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                          
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)      1.10 (a)      1.11 (c)      1.11       1.11       1.09       1.09  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     1.10 (a)      1.10 (c)      1.10       1.10       1.09       1.09  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     (0.17 )(a)      0.59 (c)      0.25       0.52       0.45       0.56  

Portfolio turnover

     0 (n)(y)      1       3       6       2       5  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $929,559       $934,658       $1,001,877       $1,017,542       $921,289       $665,132  
    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
       5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
Class I                                 

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $20.02       $18.17       $19.26       $18.66       $16.55       $13.86  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                 
Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)      $0.09       $0.29 (c)      $0.22       $0.29       $0.25       $0.24  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.44       2.13       (0.42     0.65       2.14       2.74  

Total from investment operations

     $1.53       $2.42       $(0.20     $0.94       $2.39       $2.98  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                 
From net investment income      $—       $(0.27     $(0.33     $(0.34     $(0.28     $(0.29

From net realized gain

           (0.30     (0.56                  

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.57     $(0.89     $(0.34     $(0.28     $(0.29

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $21.55       $20.02       $18.17       $19.26       $18.66       $16.55  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     7.64 (n)      13.61 (c)      (0.93     5.09       14.51       21.70  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                          
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)      0.10 (a)      0.11 (c)      0.11       0.11       0.09       0.09  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     0.10 (a)      0.10 (c)      0.10       0.10       0.09       0.09  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     0.82 (a)      1.53 (c)      1.24       1.53       1.44       1.55  

Portfolio turnover

     0 (n)(y)      1       3       6       2       5  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $179,765       $151,865       $101,044       $107,598       $93,994       $65,738  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

33


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

MFS GROWTH ALLOCATION FUND – continued

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
       5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
Class R1                                 

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $19.07       $17.32       $18.38       $17.81       $15.83       $13.27  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                 
Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)      $(0.02     $0.11 (c)      $0.04       $0.08       $0.08       $0.09  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.37       2.02       (0.41     0.64       2.02       2.62  

Total from investment operations

     $1.35       $2.13       $(0.37     $0.72       $2.10       $2.71  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                 
From net investment income      $—       $(0.08     $(0.13     $(0.15     $(0.12     $(0.15

From net realized gain

           (0.30     (0.56                  

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.38     $(0.69     $(0.15     $(0.12     $(0.15

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $20.42       $19.07       $17.32       $18.38       $17.81       $15.83  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     7.08 (n)      12.48 (c)      (1.91     4.08       13.29       20.51  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                          
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)      1.10 (a)      1.11 (c)      1.11       1.11       1.09       1.09  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     1.10 (a)      1.10 (c)      1.10       1.10       1.09       1.09  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     (0.17 )(a)      0.60 (c)      0.25       0.46       0.46       0.62  

Portfolio turnover

     0 (n)(y)      1       3       6       2       5  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $31,997       $33,854       $38,652       $46,710       $43,907       $39,507  
    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
       5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
Class R2                                 

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $19.41       $17.63       $18.70       $18.12       $16.10       $13.49  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                 
Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)      $0.03       $0.20 (c)      $0.13       $0.19       $0.16       $0.16  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.40       2.06       (0.41     0.63       2.06       2.67  

Total from investment operations

     $1.43       $2.26       $(0.28     $0.82       $2.22       $2.83  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                 
From net investment income      $—       $(0.18     $(0.23     $(0.24     $(0.20     $(0.22

From net realized gain

           (0.30     (0.56                  

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.48     $(0.79     $(0.24     $(0.20     $(0.22

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $20.84       $19.41       $17.63       $18.70       $18.12       $16.10  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     7.37 (n)      13.03 (c)      (1.40     4.59       13.83       21.11  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                          
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)      0.60 (a)      0.61 (c)      0.61       0.61       0.59       0.59  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     0.60 (a)      0.60 (c)      0.60       0.60       0.59       0.59  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     0.33 (a)      1.10 (c)      0.76       1.01       0.93       1.06  

Portfolio turnover

     0 (n)(y)      1       3       6       2       5  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $174,332       $182,744       $196,320       $230,828       $243,497       $209,474  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

34


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

MFS GROWTH ALLOCATION FUND – continued

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
       5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
Class R3                                 

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $19.68       $17.87       $18.95       $18.36       $16.30       $13.66  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                 
Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)      $0.06       $0.25 (c)      $0.18       $0.23       $0.21       $0.20  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.41       2.08       (0.42     0.65       2.09       2.69  

Total from investment operations

     $1.47       $2.33       $(0.24     $0.88       $2.30       $2.89  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                 
From net investment income      $—       $(0.22     $(0.28     $(0.29     $(0.24     $(0.25

From net realized gain

           (0.30     (0.56                  

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.52     $(0.84     $(0.29     $(0.24     $(0.25

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $21.15       $19.68       $17.87       $18.95       $18.36       $16.30  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     7.47 (n)      13.32 (c)      (1.16     4.85       14.19       21.36  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                          
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)      0.35 (a)      0.36 (c)      0.36       0.36       0.34       0.34  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     0.35 (a)      0.35 (c)      0.35       0.35       0.34       0.34  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     0.58 (a)      1.34 (c)      1.02       1.24       1.21       1.32  

Portfolio turnover

     0 (n)(y)      1       3       6       2       5  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $242,366       $235,279       $242,669       $274,377       $260,773       $212,174  
    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
       5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
Class R4                                 

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $19.84       $18.01       $19.09       $18.50       $16.42       $13.76  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                 
Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)      $0.09       $0.29 (c)      $0.23       $0.29       $0.25       $0.23  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.42       2.11       (0.42     0.64       2.11       2.72  

Total from investment operations

     $1.51       $2.40       $(0.19     $0.93       $2.36       $2.95  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                 
From net investment income      $—       $(0.27     $(0.33     $(0.34     $(0.28     $(0.29

From net realized gain

           (0.30     (0.56                  

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.57     $(0.89     $(0.34     $(0.28     $(0.29

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $21.35       $19.84       $18.01       $19.09       $18.50       $16.42  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     7.61 (n)      13.62 (c)      (0.88     5.07       14.44       21.63  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                          
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)      0.10 (a)      0.11 (c)      0.10       0.11       0.09       0.09  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     0.10 (a)      0.10 (c)      0.10       0.10       0.09       0.09  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     0.83 (a)      1.55 (c)      1.27       1.57       1.43       1.50  

Portfolio turnover

     0 (n)(y)      1       3       6       2       5  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $211,645       $243,760       $210,248       $243,205       $141,113       $56,433  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

35


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

MFS GROWTH ALLOCATION FUND – continued

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
       5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
Class 529A                                 

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $19.70       $17.89       $18.97       $18.38       $16.32       $13.67  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                 
Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)      $0.05       $0.24 (c)      $0.17       $0.23       $0.20       $0.19  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.42       2.09       (0.42     0.64       2.09       2.71  

Total from investment operations

     $1.47       $2.33       $(0.25     $0.87       $2.29       $2.90  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                 
From net investment income      $—       $(0.22     $(0.27     $(0.28     $(0.23     $(0.25

From net realized gain

           (0.30     (0.56                  

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.52     $(0.83     $(0.28     $(0.23     $(0.25

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $21.17       $19.70       $17.89       $18.97       $18.38       $16.32  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     7.46 (n)      13.27 (c)      (1.19     4.81       14.11       21.37  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                          
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)      0.45 (a)      0.46 (c)      0.46       0.46       0.44       0.44  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     0.39 (a)      0.39 (c)      0.39       0.39       0.38       0.39  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     0.53 (a)      1.28 (c)      0.96       1.22       1.16       1.27  

Portfolio turnover

     0 (n)(y)      1       3       6       2       5  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $225,794       $211,825       $195,856       $201,475       $193,601       $164,807  
    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
       5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
Class 529B                                 

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $19.46       $17.67       $18.72       $18.13       $16.08       $13.46  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                 
Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)      $(0.02     $0.10 (c)      $0.04       $0.09       $0.07       $0.08  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.40       2.05       (0.41     0.63       2.07       2.66  

Total from investment operations

     $1.38       $2.15       $(0.37     $0.72       $2.14       $2.74  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                 
From net investment income      $—       $(0.06     $(0.12     $(0.13     $(0.09     $(0.12

From net realized gain

           (0.30     (0.56                  

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.36     $(0.68     $(0.13     $(0.09     $(0.12

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $20.84       $19.46       $17.67       $18.72       $18.13       $16.08  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     7.09 (n)      12.36 (c)      (1.91     3.98       13.31       20.44  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                          
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)      1.20 (a)      1.21 (c)      1.21       1.21       1.19       1.19  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     1.15 (a)      1.15 (c)      1.14       1.14       1.13       1.14  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     (0.22 )(a)      0.53 (c)      0.24       0.49       0.41       0.52  

Portfolio turnover

     0 (n)(y)      1       3       6       2       5  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $12,466       $12,439       $13,405       $17,070       $21,506       $25,286  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

36


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

MFS GROWTH ALLOCATION FUND – continued

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
       5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
Class 529C                                 

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $19.21       $17.46       $18.53       $17.97       $15.98       $13.39  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                 
Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)      $(0.02     $0.10 (c)      $0.04       $0.09       $0.07       $0.08  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.38       2.03       (0.41     0.63       2.03       2.65  

Total from investment operations

     $1.36       $2.13       $(0.37     $0.72       $2.10       $2.73  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                 
From net investment income      $—       $(0.08     $(0.14     $(0.16     $(0.11     $(0.14

From net realized gain

           (0.30     (0.56                  

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.38     $(0.70     $(0.16     $(0.11     $(0.14

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $20.57       $19.21       $17.46       $18.53       $17.97       $15.98  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     7.08 (n)      12.38 (c)      (1.92     4.04       13.20       20.51  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                          
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)      1.20 (a)      1.21 (c)      1.21       1.21       1.19       1.19  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     1.15 (a)      1.15 (c)      1.15       1.15       1.13       1.14  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     (0.22 )(a)      0.53 (c)      0.21       0.48       0.39       0.52  

Portfolio turnover

     0 (n)(y)      1       3       6       2       5  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $76,124       $74,292       $71,170       $75,459       $69,115       $57,004  
(a) Annualized.
(c) Amount reflects a one-time reimbursement of expenses by the custodian (or former custodian) without which net investment income and performance would be lower and expenses would be higher.
(d) Per share data is based on average shares outstanding.
(f) Ratios do not reflect reductions from fees paid indirectly, if applicable.
(h) In addition to the fees and expenses which the fund bears directly, the fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of the underlying affiliated funds in which the fund invests. Accordingly, the expense ratio for the fund reflects only those fees and expenses borne directly by the fund. Because the underlying affiliated funds have varied expense and fee levels and the fund may own different proportions of the underlying affiliated funds at different times, the amount of fees and expenses incurred indirectly by the fund will vary.
(l) Recognition of net investment income by the fund may be affected by the timing of the declaration of dividends by the underlying affiliated funds in which the fund invests and for interim net investment income ratios, the actual annual net investment income ratio may differ. The ratios and per share amounts do not include net investment income of the underlying affiliated funds in which the fund invests.
(n) Not annualized.
(r) Certain expenses have been reduced without which performance would have been lower.
(s) From time to time the fund may receive proceeds from litigation settlements, without which performance would be lower.
(t) Total returns do not include any applicable sales charges.
(x) The net asset values and total returns have been calculated on net assets which include adjustments made in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles required at period end for financial reporting purposes.
(y) Portfolio turnover is less than 1%.

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

37


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

MFS AGGRESSIVE GROWTH ALLOCATION FUND

The financial highlights table is intended to help you understand the fund’s financial performance for the semiannual period and the past 5 fiscal years. Certain information reflects financial results for a single fund share. The total returns in the table represent the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the fund share class (assuming reinvestment of all distributions) held for the entire period.

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
       5/31/17     5/31/16      5/31/15      5/31/14      5/31/13  
Class A                                    

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $21.80       $19.47       $20.78        $19.87        $17.17        $13.79  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                    
Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)      $(0.01     $0.20 (c)      $0.12        $0.16        $0.13        $0.12  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.99       2.70       (0.44      1.00        2.76        3.44  

Total from investment operations

     $1.98       $2.90       $(0.32      $1.16        $2.89        $3.56  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                    
From net investment income      $—       $(0.20     $(0.31      $(0.25      $(0.19      $(0.18

From net realized gain

           (0.37     (0.68                     

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.57     $(0.99      $(0.25      $(0.19      $(0.18

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $23.78       $21.80       $19.47        $20.78        $19.87        $17.17  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     9.08 (n)      15.22 (c)      (1.45      5.89        16.85        25.99  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                     
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)      0.39 (a)      0.40 (c)      0.40        0.40        0.37        0.38  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     0.38 (a)      0.38 (c)      0.38        0.38        0.37        0.37  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     (0.12 )(a)      0.99 (c)      0.63        0.80        0.70        0.80  

Portfolio turnover

     1 (n)      2       5        6        4        9  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $807,140       $778,995       $785,986        $778,633        $742,788        $539,351  
    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
       5/31/17     5/31/16      5/31/15      5/31/14      5/31/13  
Class B                                    

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $21.46       $19.16       $20.46        $19.55        $16.90        $13.56  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                    
Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)      $(0.10     $0.05 (c)      $(0.02      $0.01        $(0.01      $0.01  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.96       2.66       (0.46      0.99        2.70        3.39  

Total from investment operations

     $1.86       $2.71       $(0.48      $1.00        $2.69        $3.40  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                    
From net investment income      $—       $(0.04     $(0.14      $(0.09      $(0.04      $(0.06

From net realized gain

           (0.37     (0.68                     

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.41     $(0.82      $(0.09      $(0.04      $(0.06

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $23.32       $21.46       $19.16        $20.46        $19.55        $16.90  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     8.67 (n)      14.39 (c)      (2.26      5.12        15.93        25.11  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                     
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)      1.14 (a)      1.15 (c)      1.15        1.14        1.12        1.13  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     1.13 (a)      1.13 (c)      1.13        1.13        1.12        1.13  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     (0.87 )(a)      0.23 (c)      (0.11      0.07        (0.03      0.05  

Portfolio turnover

     1 (n)      2       5        6        4        9  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $65,579       $65,287       $71,184        $85,310        $96,456        $100,340  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

38


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

MFS AGGRESSIVE GROWTH ALLOCATION FUND – continued

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
       5/31/17     5/31/16      5/31/15      5/31/14      5/31/13  
Class C                                    

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $21.26       $18.99       $20.30        $19.43        $16.81        $13.51  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                    
Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)      $(0.10     $0.05 (c)      $(0.02      $0.01        $(0.01      $0.01  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.94       2.64       (0.45      0.97        2.70        3.37  

Total from investment operations

     $1.84       $2.69       $(0.47      $0.98        $2.69        $3.38  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                    
From net investment income      $—       $(0.05     $(0.16      $(0.11      $(0.07      $(0.08

From net realized gain

           (0.37     (0.68                     

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.42     $(0.84      $(0.11      $(0.07      $(0.08

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $23.10       $21.26       $18.99        $20.30        $19.43        $16.81  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     8.65 (n)      14.42 (c)      (2.24      5.08        16.01        25.05  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                     
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)      1.14 (a)      1.15 (c)      1.15        1.15        1.12        1.12  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     1.13 (a)      1.13 (c)      1.13        1.13        1.12        1.12  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     (0.87 )(a)      0.24 (c)      (0.12      0.07        (0.04      0.04  

Portfolio turnover

     1 (n)      2       5        6        4        9  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $276,856       $274,450       $282,953        $294,608        $265,993        $195,777  
    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
       5/31/17     5/31/16      5/31/15      5/31/14      5/31/13  
Class I                                    

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $22.14       $19.77       $21.09        $20.16        $17.41        $13.98  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                    
Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)      $0.01       $0.25 (c)      $0.18        $0.22        $0.18        $0.17  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     2.03       2.74       (0.46      1.01        2.80        3.48  

Total from investment operations

     $2.04       $2.99       $(0.28      $1.23        $2.98        $3.65  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                    
From net investment income      $—       $(0.25     $(0.36      $(0.30      $(0.23      $(0.22

From net realized gain

           (0.37     (0.68                     

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.62     $(1.04      $(0.30      $(0.23      $(0.22

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $24.18       $22.14       $19.77        $21.09        $20.16        $17.41  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     9.21 (n)      15.49 (c)      (1.23      6.16        17.15        26.29  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                     
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)      0.14 (a)      0.15 (c)      0.15        0.15        0.12        0.12  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     0.13 (a)      0.13 (c)      0.13        0.13        0.12        0.12  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     0.12 (a)      1.19 (c)      0.89        1.06        0.94        1.05  

Portfolio turnover

     1 (n)      2       5        6        4        9  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $129,985       $112,479       $62,542        $64,751        $58,061        $45,150  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

39


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

MFS AGGRESSIVE GROWTH ALLOCATION FUND – continued

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
       5/31/17     5/31/16      5/31/15      5/31/14     5/31/13  
Class R1                                   

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $20.97       $18.74       $20.03        $19.14        $16.55       $13.28  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                   
Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)      $(0.09     $0.05 (c)      $(0.02      $(0.02      $(0.00 )(w)      $0.01  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.90       2.60       (0.44      0.99        2.64       3.31  

Total from investment operations

     $1.81       $2.65       $(0.46      $0.97        $2.64       $3.32  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                   
From net investment income      $—       $(0.05     $(0.15      $(0.08      $(0.05     $(0.05

From net realized gain

           (0.37     (0.68                    

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.42     $(0.83      $(0.08      $(0.05     $(0.05

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $22.78       $20.97       $18.74        $20.03        $19.14       $16.55  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     8.63 (n)      14.42 (c)      (2.21      5.08        15.95       25.06  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                    
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)      1.14 (a)      1.15 (c)      1.15        1.15        1.12       1.13  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     1.13 (a)      1.13 (c)      1.13        1.13        1.12       1.13  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     (0.87 )(a)      0.27 (c)      (0.12      (0.11      (0.02     0.05  

Portfolio turnover

     1 (n)      2       5        6        4       9  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $16,447       $16,835       $17,908        $20,596        $18,849       $18,793  
    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
       5/31/17     5/31/16      5/31/15      5/31/14     5/31/13  
Class R2                                   

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $21.36       $19.08       $20.38        $19.48        $16.84       $13.53  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                   
Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)      $(0.04     $0.15 (c)      $0.08        $0.10        $0.08       $0.09  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.94       2.64       (0.45      0.99        2.70       3.37  

Total from investment operations

     $1.90       $2.79       $(0.37      $1.09        $2.78       $3.46  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                   
From net investment income      $—       $(0.14     $(0.25      $(0.19      $(0.14     $(0.15

From net realized gain

           (0.37     (0.68                    

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.51     $(0.93      $(0.19      $(0.14     $(0.15

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $23.26       $21.36       $19.08        $20.38        $19.48       $16.84  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     8.90 (n)      14.96 (c)      (1.69      5.61        16.54       25.66  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                    
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)      0.64 (a)      0.65 (c)      0.65        0.64        0.62       0.63  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     0.63 (a)      0.63 (c)      0.63        0.63        0.62       0.63  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     (0.37 )(a)      0.76 (c)      0.40        0.51        0.46       0.56  

Portfolio turnover

     1 (n)      2       5        6        4       9  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $76,355       $77,558       $82,546        $94,097        $119,055       $106,825  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

40


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

MFS AGGRESSIVE GROWTH ALLOCATION FUND – continued

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
       5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
Class R3                                 

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $21.63       $19.31       $20.62       $19.72       $17.05       $13.69  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                 
Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)      $(0.01     $0.19 (c)      $0.12       $0.16       $0.13       $0.12  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.97       2.69       (0.45     0.99       2.73       3.42  

Total from investment operations

     $1.96       $2.88       $(0.33     $1.15       $2.86       $3.54  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                 
From net investment income      $—       $(0.19     $(0.30     $(0.25     $(0.19     $(0.18

From net realized gain

           (0.37     (0.68                  

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.56     $(0.98     $(0.25     $(0.19     $(0.18

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $23.59       $21.63       $19.31       $20.62       $19.72       $17.05  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     9.06 (n)      15.28 (c)      (1.47     5.89       16.80       26.03  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                  
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)      0.39 (a)      0.40 (c)      0.40       0.40       0.37       0.38  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     0.38 (a)      0.38 (c)      0.38       0.38       0.37       0.38  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     (0.12 )(a)      0.94 (c)      0.65       0.82       0.71       0.79  

Portfolio turnover

     1 (n)      2       5       6       4       9  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $149,135       $142,459       $158,309       $174,355       $164,977       $128,498  
    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
       5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
Class R4                                 

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $21.87       $19.53       $20.85       $19.93       $17.22       $13.81  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                 
Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)      $0.01       $0.25 (c)      $0.16       $0.24       $0.19       $0.14  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     2.00       2.71       (0.44     0.98       2.75       3.49  

Total from investment operations

     $2.01       $2.96       $(0.28     $1.22       $2.94       $3.63  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                 
From net investment income      $—       $(0.25     $(0.36     $(0.30     $(0.23     $(0.22

From net realized gain

           (0.37     (0.68                  

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.62     $(1.04     $(0.30     $(0.23     $(0.22

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $23.88       $21.87       $19.53       $20.85       $19.93       $17.22  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     9.19 (n)      15.53 (c)      (1.24     6.18       17.11       26.47  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                  
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)      0.14 (a)      0.15 (c)      0.14       0.15       0.12       0.13  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     0.13 (a)      0.13 (c)      0.13       0.13       0.12       0.13  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     0.13 (a)      1.23 (c)      0.80       1.21       1.00       0.88  

Portfolio turnover

     1 (n)      2       5       6       4       9  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $77,835       $72,011       $60,355       $79,509       $41,968       $26,339  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

41


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

MFS AGGRESSIVE GROWTH ALLOCATION FUND – continued

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
       5/31/17     5/31/16      5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
Class 529A                                  

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $21.66       $19.34       $20.66        $19.76       $17.08       $13.72  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                  
Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)      $(0.02     $0.19 (c)      $0.11        $0.16       $0.13       $0.12  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.98       2.69       (0.45      0.98       2.73       3.42  

Total from investment operations

     $1.96       $2.88       $(0.34      $1.14       $2.86       $3.54  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                  
From net investment income      $—       $(0.19     $(0.30      $(0.24     $(0.18     $(0.18

From net realized gain

           (0.37     (0.68                   

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.56     $(0.98      $(0.24     $(0.18     $(0.18

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $23.62       $21.66       $19.34        $20.66       $19.76       $17.08  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     9.05 (n)      15.23 (c)      (1.54      5.84       16.78       25.93  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                   
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)      0.49 (a)      0.50 (c)      0.50        0.50       0.47       0.48  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     0.42 (a)      0.42 (c)      0.42        0.42       0.41       0.42  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     (0.16 )(a)      0.93 (c)      0.59        0.78       0.68       0.75  

Portfolio turnover

     1 (n)      2       5        6       4       9  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $135,457       $129,294       $128,357        $127,112       $117,316       $94,653  
    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
       5/31/17     5/31/16      5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
Class 529B                                  

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $21.22       $18.94       $20.23        $19.34       $16.72       $13.43  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                  
Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)      $(0.10     $0.04 (c)      $(0.03      $0.00 (w)      $(0.01     $(0.00 )(w) 

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.93       2.62       (0.44      0.97       2.67       3.34  

Total from investment operations

     $1.83       $2.66       $(0.47      $0.97       $2.66       $3.34  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                  
From net investment income      $—       $(0.01     $(0.14      $(0.08     $(0.04     $(0.05

From net realized gain

           (0.37     (0.68                   

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.38     $(0.82      $(0.08     $(0.04     $(0.05

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $23.05       $21.22       $18.94        $20.23       $19.34       $16.72  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     8.62 (n)      14.29 (c)      (2.23      5.05       15.91       24.93  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                   
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)      1.24 (a)      1.25 (c)      1.25        1.24       1.22       1.23  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     1.18 (a)      1.18 (c)      1.18        1.18       1.17       1.17  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     (0.92 )(a)      0.18 (c)      (0.15      0.02       (0.07     (0.01

Portfolio turnover

     1 (n)      2       5        6       4       9  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $5,150       $5,357       $6,868        $8,151       $8,759       $8,832  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

42


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

MFS AGGRESSIVE GROWTH ALLOCATION FUND – continued

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
       5/31/17     5/31/16      5/31/15      5/31/14      5/31/13  
Class 529C                                    

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $20.97       $18.73       $20.04        $19.18        $16.60        $13.34  
Income (loss) from investment operations                                                    
Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)      $(0.10     $0.04 (c)      $(0.03      $0.01        $(0.02      $(0.00 )(w) 

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     1.91       2.60       (0.44      0.96        2.66        3.33  

Total from investment operations

     $1.81       $2.64       $(0.47      $0.97        $2.64        $3.33  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                                                    
From net investment income      $—       $(0.03     $(0.16      $(0.11      $(0.06      $(0.07

From net realized gain

           (0.37     (0.68                     

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.40     $(0.84      $(0.11      $(0.06      $(0.07

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $22.78       $20.97       $18.73        $20.04        $19.18        $16.60  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     8.63 (n)      14.37 (c)      (2.27      5.06        15.90        25.02  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets) and Supplemental data:                                     
Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)      1.24 (a)      1.25 (c)      1.25        1.25        1.22        1.22  

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     1.17 (a)      1.17 (c)      1.17        1.17        1.16        1.17  

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     (0.91 )(a)      0.19 (c)      (0.15      0.03        (0.08      (0.01

Portfolio turnover

     1 (n)      2       5        6        4        9  

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $35,115       $34,237       $37,772        $37,784        $35,650        $28,527  
(a) Annualized.
(c) Amount reflects a one-time reimbursement of expenses by the custodian (or former custodian) without which net investment income and performance would be lower and expenses would be higher.
(d) Per share data is based on average shares outstanding.
(f) Ratios do not reflect reductions from fees paid indirectly, if applicable.
(h) In addition to the fees and expenses which the fund bears directly, the fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of the underlying affiliated funds in which the fund invests. Accordingly, the expense ratio for the fund reflects only those fees and expenses borne directly by the fund. Because the underlying affiliated funds have varied expense and fee levels and the fund may own different proportions of the underlying affiliated funds at different times, the amount of fees and expenses incurred indirectly by the fund will vary.
(l) Recognition of net investment income by the fund may be affected by the timing of the declaration of dividends by the underlying affiliated funds in which the fund invests and for interim net investment income ratios, the actual annual net investment income ratio may differ. The ratios and per share amounts do not include net investment income of the underlying affiliated funds in which the fund invests.
(n) Not annualized.
(r) Certain expenses have been reduced without which performance would have been lower.
(s) From time to time the fund may receive proceeds from litigation settlements, without which performance would be lower.
(t) Total returns do not include any applicable sales charges.
(w) Per share amount was less than $0.01.
(x) The net asset values and total returns have been calculated on net assets which include adjustments made in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles required at period end for financial reporting purposes.

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

43


Table of Contents

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(unaudited)

 

(1)   Business and Organization

MFS Conservative Allocation Fund, MFS Moderate Allocation Fund, MFS Growth Allocation Fund, and MFS Aggressive Growth Allocation Fund (the funds) are each a diversified series of MFS Series Trust X (the trust). The trust is organized as a Massachusetts business trust and is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, as an open-end management investment company.

Each fund is an investment company and accordingly follows the investment company accounting and reporting guidance of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification Topic 946 Financial Services – Investment Companies.

 

(2)   Significant Accounting Policies

General – The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of increases and decreases in net assets from operations during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. In the preparation of these financial statements, management has evaluated subsequent events occurring after the date of each fund’s Statement of Assets and Liabilities through the date that the financial statements were issued.

Each fund is a “fund-of-funds”, which invests the majority of its assets in other MFS mutual funds (hereafter referred to as

“underlying affiliated funds” or “underlying funds”), which may have different fiscal year ends than the funds. The underlying funds, in turn, may engage in a number of investment techniques and practices, which involve certain risks. Certain underlying funds invest their portfolio in high-yield securities rated below investment grade. Investments in high-yield securities involve greater degrees of credit and market risk than investments in higher-rated securities and tend to be more sensitive to economic conditions. Certain underlying funds invest a significant portion of their assets in asset-backed and/or mortgage-backed securities. The value of these securities may depend, in part, on the issuer’s or borrower’s credit quality or ability to pay principal and interest when due and that value may fall if an issuer or borrower defaults on its obligation to pay principal or interest or if the instrument’s credit rating is downgraded by a credit rating agency. U.S. Government securities not supported as to the payment of principal or interest by the U.S. Treasury, such as those issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks, are subject to greater credit risk than are U.S. Government securities supported by the U.S. Treasury, such as those issued by Ginnie Mae. Certain underlying funds invest in commodity-linked structured notes as part of their principal investment strategy. These structured notes are subject to prepayment, basis and counterparty risks. Certain underlying funds invest in foreign securities, including securities of emerging market issuers. Investments in foreign securities are vulnerable to the effects of changes in the relative values of the local currency and the U.S. dollar and to the effects of changes in each country’s legal, political, and economic environment. The markets of emerging markets countries are generally more volatile than the markets of developed countries with more mature economies. All of the risks of investing in foreign securities previously described are heightened when investing in emerging markets countries.

The accounting policies of the underlying funds in which each fund invests are outlined in the underlying funds’ shareholder reports, which are available without charge by calling 1-800-225-2606, at mfs.com and on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) web site at http://www.sec.gov or at the SEC’s public reference room in Washington, D.C. The underlying funds’ shareholder reports are not covered by this report.

In October 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released its Final Rule on Investment Company Reporting Modernization (the “Rule”). The Rule, which introduced two new regulatory reporting forms for investment companies – Form N-PORT and Form N-CEN – also contained amendments to Regulation S-X which impact financial statement presentation, particularly the presentation of derivative investments, for all reporting periods ending after August 1, 2017. Each fund has adopted the Rule’s Regulation S-X amendments and believes that the funds’ financial statements are in compliance with those amendments.

Investment ValuationsOpen-end investment companies (underlying funds) are generally valued at their net asset value per share. The investments of underlying funds managed by the adviser are valued as described below. For purposes of this policy disclosure, “fund” also refers to the underlying funds in which the fund-of-funds invests.

