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MFS® Investment Management (MFS) is a premier asset management firm that offers mutual funds, institutional and separately managed account strategies in equity and fixed-income products, which are supported by a global team of portfolio managers and research analysts. MFS traces its origins to 1924 and the creation of the United States' first open-end mutual fund, Massachusetts Investors Trust. Over time, MFS has been a leading innovator in the asset management industry, including creating the first in-house research departments in the mutual fund industry in 1932, launching the first high-yield municipal bond fund and the first global balanced fund, and more recently creating "outcome-oriented" products, such as its line of target-risk, target-date, and other asset allocation funds. Assets under management as of January 31, 2011: $220 billion.
1 Foreign securities, foreign currencies and securities issued by U.S. entities with substantial foreign operations can involve additional risk relating to political, economic or regulatory conditions in foreign countries and these risks are greater in emerging markets. These risks include fluctuations in foreign currencies; withholding or other taxes; trading, settlement, custodial and other operational risks; and the less stringent investor protection and disclosure standards of some foreign markets.
2 A portfolio that concentrates its investments in one economic sector or geographic region faces the risk of higher share-price volatility.