may include the
instrument’s credit quality and terms, any underlying assets and their credit quality, and the issuer’s management ability, capital structure, leverage, and ability to meet its current obligations.
MFS 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 or instrument. 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. Quantitative screening tools that systematically evaluate the structure of a debt
instrument and its features may also be considered. In structuring the portion of
the Portfolio subadvised by MFS, MFS also considers top-down factors, including sector allocations, yield curve positioning, duration, macroeconomic factors, and risk management factors.
Portfolio Investment Policies
The Portfolio invests primarily in investment grade debt securities, but may invest up to 15%
of its total assets in securities rated below investment grade (commonly referred
to as “high yield securities” or “junk bonds”), which are considered speculative.
The Portfolio may invest up to 15% of its total assets in securities of issuers based in
countries with developing (or “emerging market”) economies.
The Portfolio may invest up to 30% of its total assets in securities denominated in foreign currencies, and may invest beyond this limit in U.S.
dollar-denominated securities of foreign issuers. The Portfolio will normally
limit its foreign currency exposure (from non-U.S. dollar denominated securities
or currencies) to 20% of its total assets.
The Portfolio may also invest up to 10% of its total assets in preferred stocks, convertible securities and other equity related securities.
While the Portfolio may use derivatives for any investment purpose, to the extent the
Portfolio uses derivatives, the subadvisers expect to use derivatives primarily to increase or decrease exposure to a particular market, segment of the market, or security, to increase
or decrease interest rate exposure, or as alternatives to direct investments.
Derivatives include options, futures contracts, forward contracts, and swap agreements.
The Portfolio may, without limitation, seek to obtain market exposure to the securities in
which it primarily invests by entering into a series of purchase and sale contracts or by
using other investment
techniques (such as buy backs or dollar rolls).
The “total return” sought by the Portfolio consists of income earned on the Portfolio’s investments, plus capital appreciation, if any, which
generally arises from decreases in interest rates or improving credit fundamentals for a
particular sector or security.
The Portfolio expects to invest no more than 10% of its assets in sub-prime mortgage related
securities at the time of purchase.
The Portfolio may also engage in frequent trading of portfolio securities to achieve its investment goal.
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.
Bonds Risk. The value of your investment in the Portfolio may go up or down in response to changes in interest rates or defaults (or even the potential for future defaults) by bond issuers.
When-Issued and Delayed Delivery Transactions Risk. When-issued and delayed delivery securities involve the risk that the security the Portfolio buys will lose value prior to its delivery. There
also is the risk that the security will not be issued or that the other party to the transaction will not meet its obligation. If this occurs, the Portfolio may lose both the investment
opportunity for the assets it set aside to pay for the security and any gain in the security’s price.
Foreign Investment Risk. The Portfolio’s
investments in the securities of foreign issuers or issuers with significant
exposure to foreign markets involve additional risk. Foreign countries in which
the Portfolio invests may have markets that are less liquid, less regulated and more volatile than U.S. markets. The value of the Portfolio’s investments may decline because
of factors affecting the particular issuer as well as foreign markets and issuers
generally, such as unfavorable government actions, and