Equity securities, including restricted equity securities and equity securities held short, are generally valued at the last sale or official closing price on their primary market or exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Equity securities, for which there were no sales reported that day, are generally valued at the last quoted daily bid quotation on their primary market or exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Equity securities held short, for which there were no sales reported for that day, are generally valued at the last quoted daily ask quotation on their primary market or exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Debt instruments and floating rate loans, including restricted debt instruments, are generally valued at an evaluated or composite bid as provided by a third-party pricing service. Short-term instruments with a maturity at issuance of 60 days or less may be valued at amortized cost, which approximates market value. Exchange-traded options are generally valued at the last sale or official closing price on their primary exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Exchange-traded options for which there

 

44


Table of Contents

Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

were no sales reported that day are generally valued at the last daily bid quotation on their primary exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Options not traded on an exchange are generally valued at a broker/dealer bid quotation. Foreign currency options are generally valued at valuations provided by a third-party pricing service. Futures contracts are generally valued at last posted settlement price on their primary exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Futures contracts for which there were no trades that day for a particular position are generally valued at the closing bid quotation on their primary exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Forward foreign currency exchange contracts are generally valued at the mean of bid and asked prices for the time period interpolated from rates provided by a third-party pricing service for proximate time periods. Swap agreements are generally valued at valuations provided by a third-party pricing service, which for cleared swaps includes an evaluation of any trading activity at the clearinghouses. Open-end investment companies are generally valued at net asset value per share. Securities and other assets, including commodity-linked structured notes, generally valued on the basis of information from a third-party pricing service may also be valued at a broker/dealer bid quotation. Values obtained from third-party pricing services can utilize both transaction data and market information such as yield, quality, coupon rate, maturity, type of issue, trading characteristics, and other market data. The values of foreign securities and other assets and liabilities expressed in foreign currencies are converted to U.S. dollars using the mean of bid and asked prices for rates provided by a third-party pricing service.

The Board of Trustees has delegated primary responsibility for determining or causing to be determined the value of the fund’s investments (including any fair valuation) to the adviser pursuant to valuation policies and procedures approved by the Board. If the adviser determines that reliable market quotations are not readily available, investments are valued at fair value as determined in good faith by the adviser in accordance with such procedures under the oversight of the Board of Trustees. Under the fund’s valuation policies and procedures, market quotations are not considered to be readily available for most types of debt instruments and floating rate loans and many types of derivatives. These investments are generally valued at fair value based on information from third-party pricing services. In addition, investments may be valued at fair value if the adviser determines that an investment’s value has been materially affected by events occurring after the close of the exchange or market on which the investment is principally traded (such as foreign exchange or market) and prior to the determination of the fund’s net asset value, or after the halting of trading of a specific security where trading does not resume prior to the close of the exchange or market on which the security is principally traded. Events that occur on a frequent basis after foreign markets close (such as developments in foreign markets and significant movements in the U.S. markets) and prior to the determination of the fund’s net asset value may be deemed to have a material effect on the value of securities traded in foreign markets. Accordingly, the fund’s foreign equity securities may often be valued at fair value. The adviser generally relies on third-party pricing services or other information (such as the correlation with price movements of similar securities in the same or other markets; the type, cost and investment characteristics of the security; the business and financial condition of the issuer; and trading and other market data) to assist in determining whether to fair value and at what value to fair value an investment. The value of an investment for purposes of calculating the fund’s net asset value can differ depending on the source and method used to determine value. When fair valuation is used, the value of an investment used to determine the fund’s net asset value may differ from quoted or published prices for the same investment. There can be no assurance that the fund could obtain the fair value assigned to an investment if it were to sell the investment at the same time at which the fund determines its net asset value per share.

Various inputs are used in determining the value of each fund’s assets or liabilities. These inputs are categorized into three broad levels. In certain cases, the inputs used to measure fair value may fall into different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In such cases, an investment’s level within the fair value hierarchy is based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement. Each fund’s assessment of the significance of a particular input to the fair value measurement in its entirety requires judgment, and considers factors specific to the investment. Level 1 includes unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. Level 2 includes other significant observable market-based inputs (including quoted prices for similar securities, interest rates, prepayment speed, and credit risk). Level 3 includes unobservable inputs, which may include the adviser’s own assumptions in determining the fair value of investments. The following is a summary of the levels used as of November 30, 2017 in valuing each fund’s assets or liabilities:

 

     Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  

MFS Conservative Allocation Fund

                           
Financial Instruments                            
Mutual Funds      $2,980,808,280        $—        $—        $2,980,808,280  

MFS Moderate Allocation Fund

                           
Financial Instruments                            
Mutual Funds      $5,879,061,023        $—        $—        $5,879,061,023  

MFS Growth Allocation Fund

                           
Financial Instruments                            
Mutual Funds      $5,104,133,788        $—        $—        $5,104,133,788  

 

45


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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

     Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  

MFS Aggressive Growth Allocation Fund

                           
Financial Instruments                            
Mutual Funds      $1,775,390,236        $—        $—        $1,775,390,236  

For further information regarding security characteristics, see the Portfolio of Investments. Please refer to the underlying funds’ shareholder reports for further information regarding the levels used in valuing the underlying funds’ assets or liabilities.

Derivatives – Each fund does not invest in derivatives directly. Each fund does invest in underlying funds that may use derivatives for different purposes, primarily to increase or decrease exposure to a particular market or segment of the market, or security, to increase or decrease interest rate or currency exposure, or as alternatives to direct investments. Derivatives are used for hedging or non-hedging purposes. While hedging can reduce or eliminate losses, it can also reduce or eliminate gains. When the underlying funds use derivatives as an investment to increase market exposure, or for hedging purposes, gains and losses from derivative instruments may be substantially greater than the derivative’s original cost.

Indemnifications – Under each fund’s organizational documents, its officers and Trustees may be indemnified against certain liabilities and expenses arising out of the performance of their duties to each fund. Additionally, in the normal course of business, each fund enters into agreements with service providers that may contain indemnification clauses. Each fund’s maximum exposure under these agreements is unknown as this would involve future claims that may be made against each fund that have not yet occurred.

Investment Transactions and Income – Investment transactions are recorded on the trade date. Interest income is recorded on the accrual basis. All premium and discount is amortized or accreted for financial statement purposes in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Distributions of income and capital gains from the underlying funds are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Recognition of net investment income by each fund is affected by the timing of the declaration of distributions by the underlying funds in which each fund invests. In determining the net gain or loss on securities sold, the cost of securities is determined on the identified cost basis.

Each fund and/or the underlying funds may receive proceeds from litigation settlements. Any proceeds received from litigation involving portfolio holdings are reflected in the Statements of Operations in realized gain/loss if the security has been disposed of by the fund or in unrealized gain/loss if the security is still held by the fund. Any other proceeds from litigation not related to portfolio holdings are reflected as other income in the Statements of Operations.

Tax Matters and Distributions – Each fund intends to qualify as a regulated investment company, as defined under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code, and to distribute all of its taxable income, including realized capital gains. As a result, no provision for federal income tax is required. Each fund’s federal tax returns, when filed, will remain subject to examination by the Internal Revenue Service for a three year period. Management has analyzed each fund’s tax positions taken on federal and state tax returns for all open tax years and does not believe that there are any uncertain tax positions that require recognition of a tax liability.

Distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Income and capital gain distributions are determined in accordance with income tax regulations, which may differ from U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Certain capital accounts in the financial statements are periodically adjusted for permanent differences in order to reflect their tax character. These adjustments have no impact on net assets or net asset value per share. Temporary differences which arise from recognizing certain items of income, expense, gain or loss in different periods for financial statement and tax purposes will reverse at some time in the future. Distributions in excess of net investment income or net realized gains are temporary overdistributions for financial statement purposes resulting from differences in the recognition or classification of income or distributions for financial statement and tax purposes.

Book/tax differences primarily relate to wash sale loss deferrals and treating a portion of the proceeds from redemptions as a distribution for tax purposes.

The tax character of distributions made during the current period will be determined at fiscal year end. The tax character of distributions declared to shareholders for the last fiscal year is as follows:

 

Year ended 5/31/17    MFS Conservative
Allocation Fund
     MFS Moderate
Allocation Fund
     MFS Growth
Allocation Fund
     MFS Aggressive Growth
Allocation Fund
 
Ordinary income (including any short-term capital gains)      $47,474,231        $78,543,458        $52,365,053        $13,686,589  
Long-term capital gains      20,970,420        72,886,493        77,841,596        29,346,293  
Total distributions      $68,444,651        $151,429,951        $130,206,649        $43,032,882  

 

46


Table of Contents

Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

The federal tax cost and the tax basis components of distributable earnings were as follows:

 

As of 11/30/17    MFS Conservative
Allocation Fund
     MFS Moderate
Allocation Fund
     MFS Growth
Allocation Fund
     MFS Aggressive Growth
Allocation Fund
 
Cost of investments      $2,397,143,317        $4,316,112,411        $3,295,126,947        $996,208,610  
Gross appreciation      604,583,611        1,658,788,639        1,886,566,944        802,443,263  
Gross depreciation      (20,918,648      (95,840,027      (77,560,103      (23,261,637
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation)      $583,664,963        $1,562,948,612        $1,809,006,841        $779,181,626  
As of 5/31/17                            
Undistributed ordinary income      13,660,198        23,773,997        18,436,585        2,255,617  
Undistributed long-term capital gain      35,515,340        74,421,636        77,312,269        28,745,798  
Late year ordinary loss deferral                           (1,649,480
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation)      521,717,515        1,330,430,701        1,531,900,732        646,179,682  

The aggregate cost above includes prior fiscal year end tax adjustments, if applicable.

Multiple Classes of Shares of Beneficial Interest – Each fund offers multiple classes of shares, which differ in their respective distribution, service, and program manager fees. Each fund’s income, realized and unrealized gain (loss), and common expenses are allocated to shareholders based on the daily net assets of each class. Dividends are declared separately for each class. Differences in per share dividend rates are generally due to differences in separate class expenses. Class B and Class 529B shares will convert to Class A and Class 529A shares, respectively, approximately eight years after purchase. Effective April 23, 2018, Class C and Class 529C shares will convert to Class A and Class 529A shares, respectively, approximately ten years after purchase. Any shares with an original purchase date of April 30, 2008 or earlier will automatically convert to Class A and Class 529A shares on April 23, 2018. Each fund’s distributions declared to shareholders as reported in the Statements of Changes in Net Assets are presented by class as follows:

From net investment income

 

   

MFS Conservative
Allocation Fund

 

MFS Moderate
Allocation Fund

 

MFS Growth
Allocation Fund

 

MFS Aggressive Growth
Allocation Fund

   

Six Months
Ended
11/30/17

 

Year Ended
5/31/17

 

Six Months
Ended
11/30/17

 

Year Ended
5/31/17

 

Six Months
Ended
11/30/17

 

Year Ended
5/31/17

 

Six Months
Ended
11/30/17

 

Year Ended
5/31/17

Class A   $7,188,168   $24,033,259   $13,922,129   $45,024,210   $—   $32,638,234   $—   $7,156,960
Class B   231,677   1,402,669   254,242   2,212,721     985,823     130,195
Class C   1,198,017   7,001,325   1,038,374   9,272,704     4,421,768     692,383
Class I   1,862,334   4,515,899   1,271,531   2,638,988     1,676,074     1,164,926
Class R1   25,364   163,203   30,408   253,687     157,777     48,138
Class R2   375,829   1,445,957   657,198   2,434,788     1,781,459     548,109
Class R3   828,393   2,641,167   1,626,273   4,967,103     2,804,641     1,318,189
Class R4   918,553   2,473,515   1,540,573   4,319,121     3,248,702     788,078
Class 529A   604,701   1,653,561   943,655   2,791,412     2,239,534     1,093,104
Class 529B   12,081   61,797   9,941   106,797     41,396     3,105
Class 529C   82,944   431,689   71,159   575,741     305,796     57,076
Total   $13,328,061   $45,824,041   $21,365,483   $74,597,272   $—   $50,301,204   $—   $13,000,263

From net realized gain

 

   

MFS Conservative
Allocation Fund

 

MFS Moderate
Allocation Fund

 

MFS Growth
Allocation Fund

 

MFS Aggressive Growth
Allocation Fund

   

Six Months
Ended
11/30/17

 

Year Ended
5/31/17

 

Six Months
Ended
11/30/17

 

Year Ended
5/31/17

 

Six Months
Ended
11/30/17

 

Year Ended
5/31/17

 

Six Months
Ended
11/30/17

 

Year Ended
5/31/17

Class A   $—   $10,413,124   $—   $39,994,979   $—   $43,439,038   $—   $13,541,544
Class B     1,086,420     3,921,923     3,852,491     1,235,473
Class C     5,337,616     16,328,376     15,550,383     5,167,281
Class I     1,736,111     2,001,161     1,833,948     1,742,417
Class R1     121,756     440,590     587,469     337,109
Class R2     738,747     2,646,297     2,996,921     1,421,089
Class R3     1,112,000     4,399,606     3,721,910     2,535,442
Class R4     948,566     3,334,327     3,554,707     1,178,754
Class 529A     740,543     2,567,927     3,053,835     2,148,103
Class 529B     49,042     196,335     189,836     101,561
Class 529C     336,685     1,001,158     1,124,907     623,846
Total   $—   $22,620,610   $—   $76,832,679   $—   $79,905,445   $—   $30,032,619

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

 

(3)   Transactions with Affiliates

Investment Adviser – Each fund has an investment advisory agreement with MFS to provide overall investment management and related administrative services and facilities to the funds. MFS receives no compensation under this agreement; however MFS receives management fees from the underlying MFS funds.

The investment adviser has agreed in writing to pay a portion of the MFS Growth Allocation Fund’s operating expenses, excluding distribution and service fees, program manager fees, interest, taxes, extraordinary expenses, brokerage and transaction costs, and investment-related expenses including fees and expenses associated with investments in investment companies and other similar investment vehicles, such that operating expenses do not exceed 0.10% annually of the fund’s average daily net assets. This written agreement will continue until modified by the fund’s Board of Trustees, but such agreement will continue at least until September 30, 2018. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, this reduction amounted to $3,528 and is included in the reduction of total expenses in the Statements of Operations.

The investment adviser has agreed in writing to pay a portion of the MFS Aggressive Growth Allocation Fund’s operating expenses, excluding distribution and service fees, program manager fees, interest, taxes, extraordinary expenses, brokerage and transaction costs, and investment-related expenses including fees and expenses associated with investments in investment companies and other similar investment vehicles, such that operating expenses do not exceed 0.13% annually of the fund’s average daily net assets. This written agreement will continue until modified by the fund’s Board of Trustees, but such agreement will continue at least until September 30, 2018. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, this reduction amounted to $79,443 and is included in the reduction of total expenses in the Statements of Operations.

Effective December 28, 2017, for the MFS Conservative Allocation Fund and MFS Moderate Allocation Fund, the investment adviser has agreed in writing to pay a portion of each fund’s operating expenses, excluding distribution and service fees, program manager fees, interest, taxes, extraordinary expenses, brokerage and transaction costs, and investment-related expenses including fees and expenses associated with investments in investment companies and other similar investment vehicles, such that operating expenses do not exceed 0.10% annually of the fund’s average daily net assets. This written agreement will continue until modified by the fund’s Board of Trustees, but such agreement will continue at least until September 30, 2018.

In addition to the fees and expenses which each fund bears directly, each fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of the underlying funds in which each fund invests. Accordingly, the expense ratio for each fund reflects only those fees and expenses borne directly by each fund.

Distributor – MFS Fund Distributors, Inc. (MFD), a wholly-owned subsidiary of MFS, as distributor, received the following amounts for the six months ended November 30, 2017, as its portion of the initial sales charge on sales of Class A and Class 529A shares of each fund:

 

     Class A      Class 529A  
MFS Conservative Allocation Fund      $202,751        $19,472  
MFS Moderate Allocation Fund      414,235        52,260  
MFS Growth Allocation Fund      443,094        73,383  
MFS Aggressive Growth Allocation Fund      130,051        58,840  

The Board of Trustees has adopted a distribution plan for certain share classes pursuant to Rule 12b-1 of the Investment Company Act of 1940.

Each fund’s distribution plan provides that each fund will pay MFD for services provided by MFD and financial intermediaries in connection with the distribution and servicing of certain share classes. One component of the plan is a distribution fee paid to MFD and another component of the plan is a service fee paid to MFD. MFD may subsequently pay all, or a portion, of the distribution and/or service fees to financial intermediaries.

Distribution Plan Fee Table:

 

     Class A  
     Distribution
Fee Rate (d)
     Service
Fee Rate (d)
     Total
Distribution
Plan (d)
     Annual
Effective
Rate (e)
     Distribution
and Service
Fee
 
MFS Conservative Allocation Fund             0.25%        0.25%        0.25%        $1,645,163  
MFS Moderate Allocation Fund             0.25%        0.25%        0.25%        3,804,471  
MFS Growth Allocation Fund             0.25%        0.25%        0.25%        3,432,804  
MFS Aggressive Growth Allocation Fund             0.25%        0.25%        0.25%        981,492  

 

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Table of Contents

Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

     Class B  
     Distribution
Fee Rate (d)
     Service
Fee Rate (d)
     Total
Distribution
Plan (d)
     Annual
Effective
Rate (e)
     Distribution
and Service
Fee
 
MFS Conservative Allocation Fund      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        $670,531  
MFS Moderate Allocation Fund      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        1,433,103  
MFS Growth Allocation Fund      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        1,172,141  
MFS Aggressive Growth Allocation Fund      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        326,003  
     Class C  
     Distribution
Fee Rate (d)
     Service
Fee Rate (d)
     Total
Distribution
Plan (d)
     Annual
Effective
Rate (e)
     Distribution
and Service
Fee
 
MFS Conservative Allocation Fund      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        $3,304,957  
MFS Moderate Allocation Fund      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        5,808,598  
MFS Growth Allocation Fund      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        4,623,808  
MFS Aggressive Growth Allocation Fund      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        1,363,499  
     Class R1  
     Distribution
Fee Rate (d)
     Service
Fee Rate (d)
     Total
Distribution
Plan (d)
     Annual
Effective
Rate (e)
     Distribution
and Service
Fee
 
MFS Conservative Allocation Fund      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        $69,575  
MFS Moderate Allocation Fund      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        150,064  
MFS Growth Allocation Fund      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        161,044  
MFS Aggressive Growth Allocation Fund      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        80,723  
     Class R2  
     Distribution
Fee Rate (d)
     Service
Fee Rate (d)
     Total
Distribution
Plan (d)
     Annual
Effective
Rate (e)
     Distribution
and Service
Fee
 
MFS Conservative Allocation Fund      0.25%        0.25%        0.50%        0.50%        $209,482  
MFS Moderate Allocation Fund      0.25%        0.25%        0.50%        0.50%        468,700  
MFS Growth Allocation Fund      0.25%        0.25%        0.50%        0.50%        449,866  
MFS Aggressive Growth Allocation Fund      0.25%        0.25%        0.50%        0.50%        192,188  
     Class R3  
     Distribution
Fee Rate (d)
     Service
Fee Rate (d)
     Total
Distribution
Plan (d)
     Annual
Effective
Rate (e)
     Distribution
and Service
Fee
 
MFS Conservative Allocation Fund             0.25%        0.25%        0.25%        $181,936  
MFS Moderate Allocation Fund             0.25%        0.25%        0.25%        436,717  
MFS Growth Allocation Fund             0.25%        0.25%        0.25%        298,457  
MFS Aggressive Growth Allocation Fund             0.25%        0.25%        0.25%        179,934  
     Class 529A  
     Distribution
Fee Rate (d)
     Service
Fee Rate (d)
     Total
Distribution
Plan (d)
     Annual
Effective
Rate (e)
     Distribution
and Service
Fee
 
MFS Conservative Allocation Fund             0.25%        0.25%        0.24%        $143,603  
MFS Moderate Allocation Fund             0.25%        0.25%        0.24%        266,205  
MFS Growth Allocation Fund             0.25%        0.25%        0.24%        271,354  
MFS Aggressive Growth Allocation Fund             0.25%        0.25%        0.24%        164,156  
     Class 529B  
     Distribution
Fee Rate (d)
     Service
Fee Rate (d)
     Total
Distribution
Plan (d)
     Annual
Effective
Rate (e)
     Distribution
and Service
Fee
 
MFS Conservative Allocation Fund      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        0.99%        $35,749  
MFS Moderate Allocation Fund      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        0.99%        67,596  
MFS Growth Allocation Fund      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        61,675  
MFS Aggressive Growth Allocation Fund      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        26,202  
     Class 529C  
     Distribution
Fee Rate (d)
     Service
Fee Rate (d)
     Total
Distribution
Plan (d)
     Annual
Effective
Rate (e)
     Distribution
and Service
Fee
 
MFS Conservative Allocation Fund      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        $234,848  
MFS Moderate Allocation Fund      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        399,372  
MFS Growth Allocation Fund      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        374,305  
MFS Aggressive Growth Allocation Fund      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        0.99%        171,432  

 

49


Table of Contents

Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

 

        MFS Conservative
Allocation Fund
       MFS Moderate
Allocation Fund
       MFS Growth
Allocation Fund
       MFS Aggressive Growth
Allocation Fund
 
Total Distribution and Service Fees        $6,495,844          $12,834,826          $10,845,454          $3,485,629  

 

(d) In accordance with the distribution plan for certain classes, each fund pays distribution and/or service fees equal to these annual percentage rates of each class’s average daily net assets. The distribution and service fee rates disclosed by class represent the current rates in effect at the end of the reporting period. Any rate changes, if applicable, are detailed below.
(e) The annual effective rates represent actual fees incurred under the distribution plan for the six months ended November 30, 2017 based on each class’s average daily net assets. MFD has voluntarily agreed to rebate a portion of each class’s 0.25% service fee attributable to accounts for which MFD retains the 0.25% service fee except for accounts attributable to MFS or its affiliates’ seed money. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, these rebates amounted to the following and are included in the reduction of total expenses in the Statements of Operations:

 

        MFS Conservative
Allocation Fund
       MFS Moderate
Allocation Fund
       MFS Growth
Allocation Fund
       MFS Aggressive Growth
Allocation Fund
 
Class A        $5,051          $18,770          $19,716          $11,464  
Class B        131          832          815          488  
Class C        423          1,890          4,442          1,763  
Class R2        80          24          15          3  
Class R3                 110                    
Class 529A        7,776          7,606          7,103          7,482  
Class 529B        432          470          191          8  
Class 529C        881          1,723          1,513          1,545  

Certain Class A shares are subject to a contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) in the event of a shareholder redemption within 18 months of purchase. Class C and Class 529C shares are subject to a CDSC in the event of a shareholder redemption within 12 months of purchase. Class B and Class 529B shares are subject to a CDSC in the event of a shareholder redemption within six years of purchase. All contingent deferred sales charges are paid to MFD and during the six months ended November 30, 2017, were as follows:

 

CDSC Imposed      MFS Conservative
Allocation Fund
       MFS Moderate
Allocation Fund
       MFS Growth
Allocation Fund
       MFS Aggressive Growth
Allocation Fund
 
Class A        $6,935          $1,376          $4,310          $1,218  
Class B        81,154          181,296          120,176          32,278  
Class C        40,745          59,882          68,938          20,669  
Class 529B        1,181          1,208          3,111          1,488  
Class 529C        392          661          867          724  

Each fund has entered into and may from time to time enter into contracts with program managers and other parties which administer the tuition programs through which an investment in each fund’s 529 share classes is made. Each fund has entered into an agreement with MFD pursuant to which MFD receives an annual fee of up to 0.10% of the average daily net assets attributable to each 529 share class. MFD has agreed to waive a portion of this fee in an amount equal to 0.05% of the average daily net assets for each 529 share class. Effective December 10, 2017, this waiver agreement will be terminated.

The services provided by MFD, or a third party with which MFD contracts, include recordkeeping and tax reporting and account services, as well as services designed to maintain the program’s compliance with the Internal Revenue Code and other regulatory requirements. Program manager fees for the six months ended November 30, 2017, were as follows:

 

        MFS Conservative
Allocation Fund
       MFS Moderate
Allocation Fund
       MFS Growth
Allocation Fund
       MFS Aggressive Growth
Allocation Fund
 
Class 529A        $57,441          $106,482          $108,542          $65,663  
Class 529B        3,575          6,760          6,167          2,620  
Class 529C        23,485          39,937          37,431          17,143  
Total Program Manager Fees        $84,501          $153,179          $152,140          $85,426  

For the six months ended November 30, 2017, MFD waived the following amount of program manager fees for each fund, which is included in the reduction of total expenses in the Statements of Operations:

 

        MFS Conservative
Allocation Fund
       MFS Moderate
Allocation Fund
       MFS Growth
Allocation Fund
       MFS Aggressive Growth
Allocation Fund
 
Class 529A        $28,721          $53,241          $54,271          $32,831  
Class 529B        1,787          3,380          3,084          1,310  
Class 529C        11,742          19,968          18,715          8,572  
Total Program Manager Fees Waiver        $42,250          $76,589          $76,070          $42,713  

The program manager fee incurred for the six months ended November 30, 2017 was equivalent to an annual effective rate of 0.05% of the average daily net assets attributable to each 529 share class for each of the funds. Effective December 11, 2017, each fund will enter into an agreement with MFD pursuant to which MFD receives an annual fee of up to 0.05% of the average daily net assets attributable to each 529 share class.

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

Shareholder Servicing Agent – MFS Service Center, Inc. (MFSC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of MFS, provides shareholder services and transfer agent services to the funds. Under a Special Servicing Agreement among MFS, certain MFS funds which invest in other MFS funds (“MFS fund-of-funds”) and certain underlying funds in which a MFS fund-of-funds invests (“underlying funds”), each underlying fund may pay a portion of each MFS fund-of-funds’ transfer agent-related expenses, including out-of-pocket and sub-accounting fees, to the extent such payments do not exceed the benefits realized or expected to be realized by the underlying fund from the investment in the underlying fund by the MFS fund-of-funds. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, shareholder servicing expenses incurred by the funds, including out-of-pocket expenses, are disclosed in the Statements of Operations.

Administrator – MFS provides certain financial, legal, shareholder communications, compliance, and other administrative services to each fund. Under an administrative services agreement, each fund reimburses MFS the costs incurred to provide these services. Each fund pays an annual fixed amount of $17,500. The administrative services fee incurred for the six months ended November 30, 2017 was equivalent to the following annual effective rates of each fund’s average daily net assets:

 

        MFS Conservative
Allocation Fund
       MFS Moderate
Allocation Fund
       MFS Growth
Allocation Fund
       MFS Aggressive Growth
Allocation Fund
 
Percentage of average daily net assets        0.0006%          0.0003%          0.0003%          0.0010%  

Trustees’ and Officers’ Compensation – Each fund pays compensation to independent Trustees in the form of a retainer, attendance fees, and additional compensation to Board and Committee chairpersons. Each fund does not pay compensation directly to Trustees or officers of each fund who are also officers of the investment adviser, all of whom receive remuneration for their services to each fund from MFS. Certain officers and Trustees of each fund are officers or directors of MFS, MFD, and MFSC.

Other – These funds and certain other funds managed by MFS (the funds) have entered into a service agreement (the ISO Agreement) which provides for payment of fees solely by the funds to Tarantino LLC in return for the provision of services of an Independent Senior Officer (ISO) for the funds. Frank L. Tarantino serves as the ISO and is an officer of the funds and the sole member of Tarantino LLC. The funds can terminate the ISO Agreement with Tarantino LLC at any time under the terms of the ISO Agreement. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fee paid by each fund under this agreement amounted to the following and is included in “Miscellaneous” expense in the Statements of Operations:

 

MFS Conservative
Allocation Fund
  MFS Moderate
Allocation Fund
  MFS Growth
Allocation Fund
  MFS Aggressive Growth
Allocation Fund
$2,577   $5,144   $4,453   $1,514

MFS has agreed to bear all expenses associated with office space, other administrative support, and supplies provided to the ISO.

Each fund invests in the MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio which is managed by MFS and seeks current income consistent with preservation of capital and liquidity. This money market fund does not pay a management fee to MFS.

