6 9

Blended Research® Small Cap Equity Portfolio

$ 10.32
$0.20 As of 03/27/24
$84M
As of 02/29/24

Blended Research® Small Cap Equity Portfolio

$0.20 As of 03/27/24
As of 02/29/24
$ 10.32
$0.20 As of 03/27/24
$84M
As of 02/29/24
  • Overview

    INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE

    Seeks capital appreciation.

    INVESTMENT FOCUS

    Integrates fundamental and quantitative research in a disciplined portfolio construction process

    Invests in high-quality companies that are trading at favorable valuations with a catalyst that may be rewarded over the long term

    Fund Information

    • Fund Commencement 07/17/00
    • Net Assets ($ M) As of 02/29/24 $84.10
    • Benchmark
      Russell 2000 Index measures U.S. small-cap stocks.
      Russell 2000® Index

    Share Class Information

    • Class Inception 07/17/00
    • Net Asset Value (NAV) As of 03/27/24 $10.32
    • Most Recent NAV Change As of 03/27/24 $0.20 | 1.98%
    • CUSIP 86664T888
    • Gross Expense Ratio

      Gross Expense Ratio: The Gross Expense Ratio is the fund's total operating expense ratio from the fund's most recent prospectus.

      0.55%
    • Net Expense Ratio

      Net Expense Ratio: The Net Expense Ratio reflects the reduction of expenses from contractual fee waivers and reimbursements. Elimination of these reductions will result in higher expenses and lower performance.


      These reductions will continue until at least 04/30/24

      0.54%

    MANAGERS

    Top 10 Holdings

    • elf Beauty Inc
    • HealthEquity Inc
    • Skechers U.S.A. Inc
    • TriNet Group Inc
    • Grand Canyon Education Inc
    • Prestige Brands Holdings Inc
    • Verint Systems Inc
    • API Group Corp
    • Elastic NV
    • Element Solutions Inc

    Important Risk Considerations

    The portfolio may not achieve its objective and/or you could lose money on your investment in the portfolio.

    Stock: Stock markets and investments in individual stocks are volatile and can decline significantly in response to or investor perception of, issuer, market, economic, industry, political, regulatory, geopolitical, environmental, public health, and other conditions.

    Small-cap: Investments in small-cap companies can be more volatile than investments in larger companies.

    Strategy: There is no assurance that the portfolio's predicted tracking error will equal its target predicted tracking error at any point in time or consistently for any period of time, or that the portfolio's predicted tracking error and actual tracking error will be similar. The portfolio's strategy to target a predicted tracking error of approximately 3% compared to the Index and to blend fundamental and quantitative research may not produce the intended results. In addition, MFS fundamental research is not available for all issuers.

    Quantitative Strategy: MFS' investment analysis, development and use of quantitative models, and selection of investments may not produce the intended results and/or can lead to an investment focus that results in underperforming portfolios with similar investment strategies and/or the markets in which the portfolio invests. The proprietary and third party quantitative models used by MFS may not produce the intended results for a variety of reasons, including the factors used, the weight placed on each factor, changing sources of market return, changes from the market factors' historical trends, and technical issues in the development, application, and maintenance of the models (e.g., incomplete or inaccurate data, programming/software issues, coding errors and technology failures).

    Please see the prospectus for further information on these and other risk considerations.

  • Performance

    Performance

    Average Annual Total Returns

    Average Annual Total Returns (%)

    These results represent the percent change in net asset value.
    Monthly | Quarterly As of 12/31/23 (*YTD Updated Daily, As of 03/27/24 , subject to revision and not annualized.)

      Performance data shown represents past performance and is no guarantee of future results. Investment return and principal value fluctuate so your units, when sold, may be worth more or less than the original cost; current performance may be lower or higher than quoted.

      OVERALL
      Out Of Funds
      NA
      OVERALL MORNINGSTAR RATING
      NA
      THREE YEAR
      Out Of Funds
      NA
      FIVE YEAR
      Out Of Funds
      NA
      TEN YEAR
      Out Of Funds
      NA

      Important Performance Information

      Performance results reflect any applicable expense subsidies and waivers in effect during the periods shown. Without such subsidies and waivers the portfolios' performance results would be less favorable. All results assume the reinvestment of dividends and capital gains.

      The returns for the portfolio shown do not reflect the deduction of expenses associated with variable products, such as mortality and expense risk charges, separate account charges, and sales charges imposed by insurance company separate accounts. Such expenses would reduce the overall returns shown. Please refer to the variable product's annual report for performance that reflects the deduction of the fees and charges imposed by insurance company separate accounts.

      Withdrawals of taxable amounts from variable annuity contracts prior to age 59½ may be subject to an additional 10% federal tax penalty as well as income tax. Amounts withdrawn from a variable insurance contract will reduce the death benefit and withdrawals of earnings will be subject to income tax.

      Sales Charges

      Initial Class shares have no sales charge.

      Performance information prior to December 8, 2012, reflects time periods when another adviser or subadvisor was responsible for selecting investments for the fund under a different investment objective and using a passive investment strategy. 

