capitalizations similar to
companies in the Russell 1000® Index.
The Portfolio may invest in foreign securities up to 20% of
net assets, including securities of issuers located in emerging markets. The
subadviser normally invests the Portfolio’s assets across different industries and sectors, but the subadviser may invest a significant percentage of the Portfolio’s assets in a single industry
or sector.
The subadviser focuses on investing the
Portfolio’s assets in the stocks of companies it believes to have above
average earnings growth potential compared to other companies (“growth
companies”). Growth companies tend to have stock prices that are high relative to their earnings, dividends, book value, or other financial measures.
The subadviser uses an active bottom-up approach to buying and selling investments for the
Portfolio. Investments are selected primarily based on blending fundamental and
quantitative research. The subadviser uses fundamental analysis of individual issuers and their potential in light of their financial condition and market, economic, political, and
regulatory conditions to determine a fundamental rating for an issuer. Factors
considered may include analysis of an issuer’s earnings, cash flows,
competitive position, and management ability. The subadviser may also consider environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors in its fundamental investment analysis where MFS believes such
factors could materially impact the economic value of an issuer. ESG factors
considered may include, but are not limited to, climate change, resource depletion, an issuer’s governance structure and practices, data protection and privacy issues, and diversity and
labor practices. The subadviser uses quantitative analysis, including
quantitative models that systematically evaluate an issuer’s valuation,
price and earnings momentum, earnings quality, and other factors to determine a quantitative
rating for an issuer.
The subadviser combines the fundamental rating with the quantitative rating to create a
blended rating for an issuer. When a fundamental rating is not available, the
subadviser treats the issuer as having a neutral fundamental rating. (The
subadviser’s quantitative research generates ratings on a greater number of issuers than
the subadviser’s fundamental research.)
The
subadviser constructs the portfolio using a portfolio optimization process that considers the blended rating, as well as issuer, industry, and sector weightings, market
capitalization, volatility, and other factors. The portfolio managers have the discretion to adjust the inputs and parameters used in the optimization
process and the Portfolio’s holdings based on factors such as the desired
portfolio characteristics and the portfolio managers’ qualitative
assessment of the optimization results. The goal is to construct an actively managed portfolio with a target predicted tracking error of approximately 2% compared to the Russell 1000® Growth Index (the Index). Tracking error generally measures how the differences between the Portfolio’s returns
and the Index’s returns have varied over a period of time. A lower tracking error means that there is generally less variation between the Portfolio’s returns compared to
an index that represents the Portfolio’s investment universe. Third party
quantitative risk models are used in the portfolio construction process and to
measure the predicted tracking error of the Portfolio.
For purposes of the Portfolio’s 80% policy, net assets include the amount of any
borrowings for investment purposes.
The Portfolio is non-diversified, which means that it may invest its assets in a smaller
number of issuers than a diversified portfolio.
Principal Risks of Investing in the Portfolio
As with any mutual fund, there can be no assurance that the
Portfolio’s investment goal will be met or that the net return on an investment in the Portfolio will exceed what could have been obtained through other investment or savings vehicles. Shares of the Portfolio are not bank deposits and are not guaranteed or insured by any bank, government entity or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. If the value of the assets of the Portfolio goes down, you could lose money.
The following is a summary of the principal risks of investing in the Portfolio.
Equity Securities Risk. The Portfolio invests principally in equity securities and is therefore subject to the risk that stock prices will fall and may underperform other asset classes. Individual stock prices
fluctuate from day-to-day and may decline significantly.
Growth Stock Risk. The Portfolio invests substantially in growth style stocks. Growth stocks may lack the dividend yield associated with value stocks
that can cushion total return in a bear market. Also, growth stocks normally carry
a higher price/earnings ratio than many other stocks.