On March 16, 2017, MFS purchased (redeemed) the following fund shares:

 

Fund    Class      Shares      Amount  
MFS Conservative Allocation Fund      Class I        116,478        $1,766,967  
MFS Moderate Allocation Fund      Class I        (14      (233
MFS Growth Allocation Fund      Class I        9,349        179,778  

 

(4)   Portfolio Securities

For the six months ended November 30, 2017, purchases and sales of shares of underlying funds aggregated to the following:

 

        MFS Conservative
Allocation Fund
       MFS Moderate
Allocation Fund
       MFS Growth
Allocation Fund
       MFS Aggressive Growth
Allocation Fund
 
Purchases        $57,229,707          $17,717,898          $16,725,254          $14,584,710  
Sales        $152,516,263          $372,336,049          $363,296,440          $101,605,772  

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

 

(5)   Shares of Beneficial Interest

Each fund’s Declaration of Trust permits the Trustees to issue an unlimited number of full and fractional shares of beneficial interest. Transactions in fund shares were as follows:

 

    MFS Conservative Allocation Fund     MFS Moderate Allocation Fund  
    Six Months Ended
11/30/17
    Year ended
5/31/17
    Six Months Ended
11/30/17
    Year ended
5/31/17
 
    Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount  
Shares sold                

Class A

    5,316,759       $83,223,454       14,519,530       $217,453,004       7,319,744       $129,792,658       22,844,888       $380,578,300  

Class B

    193,917       3,024,157       737,834       10,982,035       334,529       5,867,660       1,220,703       20,040,524  

Class C

    2,335,365       35,991,550       6,532,306       96,252,355       2,871,199       49,977,948       8,731,491       142,308,732  

Class I

    3,349,639       52,928,074       7,114,001       107,198,483       3,524,381       63,198,406       7,238,472       121,860,754  

Class R1

    92,425       1,405,309       220,694       3,195,078       144,524       2,459,299       343,636       5,495,409  

Class R2

    501,128       7,633,937       1,491,020       21,736,930       588,038       10,194,540       1,710,717       27,837,985  

Class R3

    853,398       13,243,443       2,810,721       41,543,361       2,138,524       37,559,102       3,870,342       63,883,901  

Class R4

    3,068,775       48,609,864       3,224,684       48,354,147       1,771,250       31,433,723       3,869,810       64,154,551  

Class 529A

    2,010,595       31,312,570       6,002,011       89,450,005       1,673,608       29,552,414       5,098,697       84,204,133  

Class 529B

    151,744       2,323,934       455,550       6,687,551       83,138       1,444,693       340,694       5,538,786  

Class 529C

    680,443       10,401,727       2,458,965       35,985,865       500,108       8,611,209       1,678,036       27,090,469  
    18,554,188       $290,098,019       45,567,316       $678,838,814       20,949,043       $370,091,652       56,947,486       $942,993,544  
Shares issued to shareholders in reinvestment of distributions                

Class A

    441,676       $6,886,855       2,264,465       $33,298,319       757,248       $13,347,517       5,075,138       $82,394,212  

Class B

    14,267       222,040       163,153       2,378,448       14,133       247,569       370,955       5,939,878  

Class C

    73,739       1,137,274       791,015       11,437,019       56,458       982,750       1,464,652       23,292,945  

Class I

    88,159       1,386,494       308,538       4,578,610       53,007       946,374       202,242       3,330,757  

Class R1

    1,676       25,364       20,078       284,959       1,785       30,408       44,514       694,277  

Class R2

    22,718       344,938       139,831       1,999,761       35,003       604,744       296,777       4,717,570  

Class R3

    53,537       828,260       257,268       3,753,167       92,921       1,625,593       581,261       9,366,677  

Class R4

    58,057       905,446       232,126       3,417,065       86,111       1,515,781       468,627       7,608,087  

Class 529A

    38,975       604,701       163,518       2,391,715       53,771       943,302       331,559       5,358,509  

Class 529B

    788       12,081       7,716       110,839       573       9,941       19,128       303,132  

Class 529C

    5,424       82,899       53,625       768,209       4,128       71,124       99,982       1,574,683  
    799,016       $12,436,352       4,401,333       $64,418,111       1,155,138       $20,325,103       8,954,835       $144,580,727  
Shares reacquired                

Class A

    (10,192,663     $(159,404,456     (28,274,139     $(422,696,260     (18,824,149     $(333,319,187     (56,970,988     $(945,981,704

Class B

    (936,821     (14,582,387     (2,263,417     (33,685,530     (1,884,899     (33,063,561     (4,532,965     (74,564,308

Class C

    (5,108,462     (78,747,336     (13,416,079     (197,873,997     (7,973,000     (138,669,126     (24,157,332     (395,732,621

Class I

    (1,521,557     (23,982,234     (3,654,621     (55,036,115     (2,095,064     (37,600,870     (4,167,252     (70,139,001

Class R1

    (166,538     (2,514,451     (587,573     (8,493,241     (308,037     (5,233,352     (847,016     (13,525,071

Class R2

    (990,167     (15,096,319     (2,741,818     (39,924,604     (1,688,260     (29,331,175     (4,616,711     (75,036,073

Class R3

    (1,997,898     (31,139,625     (5,290,011     (78,525,398     (2,760,695     (48,660,910     (7,099,738     (117,448,050

Class R4

    (869,051     (13,605,079     (2,146,022     (32,081,304     (1,948,525     (34,392,131     (4,492,725     (74,089,915

Class 529A

    (1,536,000     (23,911,754     (5,186,363     (77,325,081     (1,895,832     (33,456,349     (5,574,024     (92,076,211

Class 529B

    (133,437     (2,044,191     (450,904     (6,625,637     (192,448     (3,337,444     (578,411     (9,403,297

Class 529C

    (774,800     (11,835,254     (2,334,177     (34,175,581     (649,652     (11,208,599     (2,254,669     (36,414,557
    (24,227,394     $(376,863,086     (66,345,124     $(986,442,748     (40,220,561     $(708,272,704     (115,291,831     $(1,904,410,808

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

    MFS Conservative Allocation Fund – continued     MFS Moderate Allocation Fund – continued  
    Six Months Ended
11/30/17
    Year ended
5/31/17
    Six Months Ended
11/30/17
    Year ended
5/31/17
 
    Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount  
Net change                

Class A

    (4,434,228     $(69,294,147     (11,490,144     $(171,944,937     (10,747,157     $(190,179,012     (29,050,962     $(483,009,192

Class B

    (728,637     (11,336,190     (1,362,430     (20,325,047     (1,536,237     (26,948,332     (2,941,307     (48,583,906

Class C

    (2,699,358     (41,618,512     (6,092,758     (90,184,623     (5,045,343     (87,708,428     (13,961,189     (230,130,944

Class I

    1,916,241       30,332,334       3,767,918       56,740,978       1,482,324       26,543,910       3,273,462       55,052,510  

Class R1

    (72,437     (1,083,778     (346,801     (5,013,204     (161,728     (2,743,645     (458,866     (7,335,385

Class R2

    (466,321     (7,117,444     (1,110,967     (16,187,913     (1,065,219     (18,531,891     (2,609,217     (42,480,518

Class R3

    (1,090,963     (17,067,922     (2,222,022     (33,228,870     (529,250     (9,476,215     (2,648,135     (44,197,472

Class R4

    2,257,781       35,910,231       1,310,788       19,689,908       (91,164     (1,442,627     (154,288     (2,327,277

Class 529A

    513,570       8,005,517       979,166       14,516,639       (168,453     (2,960,633     (143,768     (2,513,569

Class 529B

    19,095       291,824       12,362       172,753       (108,737     (1,882,810     (218,589     (3,561,379

Class 529C

    (88,933     (1,350,628     178,413       2,578,493       (145,416     (2,526,266     (476,651     (7,749,405
    (4,874,190     $(74,328,715     (16,376,475     $(243,185,823     (18,116,380     $(317,855,949     (49,389,510     $(816,836,537
    MFS Growth Allocation Fund     MFS Aggressive Growth Allocation Fund  
    Six Months Ended
11/30/17
    Year ended
5/31/17
    Six Months Ended
11/30/17
    Year ended
5/31/17
 
    Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount  
Shares sold                

Class A

    5,730,589       $117,047,370       17,631,896       $330,902,522       1,862,853       $42,082,522       5,215,495       $106,102,055  

Class B

    318,949       6,439,772       947,384       17,501,483       118,499       2,622,723       325,453       6,484,381  

Class C

    2,162,127       43,186,169       6,549,675       119,760,717       715,304       15,714,564       1,763,254       34,769,150  

Class I

    1,681,541       34,575,234       3,951,105       74,634,861       1,036,151       23,833,093       2,860,597       58,811,995  

Class R1

    82,219       1,607,979       278,232       4,973,025       49,363       1,069,051       97,684       1,901,127  

Class R2

    493,843       9,822,404       1,074,641       19,615,557       254,076       5,593,743       511,856       10,225,627  

Class R3

    1,031,257       20,888,410       2,041,251       37,691,225       639,396       14,304,572       1,026,133       20,574,559  

Class R4

    1,005,079       20,531,999       2,909,189       54,298,777       501,609       11,345,140       1,054,806       21,264,059  

Class 529A

    1,122,315       22,762,138       3,308,699       61,242,661       436,622       9,787,134       1,166,916       23,454,517  

Class 529B

    57,381       1,150,259       211,189       3,850,768       20,596       451,315       57,069       1,119,670  

Class 529C

    338,572       6,687,475       1,124,462       20,265,749       104,460       2,270,918       289,290       5,621,930  
    14,023,872       $284,699,209       40,027,723       $744,737,345       5,738,929       $129,074,775       14,368,553       $290,329,070  
Shares issued to shareholders in reinvestment of distributions                

Class A

          $—       4,112,286       $74,432,373             $—       1,016,969       $19,881,737  

Class B

                262,328       4,714,042                   69,600       1,343,288  

Class C

                1,036,938       18,447,131                   281,909       5,390,107  

Class I

                119,225       2,174,665                   79,872       1,583,861  

Class R1

                42,732       745,246                   20,427       385,247  

Class R2

                258,624       4,582,820                   98,897       1,895,864  

Class R3

                363,781       6,526,235                   198,708       3,852,954  

Class R4

                376,161       6,797,233                   100,291       1,964,704  

Class 529A

                294,479       5,291,789                   166,904       3,241,207  

Class 529B

                12,982       231,213                   5,483       104,666  

Class 529C

                81,472       1,430,703                   36,083       680,526  
          $—       6,961,008       $125,373,450             $—       2,075,143       $40,324,161  

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

    MFS Growth Allocation Fund – continued     MFS Aggressive Growth Allocation Fund – continued  
    Six Months Ended
11/30/17
    Year ended
5/31/17
    Six Months Ended
11/30/17
    Year ended
5/31/17
 
    Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount  
Shares reacquired                

Class A

    (14,130,692     $(287,906,804     (44,544,367     $(832,516,552     (3,647,989     $(82,195,797     (10,878,913     $(220,086,855

Class B

    (1,292,612     (26,068,302     (3,625,103     (67,119,072     (348,196     (7,726,255     (1,068,061     (21,364,291

Class C

    (5,590,010     (111,466,178     (16,244,642     (298,985,079     (1,639,067     (35,899,027     (4,032,123     (80,116,135

Class I

    (924,296     (19,091,198     (2,044,135     (38,560,337     (739,985     (16,927,958     (1,025,370     (21,133,145

Class R1

    (290,695     (5,647,989     (776,756     (13,954,284     (130,328     (2,798,589     (270,679     (5,332,756

Class R2

    (1,542,848     (30,936,272     (3,051,784     (55,544,220     (603,292     (13,339,764     (1,306,371     (25,652,238

Class R3

    (1,529,650     (31,133,446     (4,026,643     (74,706,246     (903,608     (20,201,402     (2,835,322     (57,150,183

Class R4

    (3,379,935     (69,147,221     (2,668,377     (49,502,390     (535,044     (12,049,160     (953,195     (19,293,374

Class 529A

    (1,209,964     (24,527,574     (3,796,467     (70,026,396     (670,522     (15,060,015     (1,999,894     (39,919,811

Class 529B

    (98,265     (1,965,907     (343,796     (6,265,950     (49,607     (1,092,457     (172,869     (3,376,914

Class 529C

    (504,725     (9,957,242     (1,414,862     (25,471,124     (195,642     (4,234,892     (709,037     (13,706,848
    (30,493,692     $(617,848,133     (82,536,932     $(1,532,651,650     (9,463,280     $(211,525,316     (25,251,834     $(507,132,550

Net change

               

Class A

    (8,400,103     $(170,859,434     (22,800,185     $(427,181,657     (1,785,136     $(40,113,275     (4,646,449     $(94,103,063

Class B

    (973,663     (19,628,530     (2,415,391     (44,903,547     (229,697     (5,103,532     (673,008     (13,536,622

Class C

    (3,427,883     (68,280,009     (8,658,029     (160,777,231     (923,763     (20,184,463     (1,986,960     (39,956,878

Class I

    757,245       15,484,036       2,026,195       38,249,189       296,166       6,905,135       1,915,099       39,262,711  

Class R1

    (208,476     (4,040,010     (455,792     (8,236,013     (80,965     (1,729,538     (152,568     (3,046,382

Class R2

    (1,049,005     (21,113,868     (1,718,519     (31,345,843     (349,216     (7,746,021     (695,618     (13,530,747

Class R3

    (498,393     (10,245,036     (1,621,611     (30,488,786     (264,212     (5,896,830     (1,610,481     (32,722,670

Class R4

    (2,374,856     (48,615,222     616,973       11,593,620       (33,435     (704,020     201,902       3,935,389  

Class 529A

    (87,649     (1,765,436     (193,289     (3,491,946     (233,900     (5,272,881     (666,074     (13,224,087

Class 529B

    (40,884     (815,648     (119,625     (2,183,969     (29,011     (641,142     (110,317     (2,152,578

Class 529C

    (166,153     (3,269,767     (208,928     (3,774,672     (91,182     (1,963,974     (383,664     (7,404,392
    (16,469,820     $(333,148,924     (35,548,201     $(662,540,855     (3,724,351     $(82,450,541     (8,808,138     $(176,479,319

Class T shares were not publicly available for sale during the period. Please see each fund’s prospectus for details.

 

(6)   Line of Credit

Each fund and certain other funds managed by MFS participate in a $1.25 billion unsecured committed line of credit, subject to a $1 billion sublimit, provided by a syndication of banks under a credit agreement. Borrowings may be made for temporary financing needs. Interest is charged to each fund, based on its borrowings, generally at a rate equal to the higher of the Overnight Federal Reserve funds rate or daily one month LIBOR plus an agreed upon spread. A commitment fee, based on the average daily, unused portion of the committed line of credit, is allocated among the participating funds at the end of each calendar quarter. In addition, each fund and other funds managed by MFS have established unsecured uncommitted borrowing arrangements with certain banks for temporary financing needs. Interest is charged to each fund, based on its borrowings, at a rate equal to the Overnight Federal Reserve funds rate plus an agreed upon spread. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, each fund’s commitment fee and interest expense were as follows and are included in “Miscellaneous” expense in the Statements of Operations:

 

     MFS Conservative
Allocation Fund
     MFS Moderate
Allocation Fund
     MFS Growth
Allocation Fund
     MFS Aggressive Growth
Allocation Fund
 
Commitment Fee      $10,503        $20,315        $17,614        $5,851  
Interest Expense                            

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

 

(7)   Investments in Affiliated Issuers

An affiliated issuer may be considered one in which the fund owns 5% or more of the outstanding voting securities, or a company which is under common control. For the purposes of this report, each fund assumes the following to be affiliated issuers:

 

     MFS Conservative Allocation Fund  

Affiliated Issuers

  

 

     Beginning
Shares/Par
Amount
     Acquisitions
Shares/Par
Amount
     Dispositions
Shares/Par
Amount
     Ending
Shares/Par
Amount
 
MFS Absolute Return Fund         6,152,193        242,121        (156,300)        6,238,014  
MFS Commodity Strategy Fund         4,987,570        268,961        (349,579)        4,906,952  
MFS Emerging Markets Debt Fund         5,921,924        227,639        (210,430)        5,939,133  
MFS Emerging Markets Debt Local Currency Fund         8,395,687        498,423        (498,084)        8,396,026  
MFS Global Bond Fund         16,893,808        488,336        (752,535)        16,629,609  
MFS Global Real Estate Fund         1,911,880        29,861        (93,779)        1,847,962  
MFS Government Securities Fund         29,839,761        1,124,905        (537,116)        30,427,550  
MFS Growth Fund         2,035,203        13,355        (227,853)        1,820,705  
MFS High Income Fund         42,692,782        2,060,189        (1,502,487)        43,250,484  
MFS Inflation-Adjusted Bond Fund         28,141,199        1,046,477        (489,530)        28,698,146  
MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio         767,771        43,087,586        (42,419,183)        1,436,174  
MFS International Growth Fund         1,916,847        9,686        (185,061)        1,741,472  
MFS International Value Fund         1,455,526        11,329        (115,148)        1,351,707  
MFS Limited Maturity Fund         49,105,422        1,781,933        (938,076)        49,949,279  
MFS Mid Cap Growth Fund         7,174,595        40,868        (779,775)        6,435,688  
MFS Mid Cap Value Fund         5,199,733        105,339        (345,387)        4,959,685  
MFS New Discovery Fund         1,020,535        5,249        (113,500)        912,284  
MFS New Discovery Value Fund         1,957,154        87,613        (188,156)        1,856,611  
MFS Research Fund         4,306,955        28,778        (383,514)        3,952,219  
MFS Research International Fund         6,739,085        33,581        (544,568)        6,228,098  
MFS Total Return Bond Fund         41,291,639        1,353,042        (1,038,677)        41,606,004  
MFS Value Fund         4,631,715        135,304        (378,312)        4,388,707  

Affiliated Issuers

   Realized
Gain
(Loss)
     Change in
Unrealized
Appreciation
(Depreciation)
     Capital Gain
Distributions
     Dividend
Income
     Ending
Value
 
MFS Absolute Return Fund      $(67,917)        $(293,756)        $—        $384,611        $59,385,899  
MFS Commodity Strategy Fund      (1,232,013)        2,680,332                      29,392,641  
MFS Emerging Markets Debt Fund      (15,444)        370,047               2,085,077        89,383,958  
MFS Emerging Markets Debt Local Currency Fund      (446,048)        823,909               1,381,833        59,611,784  
MFS Global Bond Fund      (1,142,202)        3,500,714               1,251,665        148,336,110  
MFS Global Real Estate Fund      99,774        1,538,838                      29,807,627  
MFS Government Securities Fund      (332,412)        (3,255,026)               3,989,047        296,972,885  
MFS Growth Fund      10,888,533        7,429,937                      177,846,440  
MFS High Income Fund      (135,489)        (710,193)               3,761,087        149,214,169  
MFS Inflation-Adjusted Bond Fund      (417,048)        (2,403,370)               2,878,572        296,451,844  
MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio      (506)                      8,830        1,436,030  
MFS International Growth Fund      1,292,208        3,935,619                      59,244,887  
MFS International Value Fund      1,882,645        2,174,592                      59,434,546  
MFS Limited Maturity Fund      (197,280)        (1,283,565)               2,826,464        297,198,213  
MFS Mid Cap Growth Fund      6,015,217        6,541,518                      119,188,948  
MFS Mid Cap Value Fund      2,243,109        7,200,103                      121,065,900  
MFS New Discovery Fund      885,885        2,989,797                      30,087,139  
MFS New Discovery Value Fund      519,501        2,553,610        375,669        299,283        30,281,325  
MFS Research Fund      5,883,353        (1,506,104)                      180,221,162  
MFS Research International Fund      1,505,485        11,681,216                      119,018,959  
MFS Total Return Bond Fund      (145,956)        7,841,728               5,925,711        445,184,248  

MFS Value Fund

     4,151,661        10,137,502               1,418,146        182,043,566  
     $31,235,056        $61,947,448        $375,669        $26,210,326        $2,980,808,280  

 

55


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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

     MFS Moderate Allocation Fund  

Affiliated Issuers

  

 

     Beginning
Shares/Par
Amount
     Acquisitions
Shares/Par
Amount
     Dispositions
Shares/Par
Amount
     Ending
Shares/Par
Amount
 
MFS Absolute Return Fund         6,117,056        81,931        (172,892)        6,026,095  
MFS Commodity Strategy Fund         29,520,904        503,237        (940,431)        29,083,710  
MFS Emerging Markets Debt Fund         11,792,005        294,068        (438,778)        11,647,295  
MFS Emerging Markets Debt Local Currency Fund         16,739,266        515,242        (1,078,128)        16,176,380  
MFS Global Bond Fund         33,648,324        456,533        (1,570,584)        32,534,273  
MFS Global Real Estate Fund         7,579,515        21,237        (299,521)        7,301,232  
MFS Government Securities Fund         59,206,467        1,117,870        (1,020,126)        59,304,211  
MFS Growth Fund         5,421,964        2,338        (595,474)        4,828,828  
MFS High Income Fund         85,028,323        2,245,827        (2,588,238)        84,685,912  
MFS Inflation-Adjusted Bond Fund         39,061,305        685,990        (468,672)        39,278,623  
MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio         1,054        61,335,168        (58,434,426)        2,901,796  
MFS International Growth Fund         5,759,174        865        (573,179)        5,186,860  
MFS International New Discovery Fund         1,817,551        41        (168,726)        1,648,866  
MFS International Value Fund         4,368,877        2,049        (347,780)        4,023,146  
MFS Mid Cap Growth Fund         25,094,907        10,818        (2,698,261)        22,407,464  
MFS Mid Cap Value Fund         18,142,807        46,257        (1,044,425)        17,144,639  
MFS New Discovery Fund         3,061,031        5,430        (339,977)        2,726,484  
MFS New Discovery Value Fund         5,853,428        164,336        (483,857)        5,533,907  
MFS Research Fund         11,473,003        3,633        (1,037,343)        10,439,293  
MFS Research International Fund         20,244,725        7,716        (1,708,522)        18,543,919  
MFS Total Return Bond Fund         43,728,904        735,296        (1,052,388)        43,411,812  
MFS Value Fund         12,333,618        114,786        (946,957)        11,501,447  

Affiliated Issuers

   Realized
Gain
(Loss)
     Change in
Unrealized
Appreciation
(Depreciation)
     Capital Gain
Distributions
     Dividend
Income
     Ending
Value
 
MFS Absolute Return Fund      $(71,993)        $(276,192)        $—        $379,061        $57,368,427  
MFS Commodity Strategy Fund      (3,776,176)        12,209,807                      174,211,422  
MFS Emerging Markets Debt Fund      (93,209)        796,052               4,138,625        175,291,796  
MFS Emerging Markets Debt Local Currency Fund      (965,769)        1,743,430               2,731,864        114,852,301  
MFS Global Bond Fund      (2,422,316)        7,125,488               2,478,388        290,205,713  
MFS Global Real Estate Fund      210,040        6,287,646                      117,768,863  
MFS Government Securities Fund      (654,320)        (6,407,339)               7,895,898        578,809,094  
MFS Growth Fund      24,412,606        24,158,340                      471,679,932  
MFS High Income Fund      (415,240)        (1,279,493)               7,474,185        292,166,397  
MFS Inflation-Adjusted Bond Fund      (403,022)        (3,482,009)               3,981,480        405,748,173  
MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio      (383)                      13,898        2,901,506  
MFS International Growth Fund      3,668,616        11,926,420                      176,456,990  
MFS International New Discovery Fund      1,128,326        4,061,696                      59,045,884  
MFS International Value Fund      3,590,545        8,525,308                      176,897,737  
MFS Mid Cap Growth Fund      14,455,525        29,273,332                      414,986,239  
MFS Mid Cap Value Fund      4,578,110        28,187,961                      418,500,640  
MFS New Discovery Fund      1,761,236        9,799,349                      89,919,434  
MFS New Discovery Value Fund      1,181,597        7,971,063        1,121,254        893,266        90,258,015  
MFS Research Fund      8,444,885        38,108,145                      476,031,743  
MFS Research International Fund      3,377,988        24,517,094                      354,374,289  
MFS Total Return Bond Fund      (330,411)        (1,387,372)               6,264,347        464,506,390  

MFS Value Fund

     7,038,415        30,659,185               3,761,552        477,080,038  
     $64,715,050        $232,517,911        $1,121,254        $40,012,564        $5,879,061,023  

 

56


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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

     MFS Growth Allocation Fund  

Affiliated Issuers

  

 

     Beginning
Shares/Par
Amount
     Acquisitions
Shares/Par
Amount
     Dispositions
Shares/Par
Amount
     Ending
Shares/Par
Amount
 
MFS Absolute Return Fund         5,213,504        86,364        (118,057)        5,181,811  
MFS Commodity Strategy Fund         33,359,387        788,325        (663,785)        33,483,927  
MFS Emerging Markets Debt Fund         10,054,591        276,400        (309,079)        10,021,912  
MFS Emerging Markets Debt Local Currency Fund         14,298,358        464,106        (834,912)        13,927,552  
MFS Emerging Markets Equity Fund         1,592,705        476        (199,140)        1,394,041  
MFS Global Bond Fund         11,482,102        190,855        (472,841)        11,200,116  
MFS Global Real Estate Fund         9,674,162        46,772        (252,564)        9,468,370  
MFS Growth Fund         6,436,608        1,269        (691,468)        5,746,409  
MFS High Income Fund         72,525,766        2,098,752        (1,637,852)        72,986,666  
MFS Inflation-Adjusted Bond Fund         23,752,635        511,372        (132,711)        24,131,296  
MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio         7,939,564        64,832,715        (62,037,192)        10,735,087  
MFS International Growth Fund         8,303,706        312        (817,933)        7,486,085  
MFS International New Discovery Fund         3,136,049        123        (282,470)        2,853,702  
MFS International Value Fund         6,296,981        910        (494,843)        5,803,048  
MFS Mid Cap Growth Fund         27,853,381        4,396        (2,935,517)        24,922,260  
MFS Mid Cap Value Fund         19,932,857        71,986        (984,090)        19,020,753  
MFS New Discovery Fund         3,506,114        605        (363,747)        3,142,972  
MFS New Discovery Value Fund         6,661,221        191,941        (481,952)        6,371,210  
MFS Research Fund         9,865,286        2,215        (845,457)        9,022,044  
MFS Research International Fund         20,408,748        2,612        (1,685,303)        18,726,057  
MFS Total Return Bond Fund         13,965,104        282,699        (245,534)        14,002,269  
MFS Value Fund         14,538,862        145,922        (1,079,143)        13,605,641  

Affiliated Issuers

   Realized
Gain
(Loss)
     Change in
Unrealized
Appreciation
(Depreciation)
     Capital Gain
Distributions
     Dividend
Income
     Ending
Value
 
MFS Absolute Return Fund      $(47,529)        $(253,783)        $—        $325,493        $49,330,842  
MFS Commodity Strategy Fund      (2,651,217)        12,265,167                      200,568,723  
MFS Emerging Markets Debt Fund      (67,503)        669,552               3,552,528        150,829,783  
MFS Emerging Markets Debt Local Currency Fund      (740,862)        1,400,456               2,350,156        98,885,621  
MFS Emerging Markets Equity Fund      664,897        4,992,215                      49,864,832  
MFS Global Bond Fund      (748,635)        2,367,992               851,657        99,905,031  
MFS Global Real Estate Fund      138,875        8,208,497                      152,724,812  
MFS Growth Fund      27,985,208        29,503,165                      561,309,207  
MFS High Income Fund      (295,455)        (1,163,607)               6,419,217        251,803,998  
MFS Inflation-Adjusted Bond Fund      (121,209)        (2,258,794)               2,434,986        249,276,284  
MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio      (20)        (786)               59,383        10,734,013  
MFS International Growth Fund      4,900,891        17,468,699                      254,676,616  
MFS International New Discovery Fund      1,730,922        7,201,169                      102,191,063  
MFS International Value Fund      4,641,329        12,727,076                      255,160,046  
MFS Mid Cap Growth Fund      13,434,721        34,964,606                      461,560,246  
MFS Mid Cap Value Fund      4,151,295        32,071,742                      464,296,579  
MFS New Discovery Fund      1,811,522        11,453,002                      103,655,230  
MFS New Discovery Value Fund      1,090,503        9,396,403        1,287,783        1,025,931        103,914,436  
MFS Research Fund      6,371,681        33,722,259                      411,405,211  
MFS Research International Fund      2,746,067        25,283,675                      357,854,948  
MFS Total Return Bond Fund      (63,233)        (490,842)               2,015,694        149,824,277  

MFS Value Fund

     7,007,419        37,578,245               4,455,037        564,361,990  
     $71,939,667        $277,106,108        $1,287,783        $23,490,082        $5,104,133,788  

 

57


Table of Contents

Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

     MFS Aggressive Growth Allocation Fund  

Affiliated Issuers

          Beginning
Shares/Par
Amount
     Acquisitions
Shares/Par
Amount
     Dispositions
Shares/Par
Amount
     Ending
Shares/Par
Amount
 
MFS Commodity Strategy Fund         14,005,264        690,096        (192,815)        14,502,545  
MFS Emerging Markets Equity Fund         1,073,682        9,159        (118,960)        963,881  
MFS Global Real Estate Fund         5,408,441        142,237        (77,738)        5,472,940  
MFS Growth Fund         2,568,291        5,255        (220,400)        2,353,146  
MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio         1,415,557        19,877,803        (20,675,014)        618,346  
MFS International Growth Fund         4,501,826        7,145        (361,359)        4,147,612  
MFS International New Discovery Fund         2,117,575        3,657        (141,702)        1,979,530  
MFS International Value Fund         3,409,462        15,315        (206,547)        3,218,230  
MFS Mid Cap Growth Fund         10,449,098        16,931        (855,443)        9,610,586  
MFS Mid Cap Value Fund         7,368,930        104,483        (137,579)        7,335,834  
MFS New Discovery Fund         1,470,344        1,252        (107,257)        1,364,339  
MFS New Discovery Value Fund         2,777,438        113,436        (122,507)        2,768,367  
MFS Research Fund         3,723,930        522        (199,262)        3,525,190  
MFS Research International Fund         7,891,190        26,458        (500,773)        7,416,875  
MFS Value Fund         5,712,667        110,635        (227,672)        5,595,630  

Affiliated Issuers

   Realized
Gain
(Loss)
     Change in
Unrealized
Appreciation
(Depreciation)
     Capital Gain
Distributions
     Dividend
Income
     Ending
Value
 
MFS Commodity Strategy Fund      $(765,600)        $4,869,703        $—        $—        $86,870,247  
MFS Emerging Markets Equity Fund      428,382        3,418,418                      34,478,017  
MFS Global Real Estate Fund      11,687        4,728,363                      88,278,521  
MFS Growth Fund      6,729,653        16,512,936                      229,855,267  
MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio      72                      2,243        618,284  
MFS International Growth Fund      1,981,182        10,239,330                      141,101,745  
MFS International New Discovery Fund      785,895        5,320,444                      70,886,983  
MFS International Value Fund      1,714,918        7,800,198                      141,505,565  
MFS Mid Cap Growth Fund      2,979,369        15,436,933                      177,988,049  
MFS Mid Cap Value Fund      128,665        13,588,390                      179,067,719  
MFS New Discovery Fund      482,893        5,196,798                      44,995,884  
MFS New Discovery Value Fund      82,083        4,411,550        541,071        431,053        45,152,070  
MFS Research Fund      1,393,022        14,039,513                      160,748,661  
MFS Research International Fund      686,743        10,257,412                      141,736,486  

MFS Value Fund

     775,253        17,181,956               1,788,762        232,106,738  
     $17,414,217        $133,001,944        $541,071        $2,222,058        $1,775,390,236  

 

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BOARD REVIEW OF INVESTMENT ADVISORY AGREEMENT

The Investment Company Act of 1940 requires that both the full Board of Trustees and a majority of the non-interested (“independent”) Trustees, voting separately, annually approve the continuation of the Funds’ investment advisory agreement with MFS. The Trustees consider matters bearing on the Funds and their advisory arrangements at their meetings throughout the year, including a review of performance data at each regular meeting. In addition, the independent Trustees met several times over the course of three months beginning in May and ending in July, 2017 (“contract review meetings”) for the specific purpose of considering whether to approve the continuation of the investment advisory agreement for the Funds and the other investment companies that the Board oversees (the “MFS Funds”). The independent Trustees were assisted in their evaluation of the Funds’ investment advisory agreement by independent legal counsel, from whom they received separate legal advice and with whom they met separately from MFS during various contract review meetings. The independent Trustees were also assisted in this process by the MFS Funds’ Independent Senior Officer, a senior officer appointed by and reporting to the independent Trustees.

In connection with their deliberations regarding the continuation of the investment advisory agreement, the Trustees, including the independent Trustees, considered such information and factors as they believed, in light of the legal advice furnished to them and their own business judgment, to be relevant. The investment advisory agreement for each Fund was considered separately, although the Trustees also took into account the common interests of all MFS Funds in their review. As described below, the Trustees considered the nature, quality, and extent of the various investment advisory, administrative, and shareholder services performed by MFS under the existing investment advisory agreement and other arrangements with the Funds.