      No representation is made, and no assurance can be given, that any investment's results will be comparable to the investment results of any other product with similar investment objectives and policies, including products with the same investment professional or manager. Differences in portfolio size, investments held, contract and portfolio expenses, and other factors can be expected to affect performance.

      A Word About Variable Products

      Issued by insurance companies, variable annuity and variable life insurance contracts allow investors to accumulate money on a tax deferred basis for long-term financial goals. Mortality and expense charges (which compensate the insurance company for insurance risks it assumes under the contract), surrender charges (typically levied if a contract holder cancels it within a certain period following initial purchase), and an annual maintenance charge are among the fees typically associated with these types of variable products.
      Also keep in mind that any income guarantees are subject to the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company, and that contract owners have options when a contract's payout phase begins. Generally, investors may take their money in a lump sum, make discretionary or systematic distributions, or they can annuitize.
      Please refer investors to your variable annuity or life insurance contract as well as the underlying fund prospectus(es) for more detailed information and other important considerations, which should be read carefully before investing.

      Annual Rate of Return

      Annual Rate of Return (%)

      As of 12/31/23 | Benchmark: Russell 2000® Index
      annual rate of return table
      2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
      At NAV 7.29 -4.15 20.90 14.97 -5.11 26.78 2.23 29.64 -18.37 18.96
      Russell 2000® Index 4.89 -4.41 21.31 14.65 -11.01 25.52 19.96 14.82 -20.44 16.93
      At NAV Russell 2000® Index
      2023 18.96 16.93
      2022 -18.37 -20.44
      2021 29.64 14.82
      2020 2.23 19.96
      2019 26.78 25.52
      2018 -5.11 -11.01
      2017 14.97 14.65
      2016 20.9 21.31
      2015 -4.15 -4.41
      2014 7.29 4.89
      Pricing & Distributions

      Pricing History

      • Market Price (MP): 
      Maximum data displayed is for the most recent 10 years
      Historical MP Lookup
      Enter date for which you wish to obtain a Historical MP for this fund

      Historical MP may not be available for all dates.

      Performance Attribution

      Performance Attribution

      Guide

      Available approximately 15 or 25 days after month end


      Quarterly Attribution

      Available approximately 25 days after quarter end


      Year To Date (YTD)
      12 Month Attribution
      Calendar Year
      No Data Available
    • Portfolio & Holdings Information

      Portfolio & Holdings Information
      Portfolio characteristic data are based on unaudited net assets.

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

      Sector, Holding & Characterstics

      Largest Sector Weights

      As of 02/29/24

      The Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS®) was developed by and/or is the exclusive property of MSCI, Inc. and S&P Global Market Intelligence Inc. ("S&P Global Market Intelligence"). GICS is a service mark of MSCI and S&P Global Market Intelligence and has been licensed for use by MFS. MFS has applied its own internal sector/industry classification methodology for equity securities and non-equity securities that are unclassified by GICS.

      Map represents sectors greater than 5%.

      Holding Characteristics

      Weighted average price/earnings (P/E) ratio is the ratio of the current price of a stock to an estimate of forward 12 month earnings; P/E ex-negatives ratio is an exposure-weighted average of the P/E ratios of the securities held, excluding companies with projected negative earnings.

      Weighted Average Price/Cash Flow: Price-to-cash-flow is the ratio of a stock's price to its per-share cash earnings.

      Price/Sales Ratio (P/S) is the ratio of a stock's price to its per-share sales.

      Price/Book ratio (P/B) is the ratio of a stock's price to its book value per share.

      Weighted Average IBES Long Term EPS Growth is the weighted average forecast, by sell side analysts of how much a company's net income will grow over the long-term (typically 3-5 years). The forecast is derived from all polled analysts' estimates. Source FactSet. 

      Weighted Median Market Cap: Weighted Median Market Cap is the Market Capitalization of the firm defined by the median dollar within the distribution of the market capitalization of all companies in the index or portfolio. It is calculated from a running total of market capitalizations from smallest company to largest. The Market Capitalization of the firm that sorts the total dollar value of all market capitalizations into two equal portions defines the value.

      As of 02/29/24
      Data table of holding characteristics
      characterstics Equity Earning
      Weighted Average Price/Earnings (next 12 months) 16.61x
      Weighted Average Price/Cash Flow 12.29x
      Weighted Average Price/Sales 1.09x
      Weighted Average Price/Book 1.66x
      Weighted Average IBES Long Term EPS Growth n/a
      Weighted Average Market Cap $4.6b
      Weighted Median Market Cap $3.7b
      Number of Issues 168
      Active Share

      Active share is calculated by taking the absolute value of the difference between each issuer's weighting in the index and its weighting in the portfolio, summing, then dividing by two. The higher the number, the more the weights differ from those of the benchmark.

      91.13%
      Portfolio Turnover

      Turnover Ratio is the percentage of a portfolio's securities that have changed over the course of a year: (lesser of purchases or sales)/average market value.

      52.91%
      % in Stocks 99.16%
      % Cash & Cash Equivalents 0.84%
      % in Top Ten 15.77%

      Performance Statistics

      Alpha is a measure of the portfolio's risk-adjusted performance. When compared to the portfolio's beta, a positive alpha indicates better-than-expected portfolio performance and a negative indicates alpha worse-than-expected portfolio performance.