In connection with their contract review meetings, the Trustees received and relied upon materials that included, among other items: (i) information provided by Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (“Broadridge”), an independent third party, on the investment performance of the Funds for various time periods ended December 31, 2016 and the investment performance of a group of funds with substantially similar investment classifications/objectives (the “Lipper performance universe”), (ii) information provided by Broadridge on the Funds’ fees and expenses and the fees and expenses of comparable funds identified by Broadridge (the “Broadridge expense group”), (iii) information as to whether and to what extent applicable expense waivers and reimbursements are observed for the Funds, (iv) information regarding MFS’ financial results and financial condition, including MFS’ and certain of its affiliates’ estimated profitability from services performed for the Funds and the MFS Funds as a whole, and compared to MFS’ institutional business, (v) MFS’ views regarding the outlook for the mutual fund industry and the strategic business plans of MFS, (vi) descriptions of various functions performed by MFS for the Funds, such as compliance monitoring and portfolio trading practices, and (vii) information regarding the overall organization of MFS, including information about MFS’ senior management and other personnel providing investment advisory, administrative and other services to the Funds and the other MFS Funds. The comparative performance, fee and expense information prepared and provided by Broadridge was not independently verified and the independent Trustees did not independently verify any information provided to them by MFS.

The Trustees’ conclusion as to the continuation of the investment advisory agreement was based on a comprehensive consideration of all information provided to the Trustees and not the result of any single factor. Some of the factors that figured particularly in the Trustees’ deliberations are described below, although individual Trustees may have evaluated the information presented differently from one another, giving different weights to various factors. It is also important to recognize that the fee arrangements for the Funds and other MFS Funds are the result of years of review and discussion between the independent Trustees and MFS, that certain aspects of such arrangements may receive greater scrutiny in some years than in others, and that the Trustees’ conclusions may be based, in part, on their consideration of these same arrangements during the course of the year and in prior years.

MFS Conservative Allocation Fund

Based on information provided by Broadridge and MFS, the Trustees reviewed the Fund’s total return investment performance as well as the performance of peer groups of funds over various time periods. The Trustees placed particular emphasis on the total return performance of the Fund’s Class A shares in comparison to the performance of funds in its Lipper performance universe over the three-year period ended December 31, 2016, which the Trustees believed was a long enough period to reflect differing market conditions. The total return performance of the Fund’s Class A shares was in the 3rd quintile relative to the other funds in the universe for this three-year period (the 1st quintile being the best performers and the 5th quintile being the worst performers). The total return performance of the Fund’s Class A shares was in the 3rd quintile for the one-year period and the 2nd quintile for the five-year period ended December 31, 2016 relative to the Lipper performance universe.

In the course of their deliberations, the Trustees took into account information provided by MFS in connection with the contract review meetings, as well as during investment review meetings conducted with portfolio management personnel during the course of the year regarding the Fund’s performance. After reviewing these and related factors, the Trustees concluded, within the context of their overall conclusions regarding the investment advisory agreement, that they were satisfied with MFS’ responses and efforts relating to investment performance.

MFS Moderate Allocation Fund

Based on information provided by Broadridge and MFS, the Trustees reviewed the Fund’s total return investment performance as well as the performance of peer groups of funds over various time periods. The Trustees placed particular emphasis on the total

 

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Board Review of Investment Advisory Agreement – continued

 

return performance of the Fund’s Class A shares in comparison to the performance of funds in its Lipper performance universe over the three-year period ended December 31, 2016, which the Trustees believed was a long enough period to reflect differing market conditions. The total return performance of the Fund’s Class A shares was in the 3rd quintile relative to the other funds in the universe for this three-year period (the 1st quintile being the best performers and the 5th quintile being the worst performers). The total return performance of the Fund’s Class A shares was in the 3rd quintile for each of the one- and five-year periods ended December 31, 2016 relative to the Lipper performance universe. In the course of their deliberations, the Trustees took into account information provided by MFS in connection with the contract review meetings, as well as during investment review meetings conducted with portfolio management personnel during the course of the year regarding the Fund’s performance. After reviewing these and related factors, the Trustees concluded, within the context of their overall conclusions regarding the investment advisory agreement, that they were satisfied with MFS’ responses and efforts relating to investment performance.

MFS Growth Allocation Fund

Based on information provided by Broadridge and MFS, the Trustees reviewed the Fund’s total return investment performance as well as the performance of peer groups of funds over various time periods. The Trustees placed particular emphasis on the total return performance of the Fund’s Class A shares in comparison to the performance of funds in its Lipper performance universe over the three-year period ended December 31, 2016, which the Trustees believed was a long enough period to reflect differing market conditions. The total return performance of the Fund’s Class A shares was in the 4th quintile relative to the other funds in the universe for this three-year period (the 1st quintile being the best performers and the 5th quintile being the worst performers). The total return performance of the Fund’s Class A shares was in the 2nd quintile for the one-year period and the 3rd quintile for the five-year period ended December 31, 2016 relative to the Lipper performance universe.

In the course of their deliberations, the Trustees took into account information provided by MFS in connection with the contract review meetings, as well as during investment review meetings conducted with portfolio management personnel during the course of the year regarding the Fund’s performance. After reviewing these and related factors, the Trustees concluded, within the context of their overall conclusions regarding the investment advisory agreement, that they were satisfied with MFS’ responses and efforts relating to investment performance.

MFS Aggressive Growth Allocation Fund

Based on information provided by Broadridge and MFS, the Trustees reviewed the Fund’s total return investment performance as well as the performance of peer groups of funds over various time periods. The Trustees placed particular emphasis on the total return performance of the Fund’s Class A shares in comparison to the performance of funds in its Lipper performance universe over the three-year period ended December 31, 2016, which the Trustees believed was a long enough period to reflect differing market conditions. The total return performance of the Fund’s Class A shares was in the 3rd quintile relative to the other funds in the universe for this three-year period (the 1st quintile being the best performers and the 5th quintile being the worst performers). The total return performance of the Fund’s Class A shares was in the 3rd quintile for the one-year period and the 2nd quintile for the five-year period ended December 31, 2016 relative to the Lipper performance universe.

In the course of their deliberations, the Trustees took into account information provided by MFS in connection with the contract review meetings, as well as during investment review meetings conducted with portfolio management personnel during the course of the year regarding the Fund’s performance. After reviewing these and related factors, the Trustees concluded, within the context

of their overall conclusions regarding the investment advisory agreement, that they were satisfied with MFS’ responses and efforts relating to investment performance.

General

Because of the passage of time, the performance results stated above may differ from the performance results for more recent periods, including those shown elsewhere in this report.

The Trustees considered that MFS does not charge any advisory fees for providing investment advisory services to the Funds, but that the Funds pay their pro rata share of the advisory fees paid by the underlying funds in which they invest (the “Underlying Funds”).

In assessing the reasonableness of the Funds’ expenses, the Trustees considered, among other information, the total expense ratios of the Funds’ Class A shares as a percentage of average daily net assets and the total expense ratios of peer groups of funds based on information provided by Broadridge. The Trustees considered that MFS currently observes expense limitations for the Aggressive Growth Allocation Fund and Growth Allocation Fund, each of which may not be changed without the Trustee’s approval. The Trustees also considered that according to the data provided by Broadridge (which takes into account any expense limitations that were in effect during the Funds’ last fiscal year): (i) the MFS Aggressive Growth Allocation Fund’s total expense ratio was lower than the Broadridge expense group median; (ii) the MFS Conservative Allocation Fund’s total expense ratio was lower than the Broadridge expense group median; (iii) the MFS Growth Allocation Fund’s total expense ratio was lower than the Broadridge expense group median; and (iv) the MFS Moderate Allocation Fund’s total expense ratio was lower than the Broadridge expense group median.

 

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Board Review of Investment Advisory Agreement – continued

 

Because the Funds do not pay advisory fees, the Trustees did not consider the extent to which economies of scale would be realized due to the Funds’ growth of assets, whether fee levels reflect economies of scale for the Funds’ shareholders, or the fees paid by similar funds to other investment advisers or by similar clients of MFS.

The Trustees also considered information prepared by MFS relating to MFS’ costs and profits with respect to the Funds, the MFS Funds considered as a group, and other investment companies and accounts advised by MFS, as well as MFS’ methodologies used to determine and allocate its costs to the MFS Funds, the Funds and other accounts and products for purposes of estimating profitability.

In addition, the Trustees considered MFS’ resources and related efforts to continue to retain, attract and motivate capable personnel to serve the Funds. The Trustees also considered current and developing conditions in the financial services industry, including the presence of large and well-capitalized companies which are spending, and appear to be prepared to continue to spend, substantial sums to engage personnel and to provide services to competing investment companies. In this regard, the Trustees also considered the financial resources of MFS and its ultimate parent, Sun Life Financial Inc. The Trustees also considered the advantages and possible disadvantages to the Funds of having an adviser that also serves other investment companies as well as other accounts.

The Trustees also considered the nature, quality, cost, and extent of administrative, transfer agency, and distribution services provided to the Funds by MFS and its affiliates under agreements and plans other than the investment advisory agreement, including any 12b-1 fees the Funds pay to MFS Fund Distributors, Inc., an affiliate of MFS. The Trustees also considered the nature, extent and quality of certain other services MFS performs or arranges for on the Funds’ or the Underlying Funds’ behalf, which may include securities lending programs, directed expense payment programs, class action recovery programs, and MFS’ interaction with third-party service providers, principally custodians and sub-custodians. The Trustees concluded that the various non-advisory services provided by MFS and its affiliates on behalf of the Funds were satisfactory.

The Trustees also considered benefits to MFS from the use of the Underlying Funds’ portfolio brokerage commissions, if applicable, to pay for investment research and various other factors. Additionally, the Trustees considered so-called “fall-out benefits” to MFS such as reputational value derived from serving as investment manager to the Funds.

Based on their evaluation of factors that they deemed to be material, including those factors described above, the Board of Trustees, including the independent Trustees, concluded that the Funds’ investment advisory agreement with MFS should be continued for an additional one-year period, commencing August 1, 2017.

 

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PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND INFORMATION

 

MFS votes proxies on behalf of the funds pursuant to proxy voting policies and procedures that are available without charge, upon request, by calling 1-800-225-2606, by visiting mfs.com/proxyvoting, or by visiting the SEC’s Web site at http://www.sec.gov.

Information regarding how each fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the most recent twelve-month period ended June 30 is available by August 31 of each year without charge by visiting mfs.com/proxyvoting, or by visiting the SEC’s Web site at http://www.sec.gov.

QUARTERLY PORTFOLIO DISCLOSURE

Each fund will file a complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission) for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-Q. A shareholder can obtain the quarterly portfolio holdings report at mfs.com. Each fund’s Form N-Q is also available on the EDGAR database on the Commission’s Internet Web site at http://www.sec.gov, and may be reviewed and copied at the:

Public Reference Room

Securities and Exchange Commission

100 F Street, NE, Room 1580

Washington, D.C. 20549

Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling the Commission at 1-800-SEC-0330. Copies of each Fund’s Form N-Q also may be obtained, upon payment of a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov, or by writing the Public Reference Section at the above address.

FURTHER INFORMATION

From time to time, MFS may post important information about each fund or the MFS funds on the MFS web site (mfs.com). This information is available at https://www.mfs.com/en-us/what-we-do/announcements.html or at mfs.com/openendfunds by choosing the fund’s name.

INFORMATION ABOUT FUND CONTRACTS AND LEGAL CLAIMS

Each fund has entered into contractual arrangements with an investment adviser, administrator, distributor, shareholder servicing agent, 529 program manager (if applicable), and custodian who each provide services to the fund. Unless expressly stated otherwise, shareholders are not parties to, or intended beneficiaries of these contractual arrangements, and these contractual arrangements are not intended to create any shareholder right to enforce them against the service providers or to seek any remedy under them against the service providers, either directly or on behalf of the fund.

Under the Trust’s By-Laws and Declaration of Trust, any claims asserted against or on behalf of the MFS Funds, including claims against Trustees and Officers, must be brought in state and federal courts located within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

PROVISION OF FINANCIAL REPORTS AND SUMMARY PROSPECTUSES

Each fund produces financial reports every six months and updates its summary prospectus and prospectus annually. To avoid sending duplicate copies of materials to households, only one copy of each fund’s annual and semiannual report and summary prospectus may be mailed to shareholders having the same last name and residential address on the fund’s records. However, any shareholder may contact MFSC (please see back cover for address and telephone number) to request that copies of these reports and summary prospectuses be sent personally to that shareholder.

 

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LOGO

 

Save paper with eDelivery.

 

 

LOGO  

MFS® will send you prospectuses,

reports, and proxies directly via e-mail so you will get information faster with less mailbox clutter.

To sign up:

1. Go to mfs.com.

2. Log in via MFS® Access.

3. Select eDelivery.

If you own your MFS fund shares through a financial institution or a retirement plan, MFS® TALK, MFS® Access, or eDelivery may not be available to you.

 

 

CONTACT US

WEB SITE

mfs.com

MFS TALK

1-800-637-8255

24 hours a day

ACCOUNT SERVICE AND LITERATURE

Shareholders

1-800-225-2606

Financial advisors

1-800-343-2829

Retirement plan services

1-800-637-1255

MAILING ADDRESS

MFS Service Center, Inc.

P.O. Box 55824

Boston, MA 02205-5824

OVERNIGHT MAIL

MFS Service Center, Inc.

c/o DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc.

30 Dan Road

Canton, MA 02021-2809

 


Table of Contents

SEMIANNUAL REPORT

November 30, 2017

 

LOGO

 

MFS® INTERNATIONAL DIVERSIFICATIONSM FUND

 

LOGO

 

MDI-SEM

 


Table of Contents

MFS® INTERNATIONAL DIVERSIFICATIONSM FUND

 

CONTENTS

 

Letter from the Executive Chairman     1  
Portfolio composition     2  
Expense table     3  
Portfolio of investments     5  
Statement of assets and liabilities     6  
Statement of operations     8  
Statements of changes in net assets     9  
Financial highlights     10  
Notes to financial statements     19  
Board review of investment advisory agreement     30  
Proxy voting policies and information     33  
Quarterly portfolio disclosure     33  
Further information     33  
Information about fund contracts and legal claims     34  
Provision of financial reports and summary prospectuses     34  
Contact information    back cover  

The report is prepared for the general information of shareholders.

It is authorized for distribution to prospective investors only when preceded or accompanied by a current prospectus.

 

NOT FDIC INSURED MAY LOSE VALUE NO BANK GUARANTEE



Table of Contents

LOGO

 

LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN

 

Dear Shareholders:

Most markets have proved resilient over the past year, despite uncertainty accompanying a new presidential administration in the United States and unease over

ongoing negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union regarding Brexit. U.S. share prices have reached new highs in recent months although the U.S. Federal Reserve has continued to gradually hike interest rates and has begun to shrink its balance sheet.

Globally, we’ve experienced a synchronized upturn in economic growth for more than a year. Despite the improvement in economic activity, there are few immediate signs of worrisome inflation amid muted wage gains around the world. Emerging market economies have been boosted in part by a weaker

U.S. dollar and are recovering despite lingering concerns over the potential for restrictive U.S. trade policies. Commodity markets have recovered somewhat in response to solid global demand and robust global trade, though not enough to rekindle inflation fears.

At MFS®, we believe having a disciplined, long-term investment approach through a full market cycle is essential to capturing the best opportunities while also managing risk. In our view, such a strategy, along with the professional guidance of a financial advisor, will help you reach your investment objectives.

Respectfully,

 

LOGO

Robert J. Manning

Executive Chairman

MFS Investment Management

January 16, 2018

The opinions expressed in this letter are subject to change and may not be relied upon for investment advice. No forecasts can be guaranteed.

 

1


Table of Contents

PORTFOLIO COMPOSITION

 

Portfolio target allocation

 

LOGO

 

Portfolio holdings  
MFS Research International Fund     29.9%  
MFS International Value Fund     25.0%  
MFS International Growth Fund     24.9%  
MFS International New Discovery Fund     10.0%  
MFS Emerging Markets Equity Fund     9.9%  
Cash & Cash Equivalents     0.3%  

Portfolio actual allocation

 

LOGO

 

Cash & Cash Equivalents includes any cash, investments in money market funds, short-term securities, and other assets less liabilities. MFS endeavors to fully invest all MFS fund-of-funds in underlying funds on a daily basis. Any divergence from 0.0% in Cash & Cash Equivalents is typically due to the timing of fund subscriptions/redemptions and the settlement of subsequent investment in/divestment from the underlying funds. While the MFS fund-of-funds’ subscriptions/redemptions are processed at the same day NAV of the underlying funds, a positive/negative cash balance will be reflected on the MFS fund-of-funds’ Statements of Assets and Liabilities until the trades with the underlying funds settle. Please see the Statement of Assets and Liabilities for additional information related to the fund’s cash position and other assets and liabilities.

Percentages are based on net assets as of November 30, 2017.

The portfolio is actively managed and current holdings may be different.

 

2


Table of Contents

EXPENSE TABLE

Fund expenses borne by the shareholders during the period, June 1, 2017 through November 30, 2017

As a shareholder of the fund, you incur two types of costs: (1) transaction costs, including sales charges (loads) on certain purchase or redemption payments, and (2) ongoing costs, including distribution and service (12b-1) fees; and other fund expenses. This example is intended to help you understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the fund and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds.

In addition to the fees and expenses which the fund bears directly, the fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of the underlying funds in which the fund invests. Because the underlying funds have varied expenses and fee levels and the fund may own different proportions of the underlying funds at different times, the amount of fees and expenses incurred indirectly by the fund will vary. If these transactional and indirect costs were included, your costs would have been higher.

The example is based on an investment of $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period June 1, 2017 through November 30, 2017.

Actual Expenses

The first line for each share class in the following table provides information about actual account values and actual expenses. You may use the information in this line, together with the amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you paid over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000 = 8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first line under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid During Period” to estimate the expenses you paid on your account during this period.

Hypothetical Example for Comparison Purposes

The second line for each share class in the following table provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the fund’s actual expense ratio and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses, which is not the fund’s actual return. The hypothetical account values and expenses may not be used to estimate the actual ending account balance or expenses you paid for the period. You may use this information to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the fund and other funds. To do so, compare this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of the other funds.

Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only and do not reflect any transactional costs, such as sales charges (loads). Therefore, the second line for each share class in the table is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds. In addition, if these transactional costs were included, your costs would have been higher.

 

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Table of Contents

Expense Table – continued

 

Share

Class

      

Annualized

Expense

Ratio

   

Beginning

Account Value
6/01/17

   

Ending

Account Value
11/30/17

   

Expenses

Paid During

Period (p)

6/01/17-11/30/17

 
A   Actual     0.35%       $1,000.00       $1,084.12       $1.83  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.35%       $1,000.00       $1,023.31       $1.78  
B   Actual     1.10%       $1,000.00       $1,080.16       $5.74  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.10%       $1,000.00       $1,019.55       $5.57  
C   Actual     1.10%       $1,000.00       $1,080.45       $5.74  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.10%       $1,000.00       $1,019.55       $5.57  
I   Actual     0.10%       $1,000.00       $1,085.48       $0.52  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.10%       $1,000.00       $1,024.57       $0.51  
R1   Actual     1.10%       $1,000.00       $1,080.51       $5.74  
  Hypothetical (h)     1.10%       $1,000.00       $1,019.55       $5.57  
R2   Actual     0.60%       $1,000.00       $1,082.77       $3.13  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.60%       $1,000.00       $1,022.06       $3.04  
R3   Actual     0.35%       $1,000.00       $1,084.12       $1.83  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.35%       $1,000.00       $1,023.31       $1.78  
R4   Actual     0.10%       $1,000.00       $1,085.76       $0.52  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.10%       $1,000.00       $1,024.57       $0.51  
R6   Actual (i)     0.00%       $1,000.00       $1,037.72       $0.00  
  Hypothetical (h)     0.00%       $1,000.00       $1,025.07       $0.00  

 

(h) 5% class return per year before expenses.
(i) For the period from the class inception, October 2, 2017, through the stated period end.
(p) “Expenses Paid During Period” are equal to each class’s annualized expense ratio, as shown above, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/365 (to reflect the one-half year period), except for Actual Expenses of Class R6, which is multiplied by 60/365 (to reflect the period from the commencement of the class’s investment operations, October 2, 2017, through November 30, 2017). For Hypothetical Expenses paid, it is assumed that Class R6 was in existence for the entire six month period ended November 30, 2017. Expenses paid do not include any applicable sales charges (loads). If these transaction costs had been included, your costs would have been higher. In addition to the fees and expenses which the fund bears directly, the fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of the underlying funds in which the fund invests. If these indirect costs were included, your costs would have been higher.

 

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Table of Contents

PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS

11/30/17 (unaudited)

The Portfolio of Investments is a complete list of all securities owned by your fund. It is categorized by broad-based asset classes.

 

Investment Companies (h) - 99.9%                 
Issuer    Shares/Par     Value ($)  
International Stock Funds - 99.7%                 
MFS Emerging Markets Equity Fund - Class R6      27,555,266     $ 985,651,856  
MFS International Growth Fund - Class R6      72,975,672       2,482,632,372  
MFS International New Discovery Fund - Class R6      27,783,964       994,943,773  
MFS International Value Fund - Class R6      56,590,494       2,488,284,015  
MFS Research International Fund - Class R6      156,137,165       2,983,781,218  
             $ 9,935,293,234  
Money Market Funds - 0.2%                 
MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio, 1.19% (v)      17,003,622     $ 17,001,922  
Total Investment Companies
(Identified Cost, $7,995,962,995)
           $ 9,952,295,156  
Other Assets, Less Liabilities - 0.1%              8,305,205  
Net Assets - 100.0%            $ 9,960,600,361  

 

(h) An affiliated issuer may be considered one in which the fund owns 5% or more of the outstanding voting securities, or a company which is under common control. At period end, the aggregate values of the fund’s investments in affiliated issuers and in unaffiliated issuers were $9,952,295,156 and $0, respectively.
(v) Affiliated issuer that is available only to investment companies managed by MFS. The rate quoted for the MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio is the annualized seven-day yield of the fund at period end.

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

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Financial Statements

 

STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

At 11/30/17 (unaudited)

This statement represents your fund’s balance sheet, which details the assets and liabilities comprising the total value of the fund.

 

Assets         

Investments in affiliated issuers, at value (identified cost, $7,995,962,995)

     $9,952,295,156  

Receivables for fund shares sold

     41,782,344  

Receivable from investment adviser

     170,862  

Total assets

     $9,994,248,362  
Liabilities         

Payables for

  

Investments purchased

     $23,085,015  

Fund shares reacquired

     7,518,472  

Payable to affiliates

  

Shareholder servicing costs

     2,962,247  

Distribution and service fees

     66,044  

Payable for independent Trustees’ compensation

     13  

Accrued expenses and other liabilities

     16,210  

Total liabilities

     $33,648,001  

Net assets

     $9,960,600,361  
Net assets consist of         

Paid-in capital

     $8,050,171,843  

Unrealized appreciation (depreciation)

     1,956,332,161  

Accumulated net realized gain (loss)

     (63,295,262

Undistributed net investment income

     17,391,619  

Net assets

     $9,960,600,361  

Shares of beneficial interest outstanding

     505,595,153  

 

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Statement of Assets and Liabilities (unaudited) – continued

 

     Net assets      Shares
outstanding
     Net asset value
per share (a)
 

Class A

     $2,036,824,699        103,968,232        $19.59  

Class B

     35,676,538        1,850,974        19.27  

Class C

     537,126,247        28,168,189        19.07  

Class I

     5,951,893,633        300,386,667        19.81  

Class R1

     8,781,108        467,439        18.79  

Class R2

     75,596,649        3,930,429        19.23  

Class R3

     347,793,866        17,874,399        19.46  

Class R4

     893,864,300        45,262,407        19.75  

Class R6

     73,043,321        3,686,417        19.81  

 

(a) Maximum offering price per share was equal to the net asset value per share for all share classes, except for Class A, for which the maximum offering price per share was $20.79 [100 / 94.25 x $19.59]. On sales of $50,000 or more, the maximum offering price of Class A shares is reduced. A contingent deferred sales charge may be imposed on redemptions of Class A, Class B, and Class C shares. Redemption price per share was equal to the net asset value per share for Classes I, R1, R2, R3, R4, and R6. Net asset value per share is calculated using actual net assets and shares outstanding rather than amounts that have been rounded for presentation purposes.

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

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Financial Statements

 

STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS

Six months ended 11/30/17 (unaudited)

This statement describes how much your fund earned in investment income and accrued in expenses. It also describes any gains and/or losses generated by fund operations.

 

Net investment income (loss)         

Income

  

Dividends from affiliated issuers

     $94,294  

Other

     1,870  

Total investment income

     $96,164  

Expenses

  

Distribution and service fees

     $5,696,978  

Shareholder servicing costs

     4,809,093  

Administrative services fee

     8,775  

Independent Trustees’ compensation

     48,507  

Custodian fee

     46,247  

Shareholder communications

     179,292  

Audit and tax fees

     19,391  

Legal fees

     36,156  

Miscellaneous

     311,852  

Total expenses

     $11,156,291  

Reduction of expenses by investment adviser and distributor

     (1,061,180

Net expenses

     $10,095,111  

Net investment income (loss)

     $(9,998,947
Realized and unrealized gain (loss)         

Realized gain (loss) (identified cost basis)

  

Investments in affiliated issuers

     $12,734,166  

Change in unrealized appreciation (depreciation) from affiliated issuers

     $724,794,014  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     $737,528,180  

Change in net assets from operations

     $727,529,233  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

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Financial Statements

 

STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN NET ASSETS

These statements describe the increases and/or decreases in net assets resulting from operations, any distributions, and any shareholder transactions.

 

    Six months ended
11/30/17
(unaudited)
     Year ended
5/31/17
 
Change in net assets             
From operations                 

Net investment income (loss)

    $(9,998,947      $78,401,612  

Net realized gain (loss)

    12,734,166        42,842,158  

Net unrealized gain (loss)

    724,794,014        967,850,103  

Change in net assets from operations

    $727,529,233        $1,089,093,873  
Distributions declared to shareholders                 

From net investment income

    $—        $(109,200,234

Change in net assets from fund share transactions

    $1,556,444,236        $1,961,042,637  

Total change in net assets

    $2,283,973,469        $2,940,936,276  
Net assets                 

At beginning of period

    7,676,626,892        4,735,690,616  

At end of period (including undistributed net investment income of $17,391,619 and $27,390,566, respectively)

    $9,960,600,361        $7,676,626,892  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

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Financial Statements

 

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

The financial highlights table is intended to help you understand the fund’s financial performance for the semiannual period and the past 5 fiscal years (or life of a particular share class, if shorter). Certain information reflects financial results for a single fund share. The total returns in the table represent the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the fund share class (assuming reinvestment of all distributions) held for the entire period.

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class A     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning
of period

    $18.07       $15.59       $16.91       $16.96       $15.05       $12.19  
Income (loss) from investment operations                          

Net investment income
(loss) (d)(l)

    $(0.03     $0.24 (c)      $0.17       $0.26       $0.17       $0.18  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    1.55       2.54       (1.24     (0.12     1.88       2.82  

Total from investment
operations

    $1.52       $2.78       $(1.07     $0.14       $2.05       $3.00  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                          

From net investment
income

    $—       $(0.30     $(0.25     $(0.19     $(0.14     $(0.14

Net asset value, end of
period (x)

    $19.59       $18.07       $15.59       $16.91       $16.96       $15.05  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    8.41 (n)      18.18 (c)      (6.36     0.91       13.68       24.72  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                         

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)(h)

    0.37 (a)      0.37 (c)      0.38       0.38       0.35       0.33  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)(h)

    0.35 (a)      0.35 (c)      0.35       0.35       0.35       0.33  

Net investment income
(loss) (l)

    (0.35 )(a)      1.51 (c)      1.11       1.57       1.04       1.26  

Portfolio turnover

    0 (n)      3       3       4       2       2  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $2,036,825       $1,804,722       $2,388,830       $2,434,548       $2,503,563       $2,051,682  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

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Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class B     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning
of period

    $17.84       $15.38       $16.75       $16.76       $14.85       $12.01  
Income (loss) from investment operations                          

Net investment income
(loss) (d)(l)

    $(0.10     $0.09 (c)      $0.06       $0.14       $0.05       $0.07  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    1.53       2.54       (1.25     (0.11     1.86       2.78  

Total from investment
operations

    $1.43       $2.63       $(1.19     $0.03       $1.91       $2.85  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                          

From net investment
income

    $—       $(0.17     $(0.18     $(0.04     $—       $(0.01

Net asset value, end of
period (x)

    $19.27       $17.84       $15.38       $16.75       $16.76       $14.85  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    8.02 (n)      17.27 (c)      (7.09     0.21       12.86       23.76  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                         

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)(h)

    1.12 (a)      1.12 (c)      1.13       1.13       1.10       1.08  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)(h)

    1.10 (a)      1.10 (c)      1.10       1.10       1.10       1.08  

Net investment income
(loss) (l)

    (1.10 )(a)      0.56 (c)      0.37       0.83       0.29       0.54  

Portfolio turnover

    0 (n)      3       3       4       2       2  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $35,677       $34,040       $35,760       $47,145       $63,527       $75,185  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

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Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class C     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning
of period

    $17.65       $15.23       $16.60       $16.64       $14.79       $11.98  
Income (loss) from investment operations                          

Net investment income
(loss) (d)(l)

    $(0.10     $0.09 (c)      $0.06       $0.13       $0.04       $0.07  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    1.52       2.51       (1.23     (0.10     1.86       2.77  

Total from investment
operations

    $1.42       $2.60       $(1.17     $0.03       $1.90       $2.84  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                          

From net investment
income

    $—       $(0.18     $(0.20     $(0.07     $(0.05     $(0.03

Net asset value, end of
period (x)

    $19.07       $17.65       $15.23       $16.60       $16.64       $14.79  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    8.05 (n)      17.28 (c)      (7.07     0.21       12.84       23.74  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                         

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)(h)

    1.12 (a)      1.12 (c)      1.13       1.13       1.10       1.08  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)(h)

    1.10 (a)      1.10 (c)      1.10       1.10       1.10       1.08  

Net investment income
(loss) (l)

    (1.10 )(a)      0.57 (c)      0.36       0.82       0.29       0.50  

Portfolio turnover

    0 (n)      3       3       4       2       2  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $537,126       $470,214       $460,869       $502,461       $505,528       $411,445  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

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Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class I     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning
of period

    $18.25       $15.75       $17.05       $17.10       $15.16       $12.27  
Income (loss) from investment operations                          

Net investment income
(loss) (d)(l)

    $(0.01     $0.23 (c)      $0.22       $0.31       $0.21       $0.21  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    1.57       2.61       (1.26     (0.13     1.91       2.86  

Total from investment
operations

    $1.56       $2.84       $(1.04     $0.18       $2.12       $3.07  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                          

From net investment
income

    $—       $(0.34     $(0.26     $(0.23     $(0.18     $(0.18

Net asset value, end of
period (x)

    $19.81       $18.25       $15.75       $17.05       $17.10       $15.16  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    8.55 (n)      18.42 (c)      (6.09     1.16       13.99       25.08  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                         

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)(h)

    0.12 (a)      0.12 (c)      0.13       0.14       0.10       0.08  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)(h)

    0.10 (a)      0.10 (c)      0.10       0.10       0.10       0.08  

Net investment income
(loss) (l)

    (0.10 )(a)      1.39 (c)      1.38       1.85       1.32       1.45  

Portfolio turnover

    0 (n)      3       3       4       2       2  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $5,951,894       $4,166,366       $1,036,517       $857,731       $694,822       $454,999  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

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Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R1     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning
of period

    $17.39       $15.01       $16.36       $16.43       $14.59       $11.81  
Income (loss) from investment operations                          

Net investment income
(loss) (d)(l)

    $(0.10     $0.09 (c)      $0.05       $0.17       $0.04       $0.08  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    1.50       2.47       (1.21     (0.15     1.84       2.72  

Total from investment
operations

    $1.40       $2.56       $(1.16     $0.02       $1.88       $2.80  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                          

From net investment
income

    $—       $(0.18     $(0.19     $(0.09     $(0.04     $(0.02

Net asset value, end of
period (x)

    $18.79       $17.39       $15.01       $16.36       $16.43       $14.59  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    8.05 (n)      17.29 (c)      (7.08     0.18       12.89       23.75  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                         

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)(h)

    1.12 (a)      1.12 (c)      1.13       1.14       1.10       1.08  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)(h)

    1.10 (a)      1.10 (c)      1.10       1.10       1.10       1.08  

Net investment income
(loss) (l)

    (1.10 )(a)      0.58 (c)      0.36       1.06       0.24       0.62  

Portfolio turnover

    0 (n)      3       3       4       2       2  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $8,781       $8,716       $7,736       $10,347       $9,306       $6,921  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

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Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R2     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning
of period

    $17.76       $15.34       $16.66       $16.71       $14.84       $12.04  
Income (loss) from investment operations                          

Net investment income
(loss) (d)(l)

    $(0.06     $0.17 (c)      $0.13       $0.22       $0.12       $0.14  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    1.53       2.52       (1.22     (0.12     1.87       2.78  

Total from investment
operations

    $1.47       $2.69       $(1.09     $0.10       $1.99       $2.92  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                          

From net investment
income

    $—       $(0.27     $(0.23     $(0.15     $(0.12     $(0.12

Net asset value, end of
period (x)

    $19.23       $17.76       $15.34       $16.66       $16.71       $14.84  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    8.28 (n)      17.82 (c)      (6.55     0.68       13.41       24.36  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                         

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)(h)

    0.62 (a)      0.62 (c)      0.63       0.63       0.60       0.58  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)(h)

    0.60 (a)      0.60 (c)      0.60       0.60       0.60       0.58  

Net investment income
(loss) (l)

    (0.60 )(a)      1.07 (c)      0.86       1.36       0.77       0.99  

Portfolio turnover

    0 (n)      3       3       4       2       2  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $75,597       $72,991       $59,795       $62,242       $62,817       $45,337  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

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Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R3     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning
of period

    $17.95       $15.49       $16.80       $16.86       $14.96       $12.13  
Income (loss) from investment operations                          

Net investment income
(loss) (d)(l)

    $(0.03     $0.21 (c)      $0.17       $0.26       $0.16       $0.18  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    1.54       2.55       (1.24     (0.12     1.89       2.80  

Total from investment
operations

    $1.51       $2.76       $(1.07     $0.14       $2.05       $2.98  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                          

From net investment
income

    $—       $(0.30     $(0.24     $(0.20     $(0.15     $(0.15

Net asset value, end of
period (x)

    $19.46       $17.95       $15.49       $16.80       $16.86       $14.96  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    8.41 (n)      18.19 (c)      (6.34     0.89       13.73       24.69  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                         

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)(h)

    0.37 (a)      0.37 (c)      0.38       0.39       0.35       0.33  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)(h)

    0.35 (a)      0.35 (c)      0.35       0.35       0.35       0.33  

Net investment income
(loss) (l)

    (0.35 )(a)      1.32 (c)      1.11       1.59       0.99       1.28  

Portfolio turnover

    0 (n)      3       3       4       2       2  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $347,794       $289,853       $230,042       $246,552       $212,909       $141,317  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

16


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Financial Highlights – continued

 

   

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R4     5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15     5/31/14     5/31/13  
                                 

Net asset value, beginning
of period

    $18.19       $15.70       $17.00       $17.04       $15.11       $12.24  
Income (loss) from investment operations                          

Net investment income
(loss) (d)(l)

    $(0.01     $0.26 (c)      $0.20       $0.31       $0.23       $0.22  

Net realized and unrealized
gain (loss)

    1.57       2.57       (1.24     (0.12     1.88       2.83  

Total from investment
operations

    $1.56       $2.83       $(1.04     $0.19       $2.11       $3.05  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                          

From net investment
income

    $—       $(0.34     $(0.26     $(0.23     $(0.18     $(0.18

Net asset value, end of
period (x)

    $19.75       $18.19       $15.70       $17.00       $17.04       $15.11  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

    8.58 (n)      18.42 (c)      (6.11     1.23       13.97       24.98  
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
                         

Expenses before expense
reductions (f)(h)

    0.12 (a)      0.12 (c)      0.13       0.14       0.11       0.08  

Expenses after expense
reductions (f)(h)

    0.10 (a)      0.10 (c)      0.10       0.10       0.10       0.08  

Net investment income
(loss) (l)

    (0.10 )(a)      1.57 (c)      1.30       1.86       1.43       1.56  

Portfolio turnover

    0 (n)      3       3       4       2       2  

Net assets at end of period
(000 omitted)

    $893,864       $829,724       $506,597       $467,961       $328,533       $142,166  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

17


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Financial Highlights – continued

 

Class R6   

Six months

ended

11/30/17 (i)

 

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $19.09  
Income (loss) from investment operations         

Net investment income (loss) (d)(l)

     $0.00 (w) 

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     0.72  

Total from investment operations

     $0.72  
Less distributions declared to shareholders         

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $19.81  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     3.77 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
        

Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)

     0.02 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     0.00 (a) 

Net investment income (loss) (l)

     0.00 (a)(w) 

Portfolio turnover

     0 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $73,043  

 

(a) Annualized.
(c) Amount reflects a one-time reimbursement of expenses by the custodian (or former custodian) without which net investment income and performance would be lower and expenses would be higher.
(d) Per share data is based on average shares outstanding.
(f) Ratios do not reflect reductions from fees paid indirectly, if applicable.
(h) In addition to the fees and expenses which the fund bears directly, the fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of the underlying affiliated funds in which the fund invests. Accordingly, the expense ratio for the fund reflects only those fees and expenses borne directly by the fund. Because the underlying affiliated funds have varied expense and fee levels and the fund may own different proportions of the underlying affiliated funds at different times, the amount of fees and expenses incurred indirectly by the fund will vary.
(i) For the period from the class inception, October 2, 2017, through the stated period end.
(l) Recognition of net investment income by the fund may be affected by the timing of the declaration of dividends by the underlying affiliated funds in which the fund invests. The ratios and per share amounts do not include net investment income of the underlying affiliated funds in which the fund invests.
(n) Not annualized.
(r) Certain expenses have been reduced without which performance would have been lower.
(s) From time to time the fund may receive proceeds from litigation settlements, without which performance would be lower.
(t) Total returns do not include any applicable sales charges.
(w) Per share amount was less than $0.01 and total return or ratio was less than 0.01%, as applicable.
(x) The net asset values and total returns have been calculated on net assets which include adjustments made in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles required at period end for financial reporting purposes.

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

18


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NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(unaudited)

(1) Business and Organization

MFS International Diversification Fund (the fund) is a diversified series of MFS Series Trust X (the trust). The trust is organized as a Massachusetts business trust and is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, as an open-end management investment company.

The fund is an investment company and accordingly follows the investment company accounting and reporting guidance of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification Topic 946 Financial Services – Investment Companies.

(2) Significant Accounting Policies

General – The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of increases and decreases in net assets from operations during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. In the preparation of these financial statements, management has evaluated subsequent events occurring after the date of the fund’s Statement of Assets and Liabilities through the date that the financial statements were issued.

The fund is a “fund of funds”, which invests the majority of its assets in other MFS mutual funds (underlying funds), which may have different fiscal year ends than the fund. The underlying funds, in turn, may engage in a number of investment techniques and practices, which involve certain risks. Certain underlying funds can invest in foreign securities, including securities of emerging market issuers. Investments in foreign securities are vulnerable to the effects of changes in the relative values of the local currency and the U.S. dollar and to the effects of changes in each country’s legal, political, and economic environment. The markets of emerging markets countries are generally more volatile than the markets of developed countries with more mature economies. All of the risks of investing in foreign securities previously described are heightened when investing in emerging markets countries.

The accounting policies of the underlying funds in which the fund invests are outlined in the underlying funds’ shareholder reports, which are available without charge by calling 1-800-225-2606, at mfs.com and on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) web site at http://www.sec.gov or at the SEC’s public reference room in Washington, D.C. The underlying funds’ shareholder reports are not covered by this report.

The investment objective of each of the international stock funds held by the fund at November 30, 2017 was to seek capital appreciation.

In October 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released its Final Rule on Investment Company Reporting Modernization (the “Rule”). The Rule, which introduced two new regulatory reporting forms for investment companies – Form N-PORT and Form N-CEN – also contained amendments to Regulation S-X which impact financial statement presentation, particularly the presentation of derivative

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

investments, for all reporting periods ending after August 1, 2017. The fund has adopted the Rule’s Regulation S-X amendments and believes that the fund’s financial statements are in compliance with those amendments.

Investment ValuationsOpen-end investment companies (underlying funds) are generally valued at their net asset value per share. The investments of underlying funds managed by the adviser are valued as described below. For purposes of this policy disclosure, “fund” also refers to the underlying funds in which the fund-of-funds invests.

Equity securities, including restricted equity securities, are generally valued at the last sale or official closing price on their primary market or exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Equity securities, for which there were no sales reported that day, are generally valued at the last quoted daily bid quotation on their primary market or exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Equity securities held short, for which there were no sales reported for that day, are generally valued at the last quoted daily ask quotation on their primary market or exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Debt instruments and floating rate loans, including restricted debt instruments, are generally valued at an evaluated or composite bid as provided by a third-party pricing service. Short-term instruments with a maturity at issuance of 60 days or less may be valued at amortized cost, which approximates market value. Exchange-traded options are generally valued at the last sale or official closing price on their primary exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Exchange-traded options for which there were no sales reported that day are generally valued at the last daily bid quotation on their primary exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Options not traded on an exchange are generally valued at a broker/dealer bid quotation. Foreign currency options are generally valued at valuations provided by a third-party pricing service. Futures contracts are generally valued at last posted settlement price on their primary exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Futures contracts for which there were no trades that day for a particular position are generally valued at the closing bid quotation on their primary exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Forward foreign currency exchange contracts are generally valued at the mean of bid and asked prices for the time period interpolated from rates provided by a third-party pricing service for proximate time periods. Swap agreements are generally valued at valuations provided by a third-party pricing service, which for cleared swaps includes an evaluation of any trading activity at the clearinghouses. Open-end investment companies are generally valued at net asset value per share. Securities and other assets generally valued on the basis of information from a third-party pricing service may also be valued at a broker/dealer bid quotation. Values obtained from third-party pricing services can utilize both transaction data and market information such as yield, quality, coupon rate, maturity, type of issue, trading characteristics, and other market data. The values of foreign securities and other assets and liabilities expressed in foreign currencies are converted to U.S. dollars using the mean of bid and asked prices for rates provided by a third-party pricing service.

The Board of Trustees has delegated primary responsibility for determining or causing to be determined the value of the fund’s investments (including any fair valuation) to the adviser pursuant to valuation policies and procedures approved by the Board. If the adviser determines that reliable market quotations are not readily available, investments

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

are valued at fair value as determined in good faith by the adviser in accordance with such procedures under the oversight of the Board of Trustees. Under the fund’s valuation policies and procedures, market quotations are not considered to be readily available for most types of debt instruments and floating rate loans and many types of derivatives. These investments are generally valued at fair value based on information from third-party pricing services. In addition, investments may be valued at fair value if the adviser determines that an investment’s value has been materially affected by events occurring after the close of the exchange or market on which the investment is principally traded (such as foreign exchange or market) and prior to the determination of the fund’s net asset value, or after the halting of trading of a specific security where trading does not resume prior to the close of the exchange or market on which the security is principally traded. Events that occur on a frequent basis after foreign markets close (such as developments in foreign markets and significant movements in the U.S. markets) and prior to the determination of the fund’s net asset value may be deemed to have a material effect on the value of securities traded in foreign markets. Accordingly, the fund’s foreign equity securities may often be valued at fair value. The adviser generally relies on third-party pricing services or other information (such as the correlation with price movements of similar securities in the same or other markets; the type, cost and investment characteristics of the security; the business and financial condition of the issuer; and trading and other market data) to assist in determining whether to fair value and at what value to fair value an investment. The value of an investment for purposes of calculating the fund’s net asset value can differ depending on the source and method used to determine value. When fair valuation is used, the value of an investment used to determine the fund’s net asset value may differ from quoted or published prices for the same investment. There can be no assurance that the fund could obtain the fair value assigned to an investment if it were to sell the investment at the same time at which the fund determines its net asset value per share.

Various inputs are used in determining the value of the fund’s assets or liabilities. These inputs are categorized into three broad levels. In certain cases, the inputs used to measure fair value may fall into different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In such cases, an investment’s level within the fair value hierarchy is based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement. The fund’s assessment of the significance of a particular input to the fair value measurement in its entirety requires judgment, and considers factors specific to the investment. Level 1 includes unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. Level 2 includes other significant observable market-based inputs (including quoted prices for similar securities, interest rates, prepayment speed, and credit risk). Level 3 includes unobservable inputs, which may include the adviser’s own assumptions in determining the fair value of investments. The following is a summary of the levels used as of November 30, 2017 in valuing the fund’s assets or liabilities:

 

Financial Instruments    Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  
Mutual Funds      $9,952,295,156        $—        $—        $9,952,295,156  

For further information regarding security characteristics, see the Portfolio of Investments. Please refer to the underlying funds’ shareholder reports for further information regarding the levels used in valuing the underlying funds’ assets or liabilities.

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

Derivatives – The fund does not invest in derivatives directly. The fund does invest in underlying funds that may use derivatives for different purposes, primarily to increase or decrease exposure to a particular market or segment of the market, or security, to increase or decrease interest rate or currency exposure, or as alternatives to direct investments. Derivatives are used for hedging or non-hedging purposes. While hedging can reduce or eliminate losses, it can also reduce or eliminate gains. When the underlying funds use derivatives as an investment to increase market exposure, or for hedging purposes, gains and losses from derivative instruments may be substantially greater than the derivative’s original cost.

Indemnifications – Under the fund’s organizational documents, its officers and Trustees may be indemnified against certain liabilities and expenses arising out of the performance of their duties to the fund. Additionally, in the normal course of business, the fund enters into agreements with service providers that may contain indemnification clauses. The fund’s maximum exposure under these agreements is unknown as this would involve future claims that may be made against the fund that have not yet occurred.

Investment Transactions and Income – Investment transactions are recorded on the trade date. Interest income is recorded on the accrual basis. All premium and discount is amortized or accreted for financial statement purposes in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Distributions of income and capital gains from the underlying funds are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Recognition of net investment income by the fund is affected by the timing of the declaration of distributions by the underlying funds in which the fund invests. In determining the net gain or loss on securities sold, the cost of securities is determined on the identified cost basis.

The fund and/or the underlying funds may receive proceeds from litigation settlements. Any proceeds received from litigation involving portfolio holdings are reflected in the Statement of Operations in realized gain/loss if the security has been disposed of by the fund or in unrealized gain/loss if the security is still held by the fund. Any other proceeds from litigation not related to portfolio holdings are reflected as other income in the Statement of Operations.

Tax Matters and Distributions – The fund intends to qualify as a regulated investment company, as defined under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code, and to distribute all of its taxable income, including realized capital gains. As a result, no provision for federal income tax is required. The fund’s federal tax returns, when filed, will remain subject to examination by the Internal Revenue Service for a three year period. Management has analyzed the fund’s tax positions taken on federal and state tax returns for all open tax years and does not believe that there are any uncertain tax positions that require recognition of a tax liability.

Distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Income and capital gain distributions are determined in accordance with income tax regulations, which may differ from U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Certain capital accounts in the financial statements are periodically adjusted for permanent differences in order to reflect their tax character. These adjustments have no impact on net assets or net asset value per share. Temporary differences which arise from recognizing certain items

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

of income, expense, gain or loss in different periods for financial statement and tax purposes will reverse at some time in the future. Distributions in excess of net investment income or net realized gains are temporary overdistributions for financial statement purposes resulting from differences in the recognition or classification of income or distributions for financial statement and tax purposes.

Book/tax differences primarily relate to wash sale loss deferrals.

The tax character of distributions declared to shareholders for the last fiscal year is as follows:

 

     Year ended
5/31/17
 
Ordinary income (including any
short-term capital gains)
     $109,200,234  

The federal tax cost and the tax basis components of distributable earnings were as follows:

 

As of 11/30/17       
Cost of investments      $8,059,090,647  
Gross appreciation      1,893,206,103  
Gross depreciation      (1,594
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation)      $1,893,204,509  
As of 5/31/17       
Undistributed ordinary income      27,390,566  
Capital loss carryforwards      (12,901,776
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation)      1,168,410,495  

The aggregate cost above includes prior fiscal year end tax adjustments, if applicable.

Under the Regulated Investment Company Modernization Act of 2010 (the “Act”), net capital losses recognized for fund fiscal years beginning after May 31, 2011 may be carried forward indefinitely, and their character is retained as short-term and/or long-term losses (“post-enactment losses”). Previously, net capital losses were carried forward for eight years and treated as short-term losses (“pre-enactment losses”). As a transition rule, the Act requires that all post-enactment net capital losses be used before pre-enactment net capital losses.

As of May 31, 2017, the fund had capital loss carryforwards available to offset future realized gains. Such pre-enactment losses expire as follows:

 

5/31/19      $(12,901,776

Multiple Classes of Shares of Beneficial Interest – The fund offers multiple classes of shares, which differ in their respective distribution and service fees. The fund’s income, realized and unrealized gain (loss), and common expenses are allocated to shareholders based on the daily net assets of each class. Dividends are declared separately for each class. Differences in per share dividend rates are generally due to differences in separate class expenses. Class B shares will convert to Class A shares approximately eight years after purchase. Effective April 23, 2018, Class C will convert to Class A shares approximately ten years after purchase. Any shares with an original

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

purchase date of April 30, 2008 or earlier will automatically convert to Class A shares on April 23, 2018. The fund’s distributions declared to shareholders as reported in the Statements of Changes in Net Assets are presented by class as follows:

 

     From net investment
income
 
     Six months
ended
11/30/17
     Year
ended
5/31/17
 
Class A      $—        $42,843,397  
Class B             339,388  
Class C             5,091,111  
Class I             41,038,449  
Class R1             88,451  
Class R2             1,076,408  
Class R3             4,828,840  
Class R4             13,894,190  
Total      $—        $109,200,234  

(3) Transactions with Affiliates

Investment Adviser – The fund has an investment advisory agreement with MFS to provide overall investment management and related administrative services and facilities to the fund. MFS receives no compensation under this agreement; however MFS receives management fees from the underlying MFS funds.

The investment adviser has agreed in writing to pay a portion of the fund’s operating expenses, excluding distribution and service fees, program manager fees, interest, taxes, extraordinary expenses, brokerage and transaction costs and investment-related expenses, such that fund operating expenses do not exceed 0.10% annually of the class’ average daily net assets for each of Class A, Class B, Class C, Class I, Class R1, Class R2, Class R3, and Class R4 shares, and 0.00% annually of the class’ average daily net assets for Class R6 shares. This written agreement will continue until modified by the fund’s Board of Trustees, but such agreement will continue at least until September 30, 2018. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, this reduction amounted to $1,057,104, which is included in the reduction of total expenses in the Statement of Operations.

In addition to the fees and expenses which the fund bears directly, the fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of the underlying funds in which the fund invests. Accordingly, the expense ratio for the fund reflects only those fees and expenses borne directly by the fund.

Distributor – MFS Fund Distributors, Inc. (MFD), a wholly-owned subsidiary of MFS, as distributor, received $583,871 for the six months ended November 30, 2017, as its portion of the initial sales charge on sales of Class A shares of the fund.

The Board of Trustees has adopted a distribution plan for certain share classes pursuant to Rule 12b-1 of the Investment Company Act of 1940.

The fund’s distribution plan provides that the fund will pay MFD for services provided by MFD and financial intermediaries in connection with the distribution and servicing of

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

certain share classes. One component of the plan is a distribution fee paid to MFD and another component of the plan is a service fee paid to MFD. MFD may subsequently pay all, or a portion, of the distribution and/or service fees to financial intermediaries.

Distribution Plan Fee Table:

 

     Distribution
Fee Rate (d)
     Service
Fee Rate (d)
     Total
Distribution
Plan (d)
     Annual
Effective
Rate (e)
     Distribution
and Service
Fee
 
Class A             0.25%        0.25%        0.25%        $2,391,997  
Class B      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        174,659  
Class C      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        2,480,690  
Class R1      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        43,459  
Class R2      0.25%        0.25%        0.50%        0.50%        187,780  
Class R3             0.25%        0.25%        0.25%        418,393  
Total Distribution and Service Fees              $5,696,978  

 

(d) In accordance with the distribution plan for certain classes, the fund pays distribution and/or service fees equal to these annual percentage rates of each class’s average daily net assets. The distribution and service fee rates disclosed by class represent the current rates in effect at the end of the reporting period. Any rate changes, if applicable, are detailed below.
(e) The annual effective rates represent actual fees incurred under the distribution plan for the six months ended November 30, 2017 based on each class’s average daily net assets. MFD has voluntarily agreed to rebate a portion of each class’s 0.25% service fee attributable to accounts for which MFD retains the 0.25% service fee except for accounts attributable to MFS or its affiliates’ seed money. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, this rebate amounted to $3,767, $45 ,$234, $1 and $29 for Class A, Class B, Class C, Class R1, and Class R2, respectively, and is included in the reduction of total expenses in the Statement of Operations.

Certain Class A shares are subject to a contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) in the event of a shareholder redemption within 18 months of purchase. Class C shares are subject to a CDSC in the event of a shareholder redemption within 12 months of purchase. Class B shares are subject to a CDSC in the event of a shareholder redemption within six years of purchase. All contingent deferred sales charges are paid to MFD and during the six months ended November 30, 2017, were as follows:

 

     Amount  
Class A      $18,204  
Class B      15,239  
Class C      23,580  

Shareholder Servicing Agent – Effective September 28, 2017, MFS Service Center, Inc. (MFSC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of MFS, receives a fee from the fund for its services as shareholder servicing agent calculated as a percentage of the average daily net assets of the fund as determined periodically under the supervision of the funds’ Board of Trustees. For the period from September 28, 2017 through November 30, 2017, the fee was $72,090 which equated to 0.0016%.

Effective September 28, 2017, MFSC also receives payment from the fund for out-of-pocket expenses, sub-accounting and other shareholder servicing costs which may be paid to affiliated and unaffiliated service providers. Class R6 shares do not incur

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

sub-accounting fees. For the period from September 28, 2017 through November 30, 2017, these out-of-pocket expenses, sub-accounting and other shareholder servicing costs amounted to $1,690,302.

Prior to September 28, 2017, under a Special Servicing Agreement among MFS, certain MFS funds which invest in other MFS funds (“MFS fund-of-funds”) and certain underlying funds in which a MFS fund-of-funds invests (“underlying funds”), each underlying fund paid a portion of each MFS fund-of-funds’ transfer agent-related expenses, including out-of-pocket and sub-accounting fees, to the extent such payments do not exceed the benefits realized or expected to be realized by the underlying fund from the investment in the underlying fund by the MFS fund-of-funds. Effective September 28, 2017, the fund was removed from the Special Servicing Agreement. For the period from June 1, 2017 through September 27, 2017, these costs for the fund amounted to $3,046,701 and are included in “Shareholder servicing costs” in the Statement of Operations.

Administrator – MFS provides certain financial, legal, shareholder communications, compliance, and other administrative services to the fund. Under an administrative services agreement, the fund reimburses MFS the costs incurred to provide these services. The fund pays an annual fixed amount of $17,500. The administrative services fee incurred for the six months ended November 30, 2017 was equivalent to an annual effective rate of 0.0002% of the fund’s average daily net assets.

Trustees’ and Officers’ Compensation – The fund pays compensation to independent Trustees in the form of a retainer, attendance fees, and additional compensation to Board and Committee chairpersons. The fund does not pay compensation directly to Trustees or officers of the fund who are also officers of the investment adviser, all of whom receive remuneration for their services to the fund from MFS. Certain officers and Trustees of the fund are officers or directors of MFS, MFD, and MFSC.

Other – This fund and certain other funds managed by MFS (the funds) have entered into a service agreement (the ISO Agreement) which provides for payment of fees solely by the funds to Tarantino LLC in return for the provision of services of an Independent Senior Officer (ISO) for the funds. Frank L. Tarantino serves as the ISO and is an officer of the funds and the sole member of Tarantino LLC. The funds can terminate the ISO Agreement with Tarantino LLC at any time under the terms of the ISO Agreement. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fee paid by the fund under this agreement was $7,168 and is included in “Miscellaneous” expense in the Statement of Operations. MFS has agreed to bear all expenses associated with office space, other administrative support, and supplies provided to the ISO.

The fund invests in the MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio which is managed by MFS and seeks current income consistent with preservation of capital and liquidity. This money market fund does not pay a management fee to MFS.

(4) Portfolio Securities

For the six months ended November 30, 2017, purchases and sales of shares of underlying funds aggregated $1,586,464,278 and $38,608,781, respectively.

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

(5) Shares of Beneficial Interest

The fund’s Declaration of Trust permits the Trustees to issue an unlimited number of full and fractional shares of beneficial interest. Transactions in fund shares were as follows:

 

     Six months ended
11/30/17
    Year ended
5/31/17
 
     Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount  
Shares sold         

Class A

     13,397,748       $250,677,933       38,938,295       $630,066,211  

Class B

     184,806       3,405,019       246,915       3,977,346  

Class C

     4,373,548       79,879,213       4,890,858       77,962,860  

Class I

     91,619,620       1,733,054,491       197,372,499       3,216,726,990  

Class R1

     28,791       516,576       188,046       2,921,639  

Class R2

     503,576       9,204,381       1,694,035       26,814,629  

Class R3

     4,464,053       81,175,206       6,264,373       99,674,509  

Class R4

     6,465,568       121,012,876       20,821,787       333,879,840  

Class R6

     3,688,507       71,818,084              

Class 529A

                 12,652       194,288  

Class 529B

                 136       2,055  

Class 529C

                 5,674       85,365  
     124,726,217       $2,350,743,779       270,435,270       $4,392,305,732  
Shares issued to shareholders in
reinvestment of distributions
        

Class A

           $—       2,707,880       $41,295,164  

Class B

                 21,275       321,463  

Class C

                 289,220       4,323,841  

Class I

                 2,278,490       35,065,962  

Class R1

                 6,005       88,451  

Class R2

                 45,983       690,210  

Class R3

                 318,735       4,828,840  

Class R4

                 842,755       12,927,863  
                                  
           $—       6,510,343       $99,541,794  
Shares reacquired         

Class A

     (9,315,509     $(174,425,838     (94,956,712     $(1,515,823,346

Class B

     (241,566     (4,468,787     (685,074     (10,889,260

Class C

     (2,842,819     (51,572,478     (8,795,685     (140,649,319

Class I

     (19,514,696     (369,503,349     (37,192,749     (605,920,301

Class R1

     (62,554     (1,120,685     (208,097     (3,235,051

Class R2

     (682,823     (12,578,058     (1,529,276     (24,261,319

Class R3

     (2,741,751     (50,660,196     (5,280,427     (84,646,715

Class R4

     (6,816,372     (129,929,029     (8,325,450     (135,451,214

Class R6

     (2,090     (41,123            

Class 529A

                 (450,093     (7,037,286

Class 529B

                 (25,112     (388,583

Class 529C

                 (164,158     (2,502,495
     (42,220,180     $(794,299,543     (157,612,833     $(2,530,804,889

 

27


Table of Contents

Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

     Six months ended
11/30/17
    Year ended
5/31/17
 
     Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount  
Net change         

Class A

     4,082,239       $76,252,095       (53,310,537     $(844,461,971

Class B

     (56,760     (1,063,768     (416,884     (6,590,451

Class C

     1,530,729       28,306,735       (3,615,607     (58,362,618

Class I

     72,104,924       1,363,551,142       162,458,240       2,645,872,651  

Class R1

     (33,763     (604,109     (14,046     (224,961

Class R2

     (179,247     (3,373,677     210,742       3,243,520  

Class R3

     1,722,302       30,515,010       1,302,681       19,856,634  

Class R4

     (350,804     (8,916,153     13,339,092       211,356,489  

Class R6

     3,686,417       71,776,961              

Class 529A

                 (437,441     (6,842,998

Class 529B

                 (24,976     (386,528

Class 529C

                 (158,484     (2,417,130
     82,506,037       $1,556,444,236       119,332,780       $1,961,042,637  

Effective July 15, 2016 Class 529A, Class 529B and Class 529C closed. Class T shares were not publicly available for sale during the period. Please see the fund’s prospectus for details.

(6) Line of Credit

The fund and certain other funds managed by MFS participate in a $1.25 billion unsecured committed line of credit, subject to a $1 billion sublimit, provided by a syndication of banks under a credit agreement. Borrowings may be made for temporary financing needs. Interest is charged to each fund, based on its borrowings, generally at a rate equal to the higher of the Overnight Federal Reserve funds rate or daily one month LIBOR plus an agreed upon spread. A commitment fee, based on the average daily, unused portion of the committed line of credit, is allocated among the participating funds at the end of each calendar quarter. In addition, the fund and other funds managed by MFS have established unsecured uncommitted borrowing arrangements with certain banks for temporary financing needs. Interest is charged to each fund, based on its borrowings, at a rate equal to the Overnight Federal Reserve funds rate plus an agreed upon spread. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fund’s commitment fee and interest expense were $24,031 and $0, respectively, and are included in “Miscellaneous” expense in the Statement of Operations.

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

(7) Investments in Affiliated Issuers – An affiliated issuer may be considered one in which the fund owns 5% or more of the outstanding voting securities, or a company which is under common control. For the purposes of this report, the fund assumes the following to be affiliated issuers:

 

Affiliated Issuers         

Beginning

Shares/Par

Amount

    Acquisitions
Shares/Par
Amount
    Dispositions
Shares/Par
Amount
   

Ending

Shares/Par
Amount

 
MFS Emerging Markets Equity Fund       23,898,489       4,163,075       (506,298     27,555,266  
MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio       18,120,933       208,061,239       (209,178,550     17,003,622  
MFS International Growth Fund       61,395,716       11,742,137       (162,181     72,975,672  
MFS International New Discovery Fund       23,329,998       4,625,914       (171,948     27,783,964  
MFS International Value Fund       46,577,607       10,127,164       (114,277     56,590,494  
MFS Research International Fund       129,953,107       26,477,279       (293,221     156,137,165  
   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
      303,275,850       265,196,808       (210,426,475     358,046,183  
   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
Affiliated Issuers  

Realized

Gain (Loss)

   

Change in

Unrealized
Appreciation

(Depreciation)

    Capital Gain
Distributions
    Dividend
Income
   

Ending

Value

 
MFS Emerging Markets Equity Fund     $3,898,037       $90,314,824       $—       $—       $985,651,856  
MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio     (1,735     (1,594           94,294       17,001,922  
MFS International Growth Fund     2,235,825       192,927,704                   2,482,632,372  
MFS International New Discovery Fund     2,695,548       76,221,970                   994,943,773  
MFS International Value Fund     2,266,383       155,336,005                   2,488,284,015  
MFS Research International Fund     1,640,108       209,995,105                   2,983,781,218  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
    $12,734,166       $724,794,014       $—       $94,294       $9,952,295,156  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

29


Table of Contents

BOARD REVIEW OF INVESTMENT ADVISORY AGREEMENT

The Investment Company Act of 1940 requires that both the full Board of Trustees and a majority of the non-interested (“independent”) Trustees, voting separately, annually approve the continuation of the Fund’s investment advisory agreement with MFS. The Trustees consider matters bearing on the Fund and its advisory arrangements at their meetings throughout the year, including a review of performance data at each regular meeting. In addition, the independent Trustees met several times over the course of three months beginning in May and ending in July, 2017 (“contract review meetings”) for the specific purpose of considering whether to approve the continuation of the investment advisory agreement for the Fund and the other investment companies that the Board oversees (the “MFS Funds”). The independent Trustees were assisted in their evaluation of the Fund’s investment advisory agreement by independent legal counsel, from whom they received separate legal advice and with whom they met separately from MFS during various contract review meetings. The independent Trustees were also assisted in this process by the MFS Funds’ Independent Senior Officer, a senior officer appointed by and reporting to the independent Trustees.

In connection with their deliberations regarding the continuation of the investment advisory agreement, the Trustees, including the independent Trustees, considered such information and factors as they believed, in light of the legal advice furnished to them and their own business judgment, to be relevant. The investment advisory agreement for the Fund was considered separately, although the Trustees also took into account the common interests of all MFS Funds in their review. As described below, the Trustees considered the nature, quality, and extent of the various investment advisory, administrative, and shareholder services performed by MFS under the existing investment advisory agreement and other arrangements with the Fund.

In connection with their contract review meetings, the Trustees received and relied upon materials that included, among other items: (i) information provided by Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (“Broadridge”), an independent third party, on the investment performance of the Fund for various time periods ended December 31, 2016 and the investment performance of a group of funds with substantially similar investment classifications/objectives (the “Lipper performance universe”), (ii) information provided by Broadridge on the Fund’s fees and expenses and the fees and expenses of comparable funds identified by Broadridge (the “Broadridge expense group”), (iii) information as to whether and to what extent applicable expense waivers and reimbursements are observed for the Fund, (iv) information regarding MFS’ financial results and financial condition, including MFS’ and certain of its affiliates’ estimated profitability from services performed for the Fund and the MFS Funds as a whole, and compared to MFS’ institutional business, (v) MFS’ views regarding the outlook for the mutual fund industry and the strategic business plans of MFS, (vi) descriptions of various functions performed by MFS for the Funds, such as compliance monitoring and portfolio trading practices, and (vii) information regarding the overall organization of MFS, including information about MFS’ senior management and other personnel providing investment advisory, administrative and other services to the Fund and the other MFS Funds. The comparative performance, fee

 

30


Table of Contents

Board Review of Investment Advisory Agreement – continued

 

and expense information prepared and provided by Broadridge was not independently verified and the independent Trustees did not independently verify any information provided to them by MFS.

The Trustees’ conclusion as to the continuation of the investment advisory agreement was based on a comprehensive consideration of all information provided to the Trustees and not the result of any single factor. Some of the factors that figured particularly in the Trustees’ deliberations are described below, although individual Trustees may have evaluated the information presented differently from one another, giving different weights to various factors. It is also important to recognize that the fee arrangements for the Fund and other MFS Funds are the result of years of review and discussion between the independent Trustees and MFS, that certain aspects of such arrangements may receive greater scrutiny in some years than in others, and that the Trustees’ conclusions may be based, in part, on their consideration of these same arrangements during the course of the year and in prior years.

Based on information provided by Broadridge and MFS, the Trustees reviewed the Fund’s total return investment performance as well as the performance of peer groups of funds over various time periods. The Trustees placed particular emphasis on the total return performance of the Fund’s Class A shares in comparison to the performance of funds in its Lipper performance universe over the three-year period ended December 31, 2016, which the Trustees believed was a long enough period to reflect differing market conditions. The total return performance of the Fund’s Class A shares was in the 2nd quintile relative to the other funds in the universe for this three-year period (the 1st quintile being the best performers and the 5th quintile being the worst performers). The total return performance of the Fund’s Class A shares was in the 2nd quintile for the one-year period and the 3rd quintile for the five-year period ended December 31, 2016 relative to the Lipper performance universe. Because of the passage of time, these performance results may differ from the performance results for more recent periods, including those shown elsewhere in this report.

In the course of their deliberations, the Trustees took into account information provided by MFS in connection with the contract review meetings, as well as during investment review meetings conducted with portfolio management personnel during the course of the year regarding the Fund’s performance. After reviewing these and related factors, the Trustees concluded, within the context of their overall conclusions regarding the investment advisory agreement, that they were satisfied with MFS’ responses and efforts relating to investment performance.

The Trustees considered that MFS does not charge an advisory fee for providing investment advisory services to the Fund, but that the Fund pays its pro rata share of the advisory fees paid by the underlying funds in which it invests (the “Underlying Funds”).

In assessing the reasonableness of the Fund’s expenses, the Trustees considered, among other information, the total expense ratio of the Fund’s Class A shares as a percentage of average daily net assets and the total expense ratios of peer groups of funds based on information provided by Broadridge. The Trustees considered that MFS currently observes an expense limitation for the Fund, which may not be changed without the Trustees’ approval. The Trustees also considered that, according to the

 

31


Table of Contents

Board Review of Investment Advisory Agreement – continued

 

data provided by Broadridge (which takes into account any expense limitations that were in effect during the Fund’s last fiscal year), the Fund’s total expense ratio was lower than the Broadridge expense group median. Because the Fund does not pay an advisory fee, the Trustees did not consider the extent to which economies of scale would be realized due to the Fund’s growth of assets, whether fee levels reflect economies of scale for shareholders, or the fees paid by similar funds to other investment advisers or by similar clients of MFS.

The Trustees also considered information prepared by MFS relating to MFS’ costs and profits with respect to the Fund, the MFS Funds considered as a group, and other investment companies and accounts advised by MFS, as well as MFS’ methodologies used to determine and allocate its costs to the MFS Funds, the Fund and other accounts and products for purposes of estimating profitability.

In addition, the Trustees considered MFS’ resources and related efforts to continue to retain, attract and motivate capable personnel to serve the Fund. The Trustees also considered current and developing conditions in the financial services industry, including the presence of large and well-capitalized companies which are spending, and appear to be prepared to continue to spend, substantial sums to engage personnel and to provide services to competing investment companies. In this regard, the Trustees also considered the financial resources of MFS and its ultimate parent, Sun Life Financial Inc. The Trustees also considered the advantages and possible disadvantages to the Fund of having an adviser that also serves other investment companies as well as other accounts.

The Trustees also considered the nature, quality, cost, and extent of administrative, transfer agency, and distribution services provided to the Fund by MFS and its affiliates under agreements and plans other than the investment advisory agreement, including any 12b-1 fees the Fund pays to MFS Fund Distributors, Inc., an affiliate of MFS. The Trustees also considered the nature, extent and quality of certain other services MFS performs or arranges for on the Fund’s or the Underlying Funds’ behalf, which may include securities lending programs, directed expense payment programs, class action recovery programs, and MFS’ interaction with third-party service providers, principally custodians and sub-custodians. The Trustees concluded that the various non-advisory services provided by MFS and its affiliates on behalf of the Fund were satisfactory.

The Trustees also considered benefits to MFS from the use of the Underlying Funds’ portfolio brokerage commissions, if applicable, to pay for investment research and various other factors. Additionally, the Trustees considered so-called “fall-out benefits” to MFS such as reputational value derived from serving as investment manager to the Fund.

Based on their evaluation of factors that they deemed to be material, including those factors described above, the Board of Trustees, including the independent Trustees, concluded that the Fund’s investment advisory agreement with MFS should be continued for an additional one-year period, commencing August 1, 2017.

 

32


Table of Contents

PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND INFORMATION

MFS votes proxies on behalf of the fund pursuant to proxy voting policies and procedures that are available without charge, upon request, by calling 1-800-225-2606, by visiting mfs.com/proxyvoting, or by visiting the SEC’s Web site at http://www.sec.gov.

Information regarding how the fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the most recent twelve-month period ended June 30 is available by August 31 of each year without charge by visiting mfs.com/proxyvoting, or by visiting the SEC’s Web site at http://www.sec.gov.

QUARTERLY PORTFOLIO DISCLOSURE

The fund will file a complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission) for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-Q. A shareholder can obtain the quarterly portfolio holdings report at mfs.com. The fund’s Form N-Q is also available on the EDGAR database on the Commission’s Internet Web site at http://www.sec.gov, and may be reviewed and copied at the:

Public Reference Room

Securities and Exchange Commission

100 F Street, NE, Room 1580

Washington, D.C. 20549

Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling the Commission at 1-800-SEC-0330. Copies of the fund’s Form N-Q also may be obtained, upon payment of a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov or by writing the Public Reference Section at the above address.

FURTHER INFORMATION

From time to time, MFS may post important information about the fund or the MFS funds on the MFS web site (mfs.com). This information is available at https://www.mfs.com/en-us/what-we-do/announcements.html or at mfs.com/openendfunds by choosing the fund’s name.

 

33


Table of Contents

INFORMATION ABOUT FUND CONTRACTS AND LEGAL CLAIMS

The fund has entered into contractual arrangements with an investment adviser, administrator, distributor, shareholder servicing agent, 529 program manager (if applicable), and custodian who each provide services to the fund. Unless expressly stated otherwise, shareholders are not parties to, or intended beneficiaries of these contractual arrangements, and these contractual arrangements are not intended to create any shareholder right to enforce them against the service providers or to seek any remedy under them against the service providers, either directly or on behalf of the fund.

Under the Trust’s By-Laws and Declaration of Trust, any claims asserted against or on behalf of the MFS Funds, including claims against Trustees and Officers, must be brought in state and federal courts located within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

PROVISION OF FINANCIAL REPORTS AND SUMMARY PROSPECTUSES

The fund produces financial reports every six months and updates its summary prospectus and prospectus annually. To avoid sending duplicate copies of materials to households, only one copy of the fund’s annual and semiannual report and summary prospectus may be mailed to shareholders having the same last name and residential address on the fund’s records. However, any shareholder may contact MFSC (please see back cover for address and telephone number) to request that copies of these reports and summary prospectuses be sent personally to that shareholder.

 

34


Table of Contents

LOGO

 

Save paper with eDelivery.

 

LOGO

MFS® will send you prospectuses,

reports, and proxies directly via e-mail so you will get information faster with less mailbox clutter.

To sign up:

1. Go to mfs.com.

2. Log in via MFS® Access.

3. Select eDelivery.

If you own your MFS fund shares through a financial institution or a retirement plan, MFS® TALK, MFS® Access, or eDelivery may not be available to you.

 

CONTACT

WEB SITE

mfs.com

MFS TALK

1-800-637-8255

24 hours a day

ACCOUNT SERVICE AND LITERATURE

Shareholders

1-800-225-2606

Financial advisors

1-800-343-2829

Retirement plan services

1-800-637-1255

MAILING ADDRESS

MFS Service Center, Inc.

P.O. Box 55824

Boston, MA 02205-5824

OVERNIGHT MAIL

MFS Service Center, Inc.

c/o DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc.

30 Dan Road

Canton, MA 02021-2809

 


Table of Contents

SEMIANNUAL REPORT

November 30, 2017

 

LOGO

 

MFS® MANAGED WEALTH FUND

 

LOGO

 

MGW-SEM

 


Table of Contents

MFS® MANAGED WEALTH FUND

 

CONTENTS

 

Letter from the Executive Chairman     1  
Portfolio composition     2  
Expense table     5  
Portfolio of investments     7  
Statement of assets and liabilities     9  
Statement of operations     11  
Statements of changes in net assets     12  
Financial highlights     13  
Notes to financial statements     22  
Board review of investment advisory agreement     37  
Proxy voting policies and information     41  
Quarterly portfolio disclosure     41  
Further information     41  
Information about fund contracts and legal claims     42  
Provision of financial reports and summary prospectuses     42  
Contact information    back cover  

The report is prepared for the general information of shareholders.

It is authorized for distribution to prospective investors only when preceded or accompanied by a current prospectus.

 

NOT FDIC INSURED MAY LOSE VALUE NO BANK GUARANTEE



Table of Contents

LOGO

 

LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN

 

Dear Shareholders:

Most markets have proved resilient over the past year, despite uncertainty accompanying a new presidential administration in the United States and unease over

ongoing negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union regarding Brexit. U.S. share prices have reached new highs in recent months although the U.S. Federal Reserve has continued to gradually hike interest rates and has begun to shrink its balance sheet.

Globally, we’ve experienced a synchronized upturn in economic growth for more than a year. Despite the improvement in economic activity, there are few immediate signs of worrisome inflation amid muted wage gains around the world. Emerging market economies have been boosted in part by a weaker

U.S. dollar and are recovering despite lingering concerns over the potential for restrictive U.S. trade policies. Commodity markets have recovered somewhat in response to solid global demand and robust global trade, though not enough to rekindle inflation fears.

At MFS®, we believe having a disciplined, long-term investment approach through a full market cycle is essential to capturing the best opportunities while also managing risk. In our view, such a strategy, along with the professional guidance of a financial advisor, will help you reach your investment objectives.

Respectfully,

 

LOGO

Robert J. Manning

Executive Chairman

MFS Investment Management

January 16, 2018

The opinions expressed in this letter are subject to change and may not be relied upon for investment advice. No forecasts can be guaranteed.

 

1


Table of Contents

PORTFOLIO COMPOSITION

Portfolio structure

 

         

Active Security

Selection (a)

   

Derivative

Overlay
Positions (b)

    Net Market
Exposure (c)
 
Strategic Allocation                        
  MFS Growth Fund     31.4%                  
  MFS Value Fund     31.3%                  
    MFS Institutional International Equity Fund     30.8%                  
Market Exposure Overlay                        
  Mini MSCI EAFE Index Future DEC 2017             (24.1)%          
  Russell 1000 Mini Value Index Future DEC 2017             (24.4)%          
    Russell 1000 Mini Growth Index Future DEC 2017             (25.1)%          
Net Equity Exposure                     19.9%  
  S&P 500 Index Option 1950 PUT JAN 2018 (o)             (0.0)%          
  S&P 500 Index Option 2200 PUT DEC 2017             (0.1)%          
  S&P 500 Index Option 2375 PUT DEC 2017             (0.1)%          
    S&P 500 Index Option 2075 PUT JUN 2018             (0.4)%          
Standard & Poors Index Option PUT(s)                     (0.6)%  
  Russell 2000 Index Option 1200 PUT DEC 2017 (o)             (0.0)%          
  Russell 2000 Index Option 1230.00 PUT MAR 2018             (0.1)%          
    Russell 2000 Index Option 1190 PUT JUN 2018             (0.3)%          
Russell 2000 Index Option PUT(s)                     (0.4)%  

 

2


Table of Contents

Portfolio Composition – continued

 

         

Active Security

Selection (a)

   

Derivative

Overlay
Positions (b)

    Net Market
Exposure (c)
 
Downside Hedge(s)                     (1.0)%  
  S&P 500 Index Option 2250 PUT DEC 2017 (o)             0.0%          
Other Market Exposure(s) (o)                         0.0%  
Net Equivalent Equity Exposure         93.5%       (74.6)%       18.9%  
Cash   Cash & Cash Equivalents (d)                     6.5%  
    Other (e)                     74.6%  
Total Net Exposure Summary                     100.0%  

 

Top ten holdings (c)(l)  
Facebook, Inc., “A”     1.7%  
Nestle S.A.     1.7%  
Mircosoft Corp.     1.6%  
JPMorgan Chase & Co.     1.5%  
Amazon.com Inc     1.5%  
Philip Morris International Inc.     1.3%  
Alphabet Inc “A”     1.3%  
Mini MSCI EAFE Index Future JUN 2017     (24.1)%  
Russell 1000 Mini Value Index Future JUN 2017     (24.4)%  
Russell 1000 Mini Growth Index Future JUN 2017     (25.1)%  

 

(a) Represents the actively managed portion of the portfolio and for purposes of this presentation, components include the value of securities, less any securities sold short. The bond component will include any accrued interest amounts. This also reflects the equivalent exposure of certain derivative positions. These amounts may be negative from time to time.
(b) Represents the tactical overlay portion of the portfolio which is how the fund manages its exposure to markets and currencies through the use of derivative positions. Percentages reflect the equivalent exposure of those derivative positions.
(c) For purposes of this presentation, the components include the value of securities, less any securities sold short, and reflect the impact of the equivalent exposure of all derivative positions. These amounts may be negative from time to time. The bond component will include any accrued interest amounts.
(d) Cash & Cash Equivalents includes any cash, investments in money market funds, short term securities, and other assets less liabilities. Please see the Statement of Assets and Liabilities for additional information related to the fund’s cash position and other assets and liabilities.

 

3


Table of Contents

Portfolio Composition – continued

 

(e) Other includes currency derivatives and/or the offsetting of the leverage produced by the fund’s derivative positions, including payables and/or receivables of the finance leg of interest rate swaps and the unrealized gain or loss in connection with forward currency exchange contracts.
(l) For purposes of this presentation, the components include a look-through to the individual holdings within the underlying affiliated funds.
(o) Less than 0.1%.

Equivalent exposure is a calculated amount that translates the derivative position into a reasonable approximation of the amount of the underlying asset that the portfolio would have to hold at a given point in time to have the same price sensitivity that results from the portfolio’s ownership of the derivative contract. When dealing with derivatives, equivalent exposure is a more representative measure of the potential impact of a position on portfolio performance than value. The value of derivatives may be different.

Where the fund holds convertible bonds, they are treated as part of the equity portion of the portfolio.

Percentages are based on net assets as of November 30, 2017.

The portfolio is actively managed and current holdings may be different.

 

4


Table of Contents

EXPENSE TABLE

Fund expenses borne by the shareholders during the period, June 1, 2017 through November 30, 2017

As a shareholder of the fund, you incur two types of costs: (1) transaction costs, including sales charges (loads) on certain purchase or redemption payments, and (2) ongoing costs, including management fees; distribution and service (12b-1) fees; and other fund expenses. This example is intended to help you understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the fund and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds.

In addition to the fees and expenses which the fund bears directly, the fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of the underlying funds in which the fund invests. Because the underlying funds have varied expenses and fee levels and the fund may own different proportions of the underlying funds at different times, the amount of fees and expenses incurred indirectly by the fund will vary. If these transactional and indirect costs were included, your costs would have been higher.

The example is based on an investment of $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period June 1, 2017 through November 30, 2017.

Actual Expenses

The first line for each share class in the following table provides information about actual account values and actual expenses. You may use the information in this line, together with the amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you paid over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000 = 8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first line under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid During Period” to estimate the expenses you paid on your account during this period.

Hypothetical Example for Comparison Purposes

The second line for each share class in the following table provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the fund’s actual expense ratio and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses, which is not the fund’s actual return. The hypothetical account values and expenses may not be used to estimate the actual ending account balance or expenses you paid for the period. You may use this information to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the fund and other funds. To do so, compare this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of the other funds.

Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only and do not reflect any transactional costs, such as sales charges (loads). Therefore, the second line for each share class in the table is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds. In addition, if these transactional costs were included, your costs would have been higher.

 

5


Table of Contents

Expense Table – continued

 

 

Share
Class
       Annualized
Expense
Ratio
  Beginning
Account Value
6/01/17
 

Ending

Account Value
11/30/17

 

Expenses

Paid During

Period (p)

6/01/17-11/30/17

 
A   Actual   0.80%   $1,000.00   $1,010.85     $4.03  
  Hypothetical (h)   0.80%   $1,000.00   $1,021.06     $4.05  
B   Actual   1.66%   $1,000.00   $1,006.01     $8.35  
  Hypothetical (h)   1.66%   $1,000.00   $1,016.75     $8.39  
C   Actual   1.67%   $1,000.00   $1,006.04     $8.40  
  Hypothetical (h)   1.67%   $1,000.00   $1,016.70     $8.44  
I   Actual   0.67%   $1,000.00   $1,010.82     $3.38  
  Hypothetical (h)   0.67%   $1,000.00   $1,021.71     $3.40  
R1   Actual   1.66%   $1,000.00   $1,006.01     $8.35  
  Hypothetical (h)   1.66%   $1,000.00   $1,016.75     $8.39  
R2   Actual   1.16%   $1,000.00   $1,007.91     $5.84  
  Hypothetical (h)   1.16%   $1,000.00   $1,019.25     $5.87  
R3   Actual   0.91%   $1,000.00   $1,009.85     $4.58  
  Hypothetical (h)   0.91%   $1,000.00   $1,020.51     $4.61  
R4   Actual   0.66%   $1,000.00   $1,010.82     $3.33  
  Hypothetical (h)   0.66%   $1,000.00   $1,021.76     $3.35  
R6   Actual (i)   0.63%   $1,000.00   $1,006.86     $1.04  
  Hypothetical (h)   0.63%   $1,000.00   $1,021.91     $3.19  

 

(h) 5% class return per year before expenses.
(i) For the period from the class inception, October 2, 2017, through the stated period end.
(p) “Expenses Paid During Period” are equal to each class’s annualized expense ratio, as shown above, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 183/365 (to reflect the one-half year period), except for Actual Expenses of Class R6, which is multiplied by 60/365 (to reflect the period from the commencement of the class’s investment operations, October 2, 2017, through November 30, 2017). For Hypothetical Expenses paid, it is assumed that Class R6 was in existence for the entire six month period ended November 30, 2017. Expenses paid do not include any applicable sales charges (loads). If these transaction costs had been included, your costs would have been higher. In addition to the fees and expenses which the fund bears directly, the fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of the underlying funds in which the fund invests. If these indirect costs were included, your costs would have been higher.

Notes to Expense Table

Each class with a Rule 12b-1 service fee is subject to a rebate of a portion of such fee. Such rebates are included in the expense ratios above and are outside of the expense limitation arrangement. For Class A shares, this rebate reduced the expense ratio above by 0.12%. See Note 3 in the Notes to Financial Statements for additional information.

 

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Table of Contents

PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS

11/30/17 (unaudited)

The Portfolio of Investments is a complete list of all securities owned by your fund. It is categorized by broad-based asset classes.

 

Investment Companies (h) - 97.9%  
Issuer     Shares/Par     Value ($)  
International Stock Funds - 30.8%  
MFS Institutional International Equity Fund       276,533     $ 7,079,254  
U.S. Stock Funds - 62.7%  
MFS Value Fund - Class R6       173,575     $ 7,199,894  
MFS Growth Fund - Class R6       74,012       7,229,494  
      $ 14,429,388  
Money Market Funds - 4.4%  
MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio, 1.19% (v)       1,019,367     $ 1,019,265  
Total Investment Companies (Identified Cost, $17,285,660)     $ 22,527,907  
Underlying/Expiration
Date/Exercise Price
   Put/
Call
    Counterparty     Notional
Amount
    Number
of
Contracts
        
Purchased Options - 0.1%  
Market Index Securities - 0.1%  
Russell 2000 Index - December 2017 @ $1,200      Put       Exchange traded     $ 1,698,555       11     $ 110  
Russell 2000 Index - March 2018 @ $1,230      Put       Exchange traded       1,235,313       8       1,000  
Russell 2000 Index - June 2018 @ $1,190      Put       Exchange traded       1,235,313       8       5,760  
S&P 500 Index - December 2017 @ $2,375      Put       Exchange traded       1,323,790       5       325  
S&P 500 Index - December 2017 @ $1,950      Put       Exchange traded       2,382,822       9       45  
S&P 500 Index - January 2018 @ $2,200      Put       Exchange traded       794,274       3       375  
S&P 500 Index - June 2018 @ $2,075      Put       Exchange traded       1,588,548       6       7,572  
Total Purchased Options (Premiums Paid, $105,492)     $ 15,187  
Written Options (see table below) - 0.0%  
(Premiums Received, $4,885)             $ (175
Other Assets, Less Liabilities - 2.0%               467,128  
Net Assets - 100.0%             $ 23,010,222  

 

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Table of Contents

Portfolio of Investments – continued

 

 

(h) An affiliated issuer may be considered one in which the fund owns 5% or more of the outstanding voting securities, or a company which is under common control. At period end, the aggregate values of the fund’s investments in affiliated issuers and in unaffiliated issuers were $22,527,907 and $15,187, respectively.
(v) Affiliated issuer that is available only to investment companies managed by MFS. The rate quoted for the MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio is the annualized seven-day yield of the fund at period end.

Derivative Contracts at 11/30/17

Written Options

 

Underlying   Put/
Call
     Counterparty   Number
of
Contracts
  Notional
Amount
    Exercise
Price
    Expiration
Date
    Value  
Liability Derivatives    
Equity Options        
S&P 500 Index     Put      Merrill Lynch, Pierce Fenner & Smith Inc.   5     $1,323,790       $2,250       December 2017       $(175

Futures Contracts

 

Description   Long/
Short
    Currency     Contracts   Notional
Amount
    Expiration
Date
    Value/
Unrealized
Appreciation
(Depreciation)
 
Liability Derivatives            
Equity Futures            
Mini MSCI EAFE Index     Short       USD     55     $5,552,800       December - 2017       $(190,990
Russell 1000 Mini Value Index     Short       USD     93     5,616,270       December - 2017       (374,669
Russell 1000 Mini Growth Index     Short       USD     86     5,774,900       December - 2017       (446,443
           

 

 

 
              $(1,012,102
           

 

 

 

At November 30, 2017, the fund had cash collateral of $599,850 to cover any collateral or margin obligations for derivative contracts. Restricted cash and deposits with brokers in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities is comprised of cash collateral.

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

8


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

 

STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

At 11/30/17 (unaudited)

This statement represents your fund’s balance sheet, which details the assets and liabilities comprising the total value of the fund.

 

Assets         

Investments in unaffiliated issuers, at value (identified cost, $105,492)

     $15,187  

Investments in affiliated issuers, at value (identified cost, $17,285,660)

     22,527,907  

Deposits with brokers for futures contracts

     599,850  

Receivables for

  

Investments sold

     33,496  

Fund shares sold

     5  

Receivable from investment adviser

     16,428  

Receivable from distributor

     719  

Total assets

     $23,193,592  
Liabilities         

Payable to custodian

     $1,000  

Payables for

  

Daily variation margin on open futures contracts

     96,419  

Fund shares reacquired

     25,000  

Written options outstanding, at value (premiums received, $4,885)

     175  

Payable to affiliates

  

Shareholder servicing costs

     7,142  

Payable for independent Trustees’ compensation

     42  

Accrued expenses and other liabilities

     53,592  

Total liabilities

     $183,370  

Net assets

     $23,010,222  
Net assets consist of         

Paid-in capital

     $23,311,433  

Unrealized appreciation (depreciation)

     4,144,550  

Accumulated net realized gain (loss)

     (4,615,686

Undistributed net investment income

     169,925  

Net assets

     $23,010,222  

Shares of beneficial interest outstanding

     2,244,042  

 

9


Table of Contents

Statement of Assets and Liabilities (unaudited) – continued

 

     Net assets      Shares
outstanding
     Net asset value
per share (a)
 

Class A

     $4,147,192        404,685        $10.25  

Class B

     62,257        6,203        10.04  

Class C

     1,306,564        130,783        9.99  

Class I

     17,232,948        1,676,774        10.28  

Class R1

     52,057        5,187        10.04  

Class R2

     52,685        5,169        10.19  

Class R3

     52,949        5,166        10.25  

Class R4

     53,224        5,178        10.28  

Class R6

     50,346        4,897        10.28  

 

(a) Maximum offering price per share was equal to the net asset value per share for all share classes, except for Class A, for which the maximum offering price per share was $10.87 [100 / 94.25 x $10.25]. On sales of $50,000 or more, the maximum offering price of Class A shares is reduced. A contingent deferred sales charge may be imposed on redemptions of Class A, Class B, and Class C shares. Redemption price per share was equal to the net asset value per share for Classes I, R1, R2, R3, and R4. Net asset value per share is calculated using actual net assets and shares outstanding rather than amounts that have been rounded for presentation purposes.

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

10


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

 

STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS

Six months ended 11/30/17 (unaudited)

This statement describes how much your fund earned in investment income and accrued in expenses. It also describes any gains and/or losses generated by fund operations.

 

Net investment income (loss)  

Income

 

Dividends from affiliated issuers

     $66,151  

Interest

     2,513  

Total investment income

     $68,664  

Expenses

 

Management fee

     $41,547  

Distribution and service fees

     14,140  

Shareholder servicing costs

     7,508  

Administrative services fee

     8,775  

Independent Trustees’ compensation

     1,344  

Custodian fee

     19,921  

Shareholder communications

     3,671  

Audit and tax fees

     23,488  

Legal fees

     319  

Registration fees

     58,049  

Miscellaneous

     8,154  

Total expenses

     $186,916  

Reduction of expenses by investment adviser and distributor

     (96,394

Net expenses

     $90,522  

Net investment income (loss)

     $(21,858
Realized and unrealized gain (loss)  

Realized gain (loss) (identified cost basis)

 

Unaffiliated issuers

     $(52,225

Affiliated issuers

     360,178  

Futures contracts

     (1,011,758

Net realized gain (loss)

     $(703,805

Change in unrealized appreciation (depreciation)

 

Unaffiliated issuers

     $(40,823

Affiliated issuers

     1,459,487  

Written options

     4,710  

Futures contracts

     (448,087

Net unrealized gain (loss)

     $975,287  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     $271,482  

Change in net assets from operations

     $249,624  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

11


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

 

STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN NET ASSETS

These statements describe the increases and/or decreases in net assets resulting from operations, any distributions, and any shareholder transactions.

 

Change in net assets   

Six months ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    

Year ended

5/31/17

 
From operations                  

Net investment income (loss)

     $(21,858      $293,090  

Net realized gain (loss)

     (703,805      (3,603,192

Net unrealized gain (loss)

     975,287        4,950,262  

Change in net assets from operations

     $249,624        $1,640,160  
Distributions declared to shareholders                  

From net realized gain

     $—        $(1,400,104

Change in net assets from fund share transactions

     $(1,187,350      $(37,255,243

Total change in net assets

     $(937,726      $(37,015,187
Net assets                  

At beginning of period

     23,947,948        60,963,135  

At end of period (including undistributed net investment income of $169,925 and $191,783, respectively)

     $23,010,222        $23,947,948  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

12


Table of Contents

Financial Statements

 

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

The financial highlights table is intended to help you understand the fund’s financial performance for the semiannual period and the past 5 fiscal years (or life of a particular share class, if shorter). Certain information reflects financial results for a single fund share. The total returns in the table represent the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the fund share class (assuming reinvestment of all distributions) held for the entire period.

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class A      5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15 (c)  
                      

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $10.14       $10.00       $10.17       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations          

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $(0.01     $0.05       $0.02       $0.05  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     0.12       0.34       (0.08     0.19  

Total from investment operations

     $0.11       $0.39       $(0.06     $0.24  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                  

From net investment income

     $—       $—       $(0.05     $(0.07

From net realized gain

           (0.25     (0.06      

From tax return of capital

                       (0.00 )(w) 

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.25     $(0.11     $(0.07

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $10.25       $10.14       $10.00       $10.17  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     1.08 (n)      4.09       (0.59     2.46 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
         

Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)

     1.70 (a)      1.14       0.99       1.35 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     0.80 (a)      0.83       0.83       0.73 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     (0.22 )(a)(l)      0.48       0.20       0.51 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     3 (n)      5       26       0 (n)(u) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $4,147       $4,842       $6,319       $2,418  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

13


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class B      5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15 (c)  
                      

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $9.98       $9.92       $10.13       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations          

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $(0.06     $(0.04     $(0.07     $(0.04

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     0.12       0.35       (0.08     0.19  

Total from investment operations

     $0.06       $0.31       $(0.15     $0.15  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                  

From net investment income

     $—       $—       $—       $(0.02

From net realized gain on investments

           (0.25     (0.06      

From tax return of capital

                       (0.00 )(w) 

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.25     $(0.06     $(0.02

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $10.04       $9.98       $9.92       $10.13  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     0.60 (n)      3.30       (1.48     1.55 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
         

Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)

     2.46 (a)      1.90       1.74       2.21 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     1.66 (a)      1.66       1.66       1.66 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     (1.10 )(a)(l)      (0.42     (0.71     (0.43 )(a) 

Portfolio turnover

     3 (n)      5       26       0 (n)(u) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $62       $62       $68       $111  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

14


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class C      5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15 (c)  
                      

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $9.93       $9.88       $10.09       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations          

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $(0.05     $(0.03     $(0.06     $(0.08

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     0.11       0.33       (0.08     0.23 (g) 

Total from investment operations

     $0.06       $0.30       $(0.14     $0.15  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                  

From net investment income

     $—       $—       $(0.01     $(0.06

From net realized gain

           (0.25     (0.06      

From tax return of capital

                       (0.00 )(w) 

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.25     $(0.07     $(0.06

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $9.99       $9.93       $9.88       $10.09  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     0.60 (n)      3.22       (1.40     1.53 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
         

Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)

     2.45 (a)      1.87       1.74       2.05 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     1.67 (a)      1.66       1.66       1.66 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     (1.08 )(a)(l)      (0.28     (0.60     (0.90 )(a) 

Portfolio turnover

     3 (n)      5       26       0 (n)(u) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $1,307       $1,668       $3,618       $960  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

15


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class I      5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15 (c)  
                      

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $10.17       $10.01       $10.17       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations          

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $(0.00 )(w)      $0.06       $0.05       $0.05  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     0.11       0.35       (0.09     0.20  

Total from investment operations

     $0.11       $0.41       $(0.04     $0.25  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                  

From net investment income

     $—       $—       $(0.06     $(0.08

From net realized gain

           (0.25     (0.06      

From tax return of capital

                       (0.00 )(w) 

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.25     $(0.12     $(0.08

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $10.28       $10.17       $10.01       $10.17  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     1.08 (n)      4.28       (0.41     2.47 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
         

Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)

     1.46 (a)      0.87       0.74       1.17 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     0.67 (a)      0.66       0.66       0.66 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     (0.09 )(a)(l)      0.65       0.51       0.59 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     3 (n)      5       26       0 (n)(u) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $17,233       $17,167       $50,757       $32,990  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

16


Table of Contents

Financial Highlights – continued

 

     Six months
ended
11/30/17
(unaudited)
    Year ended  
Class R1      5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15 (c)  
                      

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $9.98       $9.92       $10.13       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations          

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $(0.05     $(0.04     $(0.07     $(0.04

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     0.11       0.35       (0.08     0.19  

Total from investment operations

     $0.06       $0.31       $(0.15     $0.15  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                  

From net investment income

     $—       $—       $—       $(0.02

From net realized gain

           (0.25     (0.06      

From tax return of capital

                       (0.00 )(w) 

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.25     $(0.06     $(0.02

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $10.04       $9.98       $9.92       $10.13  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     0.60 (n)      3.30       (1.48     1.55 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
         

Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)

     2.45 (a)      1.90       1.74       2.22 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     1.66 (a)      1.66       1.66       1.66 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     (1.08 )(a)(l)      (0.42     (0.71     (0.40 )(a) 

Portfolio turnover

     3 (n)      5       26       0 (n)(u) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $52       $52       $50       $102  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

17


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Financial Highlights – continued

 

     Six months
ended
11/30/17
(unaudited)
    Year ended  
Class R2      5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15 (c)  
                      

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $10.11       $10.00       $10.15       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations          

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $(0.03     $0.01       $(0.02     $0.01  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     0.11       0.35       (0.07     0.19  

Total from investment operations

     $0.08       $0.36       $(0.09     $0.20  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                  

From net investment income

     $—       $—       $—       $(0.05

From net realized gain

           (0.25     (0.06      

From tax return of capital

                       (0.00 )(w) 

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.25     $(0.06     $(0.05

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $10.19       $10.11       $10.00       $10.15  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     0.79 (n)      3.78       (0.89     2.01 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
         

Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)

     1.95 (a)      1.40       1.24       1.72 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     1.16 (a)      1.16       1.16       1.16 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     (0.58 )(a)(l)      0.08       (0.22     0.10 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     3 (n)      5       26       0 (n)(u) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $53       $52       $50       $102  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

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Financial Highlights – continued

 

     Six months
ended
11/30/17
(unaudited)
    Year ended  
Class R3      5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15 (c)  
                      

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $10.15       $10.01       $10.16       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations          

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $(0.02     $0.03       $0.00 (w)      $0.03  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     0.12       0.36       (0.07     0.19  

Total from investment operations

     $0.10       $0.39       $(0.07     $0.22  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                  

From net investment income

     $—       $—       $(0.02     $(0.06

From net realized gain

           (0.25     (0.06      

From tax return of capital

                       (0.00 )(w) 

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.25     $(0.08     $(0.06

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $10.25       $10.15       $10.01       $10.16  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     0.99 (n)      4.08       (0.74     2.24 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
         

Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)

     1.70 (a)      1.15       0.99       1.47 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     0.91 (a)      0.91       0.91       0.91 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     (0.33 )(a)(l)      0.33       0.03       0.35 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     3 (n)      5       26       0 (n)(u) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $53       $52       $50       $102  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

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Financial Highlights – continued

 

    

Six months
ended

11/30/17

(unaudited)

    Year ended  
Class R4      5/31/17     5/31/16     5/31/15 (c)  
                      

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $10.17       $10.00       $10.17       $10.00  
Income (loss) from investment operations          

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $(0.00 )(w)      $0.06       $0.03       $0.06  

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     0.11       0.36       (0.08     0.19  

Total from investment operations

     $0.11       $0.42       $(0.05     $0.25  
Less distributions declared to shareholders                  

From net investment income

     $—       $—       $(0.06     $(0.08

From net realized gain

           (0.25     (0.06      

From tax return of capital

                       (0.00 )(w) 

Total distributions declared to shareholders

     $—       $(0.25     $(0.12     $(0.08

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $10.28       $10.17       $10.00       $10.17  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     1.08 (n)      4.39       (0.51     2.47 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
         

Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)

     1.45 (a)      0.90       0.74       1.22 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     0.66 (a)      0.66       0.66       0.66 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     (0.08 )(a)(l)      0.58       0.28       0.60 (a) 

Portfolio turnover

     3 (n)      5       26       0 (n)(u) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $53       $53       $50       $102  

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

20


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Financial Highlights – continued

 

Class R6   

Six months

ended

11/30/17 (i)

(unaudited)

 

Net asset value, beginning of period

     $10.21  
Income (loss) from investment operations         

Net investment income (loss) (d)

     $(0.01

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

     0.08  

Total from investment operations

     $0.07  

Net asset value, end of period (x)

     $10.28  

Total return (%) (r)(s)(t)(x)

     0.69 (n) 
Ratios (%) (to average net assets)
and Supplemental data:
        

Expenses before expense reductions (f)(h)

     1.46 (a) 

Expenses after expense reductions (f)(h)

     0.63 (a) 

Net investment income (loss)

     (0.53 )(a)(l) 

Portfolio turnover

     3 (n) 

Net assets at end of period (000 omitted)

     $50  

 

(a) Annualized.
(c) For the period from the commencement of the fund’s investment operations, June 27, 2014, through the stated period end.
(d) Per share data is based on average shares outstanding.
(f) Ratios do not reflect reductions from fees paid indirectly, if applicable.
(g) The per share amount varies from the net realized and unrealized gain/loss for the period because of the timing of sales of fund shares and the per share amount of realized and unrealized gains and losses at such time.
(h) In addition to the fees and expenses which the fund bears directly, the fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of the underlying affiliated funds in which the fund invests. Accordingly, the expense ratio for the fund reflects only those fees and expenses borne directly by the fund. Because the underlying affiliated funds have varied expense and fee levels and the fund may own different proportions of the underlying affiliated funds at different times, the amount of fees and expenses incurred indirectly by the fund will vary.
(i) For the period from the class inception, October 2, 2017, through the stated period end.
(l) Recognition of net investment income by the fund may be affected by the timing of the declaration of dividends by companies in which the fund invests and the actual annual net investment income ratio may differ.
(n) Not annualized.
(r) Certain expenses have been reduced without which performance would have been lower.
(s) From time to time the fund may receive proceeds from litigation settlements without which performance would be lower.
(t) Total returns do not include any applicable sales charges.
(u) Portfolio turnover is less than 1%.
(w) Per share amount was less than $0.01.
(x) The net asset values and total returns have been calculated on net assets which include adjustments made in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles required at period end for financial reporting purposes.

See Notes to Financial Statements

 

21


Table of Contents

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(unaudited)

(1) Business and Organization

MFS Managed Wealth Fund (the fund) is a diversified series of MFS Series Trust X (the trust). The trust is organized as a Massachusetts business trust and is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, as an open-end management investment company.

The fund is an investment company and accordingly follows the investment company accounting and reporting guidance of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification Topic 946 Financial Services – Investment Companies.

(2) Significant Accounting Policies

General – The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of increases and decreases in net assets from operations during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. In the preparation of these financial statements, management has evaluated subsequent events occurring after the date of the fund’s Statement of Assets and Liabilities through the date that the financial statements were issued. The fund invests in derivatives as part of its principal investment strategy. Derivatives can be highly volatile and involve risks in addition to the risks of the underlying indicators on which the derivative is based. The fund is a “fund of funds”, which invests the majority of its assets in other MFS mutual funds (underlying funds), which may have different fiscal year ends than the fund. The underlying funds, in turn, may engage in a number of investment techniques and practices, which involve certain risks. Certain underlying funds can invest in foreign securities, including securities of emerging market issuers. Investments in foreign securities are vulnerable to the effects of changes in the relative values of the local currency and the U.S. dollar and to the effects of changes in each country’s legal, political, and economic environment.

The accounting policies of the underlying funds in which the fund invests are outlined in the underlying funds’ shareholder reports, which are available without charge by calling 1-800-225-2606, at mfs.com and on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) web site at http://www.sec.gov or at the SEC’s public reference room in Washington, D.C. The underlying funds’ shareholder reports are not covered by this report.

The investment objective of each of the International and U.S. Stock funds held by the fund November 30, 2017 was to seek capital appreciation.

In October 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released its Final Rule on Investment Company Reporting Modernization (the “Rule”). The Rule, which introduced two new regulatory reporting forms for investment companies – Form N-PORT and Form N-CEN – also contained amendments to Regulation S-X which impact financial statement presentation, particularly the presentation of derivative investments, for all reporting periods ending after August 1, 2017. The fund has

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

adopted the Rule’s Regulation S-X amendments and believes that the fund’s financial statements are in compliance with those amendments.

Balance Sheet Offsetting – The fund’s accounting policy with respect to balance sheet offsetting is that, absent an event of default by the counterparty or a termination of the agreement, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) Master Agreement, or similar agreement, does not result in an offset of reported amounts of financial assets and financial liabilities in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities across transactions between the fund and the applicable counterparty. The fund’s right to setoff may be restricted or prohibited by the bankruptcy or insolvency laws of the particular jurisdiction to which a specific master netting agreement counterparty is subject. Balance sheet offsetting disclosures, to the extent applicable to the fund, have been included in the fund’s Significant Accounting Policies note under the captions for each of the fund’s in-scope financial instruments and transactions.

Investment ValuationsOpen-end investment companies (underlying funds) are generally valued at their net asset value per share. The investments of underlying funds managed by the adviser are valued as described below. For purposes of this policy disclosure, “fund” also refers to the underlying funds in which the fund-of-funds invests.

Equity securities, including restricted equity securities, are generally valued at the last sale or official closing price on their primary market or exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Equity securities, for which there were no sales reported that day, are generally valued at the last quoted daily bid quotation on their primary market or exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Debt instruments and floating rate loans, including restricted debt instruments, are generally valued at an evaluated or composite bid as provided by a third-party pricing service. Short-term instruments with a maturity at issuance of 60 days or less may be valued at amortized cost, which approximates market value. Exchange-traded options are generally valued at the last sale or official closing price on their primary exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Exchange-traded options for which there were no sales reported that day are generally valued at the last daily bid quotation on their primary exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Options not traded on an exchange are generally valued at a broker/dealer bid quotation. Foreign currency options are generally valued at valuations provided by a third-party pricing service. Futures contracts are generally valued at last posted settlement price on their primary exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Futures contracts for which there were no trades that day for a particular position are generally valued at the closing bid quotation on their primary exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Forward foreign currency exchange contracts are generally valued at the mean of bid and asked prices for the time period interpolated from rates provided by a third-party pricing service for proximate time periods. Securities and other assets generally valued on the basis of information from a third-party pricing service may also be valued at a broker/dealer bid quotation. Values obtained from third-party pricing services can utilize both transaction data and market information such as yield, quality, coupon rate, maturity, type of issue, trading characteristics, and other market data. The values of foreign securities and other assets and liabilities expressed in foreign currencies are

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

converted to U.S. dollars using the mean of bid and asked prices for rates provided by a third-party pricing service.

The Board of Trustees has delegated primary responsibility for determining or causing to be determined the value of the fund’s investments (including any fair valuation) to the adviser pursuant to valuation policies and procedures approved by the Board. If the adviser determines that reliable market quotations are not readily available, investments are valued at fair value as determined in good faith by the adviser in accordance with such procedures under the oversight of the Board of Trustees. Under the fund’s valuation policies and procedures, market quotations are not considered to be readily available for most types of debt instruments and floating rate loans and many types of derivatives. These investments are generally valued at fair value based on information from third-party pricing services. In addition, investments may be valued at fair value if the adviser determines that an investment’s value has been materially affected by events occurring after the close of the exchange or market on which the investment is principally traded (such as foreign exchange or market) and prior to the determination of the fund’s net asset value, or after the halting of trading of a specific security where trading does not resume prior to the close of the exchange or market on which the security is principally traded. Events that occur on a frequent basis after foreign markets close (such as developments in foreign markets and significant movements in the U.S. markets) and prior to the determination of the fund’s net asset value may be deemed to have a material effect on the value of securities traded in foreign markets. Accordingly, the fund’s foreign equity securities may often be valued at fair value. The adviser generally relies on third-party pricing services or other information (such as the correlation with price movements of similar securities in the same or other markets; the type, cost and investment characteristics of the security; the business and financial condition of the issuer; and trading and other market data) to assist in determining whether to fair value and at what value to fair value an investment. The value of an investment for purposes of calculating the fund’s net asset value can differ depending on the source and method used to determine value. When fair valuation is used, the value of an investment used to determine the fund’s net asset value may differ from quoted or published prices for the same investment. There can be no assurance that the fund could obtain the fair value assigned to an investment if it were to sell the investment at the same time at which the fund determines its net asset value per share.

Various inputs are used in determining the value of the fund’s assets or liabilities. These inputs are categorized into three broad levels. In certain cases, the inputs used to measure fair value may fall into different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In such cases, an investment’s level within the fair value hierarchy is based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement. The fund’s assessment of the significance of a particular input to the fair value measurement in its entirety requires judgment, and considers factors specific to the investment. Level 1 includes unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. Level 2 includes other significant observable market-based inputs (including quoted prices for similar securities, interest rates, prepayment speed, and credit risk). Level 3 includes unobservable inputs, which may include the adviser’s own assumptions in determining the fair value of investments. Other financial instruments are derivative instruments,

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

such as futures contracts, and written options. The following is a summary of the levels used as of November 30, 2017 in valuing the fund’s assets or liabilities:

 

Financial Instruments    Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  
Equity Securities:            

United States

     $8,317        $6,870        $—        $15,187  
Mutual Funds      22,527,907                      22,527,907  
Total      $22,536,224        $6,870        $—        $22,543,094  
Other Financial Instruments                            
Futures Contracts – Liabilities      $(1,012,102      $—        $—        $(1,012,102
Written Options – Liabilities      (175                    (175

For further information regarding security characteristics, see the Portfolio of Investments. Please refer to the underlying funds’ shareholder reports for further information regarding the levels used in valuing the underlying funds’ assets or

liabilities.

Derivatives – The fund uses derivatives for different purposes, primarily to increase or decrease exposure to a particular market or segment of the market, or security, to increase or decrease interest rate or currency exposure, or as alternatives to direct investments. Derivatives are used for hedging or non-hedging purposes. While hedging can reduce or eliminate losses, it can also reduce or eliminate gains. When the fund uses derivatives as an investment to increase market exposure, or for hedging purposes, gains and losses from derivative instruments may be substantially greater than the derivative’s original cost.

The derivative instruments used by the fund were written options, purchased options, and futures contracts. The fund’s period end derivatives, as presented in the Portfolio of Investments and the associated Derivative Contract tables, generally are indicative of the volume of its derivative activity during the period. Depending on the type of derivative, the fund may exit a derivative position by entering into an offsetting transaction with a counterparty or exchange, negotiating an agreement with the derivative counterparty, or novating the position to a third party. The fund may be unable to promptly close out a futures position in instances where the daily fluctuation in the price for that type of future exceeds the daily limit set by the exchange.

The following table presents, by major type of derivative contract, the fair value, on a gross basis, of the asset and liability components of derivatives held by the fund at November 30, 2017 as reported in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities:

 

        Fair Value (a)  
Risk   Derivative Contracts   Asset Derivatives     Liability Derivatives  
Equity   Equity Futures     $—       $(1,012,102)  
Equity   Purchased Equity Options     15,187        
Equity   Written Equity Options           (175
Total       $15,187       $(1,012,277)  

 

(a) The value for futures contracts presented in this table corresponds to the value reported in the fund’s Portfolio of Investments. Only the current day net variation margin for futures contracts is separately reported within the fund’s Statement of Assets and Liabilities.

 

25


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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

The following table presents, by major type of derivative contract, the realized gain (loss) on derivatives held by the fund for the six months ended November 30, 2017 as reported in the Statement of Operations:

 

Risk    Futures
Contracts
     Investments
(Purchased
Options)
 
Equity      $(1,011,758      $(52,225

The following table presents, by major type of derivative contract, the change in unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on derivatives held by the fund for the six months ended November 30, 2017 as reported in the Statement of Operations:

 

Risk    Futures
Contracts
     Investments
(Purchased
Options)
     Written
Options
 
Equity      $(448,087      $(40,823      $4,710  

Derivative counterparty credit risk is managed through formal evaluation of the creditworthiness of all potential counterparties. On certain, but not all, uncleared derivatives, the fund attempts to reduce its exposure to counterparty credit risk whenever possible by entering into an ISDA Master Agreement on a bilateral basis. The ISDA Master Agreement gives each party to the agreement the right to terminate all transactions traded under such agreement if there is a certain deterioration in the credit quality of the other party. Upon an event of default or a termination of the ISDA Master Agreement, the non-defaulting party has the right to close out all transactions traded under such agreement and to net amounts owed under each agreement to one net amount payable by one party to the other. This right to close out and net payments across all transactions traded under the ISDA Master Agreement could result in a reduction of the fund’s credit risk to such counterparty equal to any amounts payable by the fund under the applicable transactions, if any.

Collateral and margin requirements differ by type of derivative. For cleared derivatives (e.g., futures contracts, cleared swaps, and exchange-traded options), margin requirements are set by the clearing broker and the clearing house and collateral, in the form of cash or securities, is posted by the fund directly with the clearing broker. Collateral terms are counterparty agreement specific for uncleared derivatives (e.g., forward foreign currency exchange contracts, uncleared swap agreements, and uncleared options) and collateral, in the form of cash and securities, is held in segregated accounts with the fund’s custodian in connection with these agreements. For derivatives traded under an ISDA Master Agreement, which contains a collateral support annex, the collateral requirements are netted across all transactions traded under such counterparty-specific agreement and one amount is posted from one party to the other to collateralize such obligations. Cash that has been segregated or delivered to cover the fund’s collateral or margin obligations under derivative contracts, if any, will be reported separately in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities as restricted cash for uncleared derivatives or deposits with brokers for cleared derivatives, respectively. Securities pledged as collateral or margin for the same purpose, if any, are noted in the Portfolio of Investments. The fund may be required to make payments of

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

interest on uncovered collateral or margin obligations with the broker. Any such payments are included in “Miscellaneous” in the Statement of Operations.

The following table presents the fund’s derivative assets and liabilities (by type) on a gross basis as of November 30, 2017:

 

Gross Amounts of:   Derivative Assets     Derivative Liabilities  
Futures Contracts (a)     $—       $(96,419
Purchased Options     15,187        
Written Options           (175
Total Gross Amount of Derivative Assets and Liabilities Presented in the Statement of Assets & Liabilities     $15,187       $(96,594
Less: Derivatives Assets and Liabilities Not Subject to a Master Netting Agreement or Similar Arrangement     15,187       (96,594
Total Gross Amount of Derivative Assets and Liabilities Subject to a Master Netting Agreement or Similar Arrangement     $—       $—  

 

(a) The amount presented here represents the fund’s current day net variation margin for futures contracts. This amount, which is recognized within the fund’s Statement of Assets and Liabilities, differs from the fair value of the futures contracts which is presented in the tables that follow the fund’s Portfolio of Investments.

Written Options – In exchange for a premium, the fund wrote put options on securities for which it anticipated the price would increase. At the time the option was written, the fund believed the premium received exceeded the potential loss that could result from adverse price changes in the options’ underlying securities. In a written option, the fund as the option writer grants the buyer the right to purchase from, or sell to, the fund a specified number of shares or units of a particular security, currency or index at a specified price within a specified period of time.

The premium received is initially recorded as a liability in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. The option is subsequently marked-to-market daily with the difference between the premium received and the market value of the written option being recorded as unrealized appreciation or depreciation. When a written option expires, the fund realizes a gain equal to the amount of the premium received. The difference between the premium received and the amount paid on effecting a closing transaction is considered a realized gain or loss. When a written put option is exercised, the premium reduces the cost basis of the security purchased by the fund.

At the initiation of the written option contract, for exchange traded options, the fund is required to deposit securities or cash as collateral with the custodian for the benefit of the broker or directly with the clearing broker, based on the type of option. For uncleared options, the fund may post collateral subject to the terms of an ISDA Master Agreement as generally described above if the market value of the options contract moves against it. The fund, as writer of an option, may have no control over whether the underlying securities may be sold (call) or purchased (put) and, as a result, bears the market risk of an unfavorable change in the price of the securities underlying the written option. Losses from writing options can exceed the premium received and can exceed the potential loss from an ordinary buy and sell transaction. Although the

 

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Notes to Financial Statements (unaudited) – continued

 

fund’s market risk may be significant, the maximum counterparty credit risk to the fund is equal to the market value of any collateral posted to the broker. For uncleared options, this risk is mitigated in cases where there is an ISDA Master Agreement between the fund and the counterparty providing for netting as described above.

Purchased Options – The fund purchased put options for a premium. Purchased put options entitle the holder to sell a specified number of shares or units of a particular security, currency or index at a specified price at a specified date or within a specified period of time. Purchasing put options may hedge against an anticipated decline in the value of portfolio securities or currency or decrease the fund’s exposure to an underlying instrument.

The premium paid is initially recorded as an investment in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. That investment is subsequently marked-to-market daily with the difference between the premium paid and the market value of the purchased option being recorded as unrealized appreciation or depreciation. Upon the exercise or closing of a purchased put option, the premium paid is offset against the proceeds on the sale of the underlying security or financial instrument in order to determine the realized gain or loss on investments.

Whether or not the option is exercised, the fund’s maximum risk of loss from purchasing an option is the amount of premium paid. All option contracts involve credit risk if the counterparty to the option contract fails to perform. For uncleared options, this risk is mitigated in cases where there is an ISDA Master Agreement between the fund and the counterparty providing for netting as described above and, where applicable, by the posting of collateral by the counterparty to the fund to cover the fund’s exposure to the counterparty under such ISDA Master Agreement.

Futures Contracts – The fund entered into futures contracts which may be used to hedge against or obtain broad market exposure, interest rate exposure, currency exposure, or to manage duration. A futures contract represents a commitment for the future purchase or sale of an asset at a specified price on a specified date.

Upon entering into a futures contract, the fund is required to deposit with the broker, either in cash or securities, an initial margin in an amount equal to a certain percentage of the notional amount of the contract. Subsequent payments (variation margin) are made or received by the fund each day, depending on the daily fluctuations in the value of the contract, and are recorded for financial statement purposes as unrealized gain or loss by the fund until the contract is closed or expires at which point the gain or loss on futures contracts is realized.

The fund bears the risk of interest rates, exchange rates or securities prices moving unexpectedly, in which case, the fund may not achieve the anticipated benefits of the futures contracts and may realize a loss. While futures contracts may present less counterparty risk to the fund since the contracts are exchange traded and the exchange’s clearinghouse guarantees payments to the broker, there is still counterparty credit risk due to the insolvency of the broker. The fund’s maximum risk of loss due to counterparty credit risk is equal to the margin posted by the fund to the broker plus any gains or minus any losses on the outstanding futures contracts.

 

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Indemnifications – Under the fund’s organizational documents, its officers and Trustees may be indemnified against certain liabilities and expenses arising out of the performance of their duties to the fund. Additionally, in the normal course of business, the fund enters into agreements with service providers that may contain indemnification clauses. The fund’s maximum exposure under these agreements is unknown as this would involve future claims that may be made against the fund that have not yet occurred.

Investment Transactions and Income – Investment transactions are recorded on the trade date. Interest income is recorded on an accrual basis. All premium and discount is amortized or accreted for financial statement purposes in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Distributions of income and capital gains from the underlying funds are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Recognition of net investment income by the fund is affected by the timing of the declaration of distributions by the underlying funds in which the fund invests. In determining the net gain or loss on securities sold, the cost of securities is determined on the identified cost basis.

The fund and/or the underlying funds may receive proceeds from litigation settlements. Any proceeds received from litigation involving portfolio holdings are reflected in the Statement of Operations in realized gain/loss if the security has been disposed of by the fund or in unrealized gain/loss if the security is still held by the fund. Any other proceeds from litigation not related to portfolio holdings are reflected as other income in the Statement of Operations.

Tax Matters and Distributions – The fund intends to qualify as a regulated investment company, as defined under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code, and to distribute all of its taxable income, including realized capital gains. As a result, no provision for federal income tax is required. The fund’s federal tax returns, when filed, will remain subject to examination by the Internal Revenue Service for a three year period. Management has analyzed the fund’s tax positions taken on federal and state tax returns for all open tax years and does not believe that there are any uncertain tax positions that require recognition of a tax liability.

Distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Income and capital gain distributions are determined in accordance with income tax regulations, which may differ from U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Certain capital accounts in the financial statements are periodically adjusted for permanent differences in order to reflect their tax character. These adjustments have no impact on net assets or net asset value per share. Temporary differences which arise from recognizing certain items of income, expense, gain or loss in different periods for financial statement and tax purposes will reverse at some time in the future. Distributions in excess of net investment income or net realized gains are temporary overdistributions for financial statement purposes resulting from differences in the recognition or classification of income or distributions for financial statement and tax purposes.

Book/tax differences primarily relate to wash sale loss deferrals and derivative transactions.

 

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The tax character of distributions declared to shareholders for the fiscal year is as follows:

 

    

Year ended

5/31/17

 
Ordinary income (including any
short-term capital gains)
     $4,747  
Long-term capital gain      1,395,357  
Total distributions      $1,400,104  

The federal tax cost and the tax basis components of distributable earnings were as follows:

 

As of 11/30/17       
Cost of investments      $18,220,710  
Gross appreciation      4,412,689  
Gross depreciation      (90,305
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation)      $4,322,384  
As of 5/31/17       
Undistributed ordinary income      191,783  
Capital loss carryforwards      (3,695,820
Other temporary differences      49,482  
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation)      2,903,720  

The aggregate cost above includes prior fiscal year end tax adjustments, if applicable.

As of May 31, 2017 the fund had capital loss carryforwards available to offset future realized gains. These net capital losses may be carried forward indefinitely and their character is retained as short-term and/or long-term losses. Such losses are characterized as follows:

 

Short-Term      $(3,156,682
Long-Term      (539,138
Total      $(3,695,820

Multiple Classes of Shares of Beneficial Interest – The fund offers multiple classes of shares, which differ in their respective distribution and service fees. The fund’s income, realized and unrealized gain (loss), and common expenses are allocated to shareholders based on the daily net assets of each class. Dividends are declared separately for each class. Differences in per share dividend rates are generally due to differences in separate class expenses. Class B shares will convert to Class A shares approximately eight years after purchase. Effective April 23, 2018, Class C shares will convert to Class A shares approximately ten years after purchase. Any shares with an original purchase date of April 30, 2008 or earlier will automatically convert to Class A shares on April 23, 2018.

 

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The fund’s distributions declared to shareholders as reported in the Statements of Changes in Net Assets are presented by class as follows:

 

     From net realized gain
on investments
 
     Six months
ended
11/30/17
     Year
ended
5/31/17
 
Class A      $—        $160,265  
Class B             1,757  
Class C             93,309  
Class I             1,139,635  
Class R1             1,287  
Class R2             1,283  
Class R3             1,282  
Class R4             1,286  
Total      $—        $1,400,104  

(3) Transactions with Affiliates

Investment Adviser – The fund has an investment advisory agreement with MFS to provide overall investment management and related administrative services and facilities to the fund. The management fee is computed daily and paid monthly at an annual rate of 0.35% of the fund’s average daily net assets.

MFS has agreed in writing to reduce its management fee by a specified amount if certain MFS mutual fund assets exceed thresholds agreed to by MFS and the fund’s Board of Trustees. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, this management fee reduction amounted to $971 which is included in the reduction of total expenses in the Statement of Operations. The management fee incurred for the six months ended November 30, 2017, was equivalent to an annual effective rate of 0.34% of the fund’s average daily net assets.

The investment adviser has agreed in writing to pay a portion of the fund’s total annual operating expenses, excluding interest, taxes, extraordinary expenses, brokerage and transaction costs and investment-related expenses (such as fees and expenses associated with investments in investment companies and other similar investment vehicles), such that total fund operating expenses do not exceed the following rates annually of each class’s average daily net assets:

 

Classes  
A   B     C     I     R1     R2     R3     R4     R6  
0.91%     1.66%       1.66%       0.66%       1.66%       1.16%       0.91%       0.66%       0.63%  

This written agreement will continue until modified by the fund’s Board of Trustees, but such agreement will continue at least until September 30, 2018. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, this reduction amounted to $92,832 and is included in the reduction of total expenses in the Statement of Operations.

In addition to the fees and expenses which the fund bears directly, the fund indirectly bears a pro rata share of the fees and expenses of the underlying funds in which the fund invests. Accordingly, the expense ratio for the fund reflects only those fees and expenses borne directly by the fund.

 

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Distributor – MFS Fund Distributors, Inc. (MFD), a wholly-owned subsidiary of MFS, as distributor, received $691 for the six months ended November 30, 2017, as its portion of the initial sales charge on sales of Class shares of the fund.

The Board of Trustees has adopted a distribution plan for certain share classes pursuant to Rule 12b-1 of the Investment Company Act of 1940.

The fund’s distribution plan provides that the fund will pay MFD for services provided by MFD and financial intermediaries in connection with the distribution and servicing of certain share classes. One component of the plan is a distribution fee paid to MFD and another component of the plan is a service fee paid to MFD. MFD may subsequently pay all, or a portion, of the distribution and/or service fees to financial intermediaries.

Distribution Plan Fee Table:

 

     Distribution
Fee Rate (d)
     Service
Fee Rate (d)
     Total
Distribution
Plan (d)
     Annual
Effective
Rate (e)
     Distribution
and Service
Fee
 
Class A             0.25%        0.25%        0.13%        $5,458  
Class B      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        311  
Class C      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        7,913  
Class R1      0.75%        0.25%        1.00%        1.00%        260  
Class R2      0.25%        0.25%        0.50%        0.50%        132  
Class R3             0.25%        0.25%        0.25%        66  
Total Distribution and Service Fees        $14,140  

 

(d) In accordance with the distribution plan for certain classes, the fund pays distribution and/or service fees equal to these annual percentage rates of each class’s average daily net assets. The distribution and service fee rates disclosed by class represent the current rates in effect at the end of the reporting period. Any rate changes, if applicable, are detailed below.
(e) The annual effective rates represent actual fees incurred under the distribution plan for the six months ended November 30, 2017 based on each class’s average daily net assets. MFD has voluntarily agreed to rebate a portion of each class’s 0.25% service fee attributable to accounts for which MFD retains the 0.25% service fee except for accounts attributable to MFS or its affiliates’ seed money. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, this rebate amounted to $2,591 for Class A and is included in the reduction of total expenses in the Statement of Operations.

Certain Class A shares are subject to a contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) in the event of a shareholder redemption within 18 months of purchase. Class C shares are subject to a CDSC in the event of a shareholder redemption within 12 months of purchase. Class B shares are subject to a CDSC in the event of a shareholder redemption within six years of purchase. All contingent deferred sales charges are paid to MFD and during the six months ended November 30, 2017 were as follows:

 

     Amount  
Class A      $—  
Class B       
Class C      37  

Shareholder Servicing Agent – MFS Service Center, Inc. (MFSC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of MFS, receives a fee from the fund for its services as shareholder servicing agent calculated as a percentage of the average daily net assets of the fund as determined periodically under the supervision of the fund’s Board of Trustees. For the

 

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six months ended November 30, 2017, the fee was $537, which equated to 0.0045% annually of the fund’s average daily net assets. MFSC also receives payment from the fund for out-of-pocket expenses, sub-accounting and other shareholder servicing costs which may be paid to affiliated and unaffiliated service providers. Class R6 shares do not incur sub-accounting fees. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, these out-of-pocket expenses, sub-accounting and other shareholder servicing costs amounted to $6,974.

Administrator – MFS provides certain financial, legal, shareholder communications, compliance, and other administrative services to each fund. Under an administrative services agreement, each fund reimburses MFS the costs incurred to provide these services. The fund is charged an annual fixed amount of $17,500 plus a fee based on average daily net assets. The administrative services fee incurred for the six months ended November 30, 2017 was equivalent to an annual effective rate of 0.0739% of the fund’s average daily net assets:

Trustees’ and Officers’ Compensation – The fund pays compensation to independent Trustees in the form of a retainer, attendance fees, and additional compensation to Board and Committee chairpersons. The fund does not pay compensation directly to Trustees or officers of the fund who are also officers of the investment adviser, all of whom receive remuneration for their services to the fund from MFS. Certain officers and Trustees of the fund are officers or directors of MFS, MFD, and MFSC.

Other – This fund and certain other funds managed by MFS (the funds) have entered into a service agreement (the ISO Agreement) which provides for payment of fees solely by the funds to Tarantino LLC in return for the provision of services of an Independent Senior Officer (ISO) for the funds. Frank L. Tarantino serves as the ISO and is an officer of the funds and the sole member of Tarantino LLC. The funds can terminate the ISO Agreement with Tarantino LLC at any time under the terms of the ISO Agreement. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fee paid by the fund under this agreement was $22 and is included in “Miscellaneous” expense in the Statement of Operations. MFS has agreed to bear all expenses associated with office space, other administrative support, and supplies provided to the ISO.

The fund invests in the MFS Institutional Money Market Portfolio which is managed by MFS and seeks current income consistent with preservation of capital and liquidity. This money market fund does not pay a management fee to MFS.

MFS purchased the following shares of the fund for the amounts and dates noted below:

 

Date    Share Class      Shares      Amount  
9/29/17      Class R6        4,897        $50,000  

MFS redeemed the following shares of the fund for the amounts and dates noted below:

 

Date    Share Class      Shares      Amount  
6/07/16      Class I        299,103        $3,000,000  
6/08/16      Class I        298,805        3,000,000  
5/10/17      Class I        994,036        10,000,000  
5/17/17      Class I        991,080        10,000,000  

 

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At November 30, 2017, MFS held approximately 84%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%, and 100% of the outstanding shares of Class B, Class R1, Class R2, Class R3, Class R4 and Class R6, respectively.

(4) Portfolio Securities

For the six months ended November 30, 2017, purchases and sales of shares of underlying funds aggregated $738,080 and $2,657,506, respectively.

(5) Shares of Beneficial Interest

The fund’s Declaration of Trust permits the Trustees to issue an unlimited number of full and fractional shares of beneficial interest. Transactions in fund shares were as follows:

 

     Six months ended
11/30/17(i)
     Year ended
5/31/17
 
     Shares      Amount      Shares      Amount  
Shares sold            

Class A

     37,569        $384,718        111,165        $1,112,580  

Class B

     30        300        61        600  

Class C

     751        7,482        10,686        105,144  

Class I

     191,517        1,954,841        430,314        4,285,082  

Class R6

     4,897        50,000                
     234,764        $2,397,341        552,226        $5,503,406  
Shares issued to shareholders in
reinvestment of distributions
           

Class A

            $—        16,660        $160,265  

Class B

                   185        1,757  

Class C

                   9,874        93,309  

Class I

                   109,711        1,057,610  

Class R1

                   136        1,287  

Class R2

                   134        1,283  

Class R3

                   133        1,282  

Class R4

                   133        1,286  
            $—        136,966        $1,318,079  
Shares reacquired            

Class A

     (110,176      $(1,123,698      (282,450      $(2,771,199

Class B

                   (951      (9,440

Class C

     (37,968      (379,173      (218,905      (2,102,861

Class I

     (203,333      (2,081,820      (3,924,006      (39,193,228
     (351,477      $(3,584,691      (4,426,312      $(44,076,728

 

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     Six months ended
11/30/17(i)
     Year ended
5/31/17
 
     Shares      Amount      Shares      Amount  
Net change            

Class A

     (72,607      $(738,980      (154,625      $(1,498,354

Class B

     30        300        (705      (7,083

Class C

     (37,217      (371,691      (198,345      (1,904,408

Class I

     (11,816      (126,979      (3,383,981      (33,850,536

Class R1

                   136        1,287  

Class R2

                   134        1,283  

Class R3

                   133        1,282  

Class R4

                   133        1,286  

Class R6

     4,897        50,000                
     (116,713      $(1,187,350      (3,737,120      $(37,255,243

 

(i) For Class R6, the period is from inception October 2, 2017, through the stated period end.

Class T shares were not publicly available for sale during the period. Please see the fund’s prospectus for details.

(6) Line of Credit

The fund and certain other funds managed by MFS participate in a $1.25 billion unsecured committed line of credit, subject to a $1 billion sublimit, provided by a syndication of banks under a credit agreement. Borrowings may be made for temporary financing needs. Interest is charged to each fund, based on its borrowings, generally at a rate equal to the higher of the Overnight Federal Reserve funds rate or daily one month LIBOR plus an agreed upon spread. A commitment fee, based on the average daily, unused portion of the committed line of credit, is allocated among the participating funds at the end of each calendar quarter. In addition, the fund and other funds managed by MFS have established unsecured uncommitted borrowing arrangements with certain banks for temporary financing needs. Interest is charged to each fund, based on its borrowings, at a rate equal to the Overnight Federal Reserve funds rate plus an agreed upon spread. For the six months ended November 30, 2017, the fund’s commitment fee and interest expense were $131, and $0, respectively, and are included in “Miscellaneous” expense in the Statement of Operations.

(7) Investments in Affiliated Issuers

An affiliated issuer may be considered one in which the fund owns 5% or more of the outstanding voting securities, or a company which is under common control. For the purposes of this report, the fund assumes the following to be affiliated issuers:

 

Affiliated Issuers          Beginning
Shares/Par
Amount
    Acquisitions
Shares/Par
Amount
    Dispositions
Shares/Par
Amount
    Ending
Shares/Par
Amount
 
MFS Growth Fund       82,405       2,339       (10,732     74,012  
MFS Institutional International Equity Fund       298,430       10,790       (32,687     276,533  
MFS Institutional Money
Market Portfolio
      1,756,339       5,458,134       (6,195,106     1,019,367  
MFS Value Fund       186,867       8,192       (21,484     173,575  

 

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Affiliated Issuers   Realized
Gain (Loss)
   

Change in

Unrealized
Appreciation
(Depreciation)

   

Capital Gain

Distributions

    Dividend
Income
    Ending
Value
 
MFS Growth Fund     $189,401       $552,506       $—       $—       $7,229,494  
MFS Institutional International Equity Fund     92,054       408,191                   7,079,254  
MFS Institutional Money
Market Portfolio
    (7     (100           8,328       1,019,265  
MFS Value Fund     78,730       498,890             57,823       7,199,894  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
    $360,178       $1,459,487       $—       $66,151       $22,527,907  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

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BOARD REVIEW OF INVESTMENT ADVISORY AGREEMENT

The Investment Company Act of 1940 requires that both the full Board of Trustees and a majority of the non-interested (“independent”) Trustees, voting separately, annually approve the continuation of the Fund’s investment advisory agreement with MFS. The Trustees consider matters bearing on the Fund and its advisory arrangements at their meetings throughout the year, including a review of performance data at each regular meeting. In addition, the independent Trustees met several times over the course of three months beginning in May and ending in July, 2017 (“contract review meetings”) for the specific purpose of considering whether to approve the continuation of the investment advisory agreement for the Fund and the other investment companies that the Board oversees (the “MFS Funds”). The independent Trustees were assisted in their evaluation of the Fund’s investment advisory agreement by independent legal counsel, from whom they received separate legal advice and with whom they met separately from MFS during various contract review meetings. The independent Trustees were also assisted in this process by the MFS Funds’ Independent Senior Officer, a senior officer appointed by and reporting to the independent Trustees.

In connection with their deliberations regarding the continuation of the investment advisory agreement, the Trustees, including the independent Trustees, considered such information and factors as they believed, in light of the legal advice furnished to them and their own business judgment, to be relevant. The investment advisory agreement for the Fund was considered separately, although the Trustees also took into account the common interests of all MFS Funds in their review. As described below, the Trustees considered the nature, quality, and extent of the various investment advisory, administrative, and shareholder services performed by MFS under the existing investment advisory agreement and other arrangements with the Fund.

In connection with their contract review meetings, the Trustees received and relied upon materials that included, among other items: (i) information provided by Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (“Broadridge”), an independent third party, on the investment performance of the Fund for the one-year period ended December 31, 2016 and the investment performance of a group of funds with substantially similar investment classifications/objectives (the “Lipper performance universe”), (ii) information provided by Broadridge on the Fund’s advisory fees and other expenses and the advisory fees and other expenses of comparable funds identified by Broadridge (the “Broadridge expense group”), (iii) information provided by MFS on the advisory fees of portfolios of other clients of MFS, including institutional separate accounts and other clients, (iv) information as to whether and to what extent applicable expense waivers, reimbursements or fee “breakpoints” are observed for the Fund, (v) information regarding MFS’ financial results and financial condition, including MFS’ and certain of its affiliates’ estimated profitability from services performed for the Fund and the MFS Funds as a whole, and compared to MFS’ institutional business, (vi) MFS’ views regarding the outlook for the mutual fund industry and the strategic business plans of MFS, (vii) descriptions of various functions performed by MFS for the Funds, such as compliance monitoring and portfolio trading practices, and (viii) information regarding the overall organization of MFS, including information about MFS’ senior management and other personnel providing investment advisory,

 

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administrative and other services to the Fund and the other MFS Funds. The comparative performance, fee and expense information prepared and provided by Broadridge was not independently verified and the independent Trustees did not independently verify any information provided to them by MFS.

The Trustees’ conclusion as to the continuation of the investment advisory agreement was based on a comprehensive consideration of all information provided to the Trustees and not the result of any single factor. Some of the factors that figured particularly in the Trustees’ deliberations are described below, although individual Trustees may have evaluated the information presented differently from one another, giving different weights to various factors. It is also important to recognize that the fee arrangements for the Fund and other MFS Funds are the result of years of review and discussion between the independent Trustees and MFS, that certain aspects of such arrangements may receive greater scrutiny in some years than in others, and that the Trustees’ conclusions may be based, in part, on their consideration of these same arrangements during the course of the year and in prior years.

Based on information provided by Broadridge and MFS, the Trustees reviewed the Fund’s total return investment performance as well as the Lipper performance universe over the one-year period ended December 31, 2016. The total return performance of the Fund’s Class A shares was in the 4th quintile relative to the other funds in the universe for this one-year period (the 1st quintile being the best performers and the 5th quintile being the worst performers). The Fund commenced operations on June 27, 2014, and has a limited operating history and performance record; therefore no performance data for the three- or five-year periods was available. Because of the passage of time, these performance results may differ from the performance results for more recent periods, including those shown elsewhere in this report.

In the course of their deliberations, the Trustees took into account information provided by MFS in connection with the contract review meetings, as well as during investment review meetings conducted with portfolio management personnel during the course of the year regarding the Fund’s performance. After reviewing these and related factors, the Trustees concluded, within the context of their overall conclusions regarding the investment advisory agreement, that they were satisfied with MFS’ responses and efforts relating to investment performance.

In assessing the reasonableness of the Fund’s advisory fee, the Trustees considered, among other information, the Fund’s advisory fee and the total expense ratio of the Fund’s Class A shares as a percentage of average daily net assets and the advisory fee and total expense ratios of peer groups of funds based on information provided by Broadridge. The Trustees considered that MFS currently observes an expense limitation for the Fund, which may not be changed without the Trustees’ approval. The Trustees also considered that, according to the data provided by Broadridge (which takes into account any fee reductions or expense limitations that were in effect during the Fund’s last fiscal year), the Fund’s effective advisory fee rate and total expense ratio were each lower than the Broadridge expense group median.

The Trustees also considered the advisory fees charged by MFS to any institutional separate accounts advised by MFS (“separate accounts”) and unaffiliated investment companies for which MFS serves as subadviser (“subadvised funds”) that have

 

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Board Review of Investment Advisory Agreement – continued

 

comparable investment strategies to the Fund, if any. In comparing these fees, the Trustees considered information provided by MFS as to the generally broader scope of services provided by MFS to the Fund, as well as the more extensive regulatory burdens imposed on MFS in managing the Fund, in comparison to separate accounts and subadvised funds. The Trustees also considered the higher demands placed on MFS’ investment personnel and trading infrastructure as a result of the daily cash in-flows and out-flows of the Fund in comparison to separate accounts.

The Trustees also considered whether the Fund may benefit from any economies of scale in the management of the Fund in the event of growth in assets of the Fund and/or growth in assets of the MFS Funds as a whole. They noted that the Fund’s advisory fee rate schedule is not subject to any breakpoints. Taking into account the expense limitation noted above, the Trustees determined not to recommend any advisory fee breakpoints for the Fund at this time. The Trustees also noted that MFS has agreed in writing to waive a portion of the management fees of certain MFS Funds, including the Fund, if the total combined assets of certain funds within the MFS Funds’ complex increase above agreed upon thresholds (the “group fee waiver”), enabling the Fund’s shareholders to share in the benefits from any economies of scale at the complex level. The group fee waiver is reviewed and renewed annually between the Board and MFS. The Trustees concluded that the group fee waiver was sufficient to allow the Fund to benefit from economies of scale as its assets and overall complex assets grow.

The Trustees also considered information prepared by MFS relating to MFS’ costs and profits with respect to the Fund, the MFS Funds considered as a group, and other investment companies and accounts advised by MFS, as well as MFS’ methodologies used to determine and allocate its costs to the MFS Funds, the Fund, and other accounts and products for purposes of estimating profitability.

After reviewing these and other factors described herein, the Trustees concluded, within the context of their overall conclusions regarding the investment advisory agreement, that the advisory fees charged to the Fund represent reasonable compensation in light of the services being provided by MFS to the Fund.

In addition, the Trustees considered MFS’ resources and related efforts to continue to retain, attract and motivate capable personnel to serve the Fund. The Trustees also considered current and developing conditions in the financial services industry, including the presence of large and well-capitalized companies which are spending, and appear to be prepared to continue to spend, substantial sums to engage personnel and to provide services to competing investment companies. In this regard, the Trustees also considered the financial resources of MFS and its ultimate parent, Sun Life Financial Inc. The Trustees also considered the advantages and possible disadvantages to the Fund of having an adviser that also serves other investment companies as well as other accounts.

The Trustees also considered the nature, quality, cost, and extent of administrative, transfer agency, and distribution services provided to the Fund by MFS and its affiliates under agreements and plans other than the investment advisory agreement, including any 12b-1 fees the Fund pays to MFS Fund Distributors, Inc., an affiliate of MFS. The Trustees also considered the nature, extent and quality of certain other services MFS

 

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Board Review of Investment Advisory Agreement – continued

 

performs or arranges for on the Fund’s behalf, which may include securities lending programs, directed expense payment programs, class action recovery programs, and MFS’ interaction with third-party service providers, principally custodians and sub-custodians. The Trustees concluded that the various non-advisory services provided by MFS and its affiliates on behalf of the Fund were satisfactory.

The Trustees also considered benefits to MFS from the use of the Fund’s portfolio brokerage commissions, if applicable, to pay for investment research and various other factors. Additionally, the Trustees considered so-called “fall-out benefits” to MFS such as reputational value derived from serving as investment manager to the Fund.

Based on their evaluation of factors that they deemed to be material, including those factors described above, the Board of Trustees, including the independent Trustees, concluded that the Fund’s investment advisory agreement with MFS should be continued for an additional one-year period, commencing August 1, 2017.

 

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PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND INFORMATION

MFS votes proxies on behalf of the fund pursuant to proxy voting policies and procedures that are available without charge, upon request, by calling 1-800-225-2606, by visiting mfs.com/proxyvoting, or by visiting the SEC’s Web site at http://www.sec.gov.

Information regarding how the fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the most recent twelve-month period ended June 30 is available by August 31 of each year without charge by visiting mfs.com/proxyvoting, or by visiting the SEC’s Web site at http://www.sec.gov.

QUARTERLY PORTFOLIO DISCLOSURE

The fund will file a complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission) for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-Q. A shareholder can obtain the quarterly portfolio holdings report at mfs.com. The fund’s Form N-Q is also available on the EDGAR database on the Commission’s Internet Web site at http://www.sec.gov, and may be reviewed and copied at the:

Public Reference Room

Securities and Exchange Commission

100 F Street, NE, Room 1580

Washington, D.C. 20549

Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling the Commission at 1-800-SEC-0330. Copies of the fund’s Form N-Q also may be obtained, upon payment of a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov or by writing the Public Reference Section at the above address.

FURTHER INFORMATION

From time to time, MFS may post important information about the fund or the MFS funds on the MFS web site (mfs.com). This information is available at https://www.mfs.com/en-us/what-we-do/announcements.html or at mfs.com/openendfunds by choosing the fund’s name.

 

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INFORMATION ABOUT FUND CONTRACTS AND LEGAL CLAIMS

The fund has entered into contractual arrangements with an investment adviser, administrator, distributor, shareholder servicing agent, 529 program manager (if applicable), and custodian who each provide services to the fund. Unless expressly stated otherwise, shareholders are not parties to, or intended beneficiaries of these contractual arrangements, and these contractual arrangements are not intended to create any shareholder right to enforce them against the service providers or to seek any remedy under them against the service providers, either directly or on behalf of the fund.

Under the Trust’s By-Laws and Declaration of Trust, any claims asserted against or on behalf of the MFS Funds, including claims against Trustees and Officers, must be brought in state and federal courts located within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

PROVISION OF FINANCIAL REPORTS AND SUMMARY PROSPECTUSES

The fund produces financial reports every six months and updates its summary prospectus and prospectus annually. To avoid sending duplicate copies of materials to households, only one copy of the fund’s annual and semiannual report and summary prospectus may be mailed to shareholders having the same last name and residential address on the fund’s records. However, any shareholder may contact MFSC (please see back cover for address and telephone number) to request that copies of these reports and summary prospectuses be sent personally to that shareholder.

 

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LOGO

 

Save paper with eDelivery.

 

LOGO

MFS® will send you prospectuses,

reports, and proxies directly via e-mail so you will get information faster with less mailbox clutter.

To sign up:

1. Go to mfs.com.

2. Log in via MFS® Access.

3. Select eDelivery.

If you own your MFS fund shares through a financial institution or a retirement plan, MFS® TALK, MFS® Access, or eDelivery may not be available to you.

 

CONTACT

WEB SITE

mfs.com

MFS TALK

1-800-637-8255

24 hours a day

ACCOUNT SERVICE AND LITERATURE

Shareholders

1-800-225-2606

Financial advisors

1-800-343-2829

Retirement plan services

1-800-637-1255

MAILING ADDRESS

MFS Service Center, Inc.

P.O. Box 55824

Boston, MA 02205-5824

OVERNIGHT MAIL

MFS Service Center, Inc.

c/o DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc.

30 Dan Road

Canton, MA 02021-2809

 


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ITEM 2. CODE OF ETHICS.

During the period covered by this report, the Registrant has not amended any provision in its Code of Ethics (the “Code”) that relates to an element of the Code’s definition enumerated in paragraph (b) of Item 2 of this Form N-CSR. During the period covered by this report, the Registrant did not grant a waiver, including an implicit waiver, from any provision of the Code.

 

ITEM 3. AUDIT COMMITTEE FINANCIAL EXPERT.

Not applicable for semi-annual reports.

 

ITEM 4. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES.

Not applicable for semi-annual reports.

 

ITEM 5. AUDIT COMMITTEE OF LISTED REGISTRANTS.

Not applicable to the Registrant.

 

ITEM 6. INVESTMENTS

A schedule of investments for each series of the Registrant is included as part of the report to shareholders of such series under Item 1 of this Form N-CSR.

 

ITEM 7. DISCLOSURE OF PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR CLOSED-END MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES.

Not applicable to the Registrant.

 

ITEM 8. PORTFOLIO MANAGERS OF CLOSED-END MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES.

Not applicable to the Registrant.

 

ITEM 9. PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES BY CLOSED-END MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANY AND AFFILIATED PURCHASERS.

Not applicable to the Registrant.

 

ITEM 10. SUBMISSION OF MATTERS TO A VOTE OF SECURITY HOLDERS.

There were no material changes to the procedures by which shareholders may send recommendations to the Board for nominees to the Registrant’s Board since the Registrant last provided disclosure as to such procedures in response to the requirements of Item 407 (c)(2)(iv) of Regulation S-K or this Item.


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ITEM 11. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES.

 

(a) Based upon their evaluation of the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 30a-3(c) under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “Act”)) as conducted within 90 days of the filing date of this report on Form N-CSR, the registrant’s principal financial officer and principal executive officer have concluded that those disclosure controls and procedures provide reasonable assurance that the material information required to be disclosed by the registrant on this report is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules and forms.

 

(b) There were no changes in the registrant’s internal controls over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 30a-3(d) under the Act) that occurred during the second fiscal quarter of the period covered by the report that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting.

 

ITEM 12. DISCLOSURE OF SECURITIES LENDING ACTIVITIES FOR CLOSED-END MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES.

Not applicable to the Registrant.

 

ITEM 13. EXHIBITS.

 

(a) File the exhibits listed below as part of this form. Letter or number the exhibits in the sequence indicated.

 

  (1) Any code of ethics, or amendment thereto, that is the subject of the disclosure required by Item 2, to the extent that the registrant intends to satisfy the Item 2 requirements through filing of an exhibit.

 

  (2) A separate certification for each principal executive officer and principal financial officer of the registrant as required by Rule 30a-2(a) under the Act (17 CFR 270.30a-2): Attached hereto.

 

(b) If the report is filed under Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, provide the certifications required by Rule 30a-2(b) under the Act (17 CFR 270.30a-2(b)), Rule 13a-14(b) or Rule 15d-14(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13a-14(b) or 240.15d-14(b)) and Section 1350 of Chapter 63 of Title 18 of the United States Code (18 U.S.C. 1350) as an exhibit. A certification furnished pursuant to this paragraph will not be deemed “filed” for the purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act (15 U.S.C. 78r), or otherwise subject to the liability of that section. Such certification will not be deemed to be incorporated by reference into any filing under the Securities Act of 1933 or the Exchange Act, except to the extent that the registrant specifically incorporates it by reference: Attached hereto.


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Notice

A copy of the Amended and Restated Declaration of Trust, as amended, of the Registrant is on file with the Secretary of State of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts and notice is hereby given that this instrument is executed on behalf of the Registrant by an officer of the Registrant as an officer and not individually and the obligations of or arising out of this instrument are not binding upon any of the Trustees or shareholders individually, but are binding only upon the assets and property of the respective constituent series of the Registrant.


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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

(Registrant) MFS SERIES TRUST X

 

By (Signature and Title)*   DAVID L. DILORENZO
  David L. DiLorenzo, President

Date: January 16, 2018

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

 

By (Signature and Title)*   DAVID L. DILORENZO
  David L. DiLorenzo, President (Principal Executive Officer)

Date: January 16, 2018

 

By (Signature and Title)*   JAMES O. YOST
  James O. Yost, Treasurer (Principal Financial Officer and Accounting Officer)

Date: January 16, 2018

 

* Print name and title of each signing officer under his or her signature.