      Beta is a measure of the volatility of a portfolio relative to the overall market. A beta less than 1.0 indicates lower risk than the market; a beta greater than 1.0 indicates higher risk than the market. It is most reliable as a risk measure when the return fluctuations of the portfolio are highly correlated with the return fluctuations of the index chosen to represent the market.

      Information ratio is a measure of consistency in excess return. It is calculated by taking the annualized excess return over a benchmark and dividing it by the annualized standard deviation of excess return.

      R squared represents the percentage of the portfolio's movements that can be explained by the general movements of the market.  Index portfolios will tend to have values very close to 100.  R squared is not a measure of performance.

      The Sharpe Ratio is a risk-adjusted measure calculated to determine reward per unit of risk. It uses a standard deviation and excess return. The higher the Sharpe Ratio, the better the portfolio's historical risk-adjusted performance.

      Standard Deviation is an indicator of the portfolio's total return volatility, which is based on a minimum of 36 monthly returns. The larger the portfolio's standard deviation, the greater the portfolio's volatility.

      Tracking error is the standard deviation of a portfolio's excess returns. Excess returns are a portfolio's return minus the benchmark's annualized return.

      Treynor Ratio: Treynor Ratio is a risk adjusted measure of performance. It is the ratio of the annualized excess return of the portfolio over the risk free rate for a given period divided by the Beta of the portfolio versus its benchmark for the same period. It measures the amount of excess return over the risk free rate earned per unit of systematic risk (beta) assumed.

      Upside and downside capture is a measure of how well a manager was able to replicate or improve on phases of positive benchmark returns, and how badly the manager was affected by phases of negative benchmark returns. Upside capture ratio for a portfolio is calculated by taking the portfolio's return during periods when the benchmark had a positive return and dividing it by the benchmark return during that same period. Downside capture ratio is calculated by taking the portfolio's return during the periods of negative benchmark performance and dividing it by the benchmark return for that period.

      Updated Monthly As of 02/29/24
      Benchmark
      Russell 2000® Index
      Performance Statistics Table
      10 Yr. 5 Yr. 3 Yr.
      Alpha 1.38 0.16 5.11
      Beta 0.94 0.95 0.95
      R-squared 96.27 96.37 96.18
      Standard Deviation % 19.46 23.07 20.53
      Sharpe Ratio 0.35 0.21 0.08
      Tracking Error 3.94 4.57 4.18
      Information Ratio 0.27 -0.04 1.23
      Treynor Ratio 7.33 5.02 1.83
      Downside Capture % 93.26 98.25 90.13
      Upside Capture % 97.88 98.01 107.12

      Top 10 Holdings

      As of 02/29/24
      • elf Beauty Inc
      • HealthEquity Inc
      • Skechers U.S.A. Inc
      • TriNet Group Inc
      • Grand Canyon Education Inc
      • Prestige Brands Holdings Inc
      • Verint Systems Inc
      • API Group Corp
      • Elastic NV
      • Element Solutions Inc
      The portfolio is actively managed, and current holdings may be different.

      Type Of Holdings (%)

      As of 02/29/24

      Sector Weights (%)

      As of 02/29/24
      •  % Assets
      • Industrials
        19.59
      • Health Care
        16.88
      • Financials
        15.04
      • Information Technology
        12.92
      • Consumer Discretionary
        9.96
      • Energy
        6.52
      • Real Estate
        6.13
      • Materials
        5.25
      • Communication Services
        2.77
      • Consumer Staples
        2.61
      • Utilities
        1.48
      • Cash & Cash Equivalents
        0.84

      The Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS®) was developed by and/or is the exclusive property of MSCI, Inc. and S&P Global Market Intelligence Inc. ("S&P Global Market Intelligence"). GICS is a service mark of MSCI and S&P Global Market Intelligence and has been licensed for use by MFS. MFS has applied its own internal sector/industry classification methodology for equity securities and non-equity securities that are unclassified by GICS.

      Region & Country

      Region & Country

      As of 02/29/24
      Region & Country Table
      Region & Country % Assets
      North America
      3 Countries
      99.16
      Cash & Cash Equivalents
      1 Countries
      0.84
      By Country Table
      By Country

      Top Country Weightings (%)

      As of 02/29/24
      • United States
        97.75
      • Canada
        0.89
      • Cash & Cash Equivalents
        0.84
      • Bermuda
        0.51
      Important Characteristics Information
      The portfolio is actively managed, and current holdings may be different.

      Portfolio characteristics are based on equivalent exposure, which measures how a portfolio's value would change due to price changes in an asset held either directly or, in the case of a derivative contract, indirectly. The market value of the holding may differ.

      *Short positions, unlike long positions, lose value if the underlying asset gains value.

    • Fees

      Fees

      • 0.54 % Net Expense Ratio

        Net Expense Ratio: The Net Expense Ratio reflects the reduction of expenses from contractual fee waivers and reimbursements. Elimination of these reductions will result in higher expenses and lower performance.


        These reductions will continue until at least 04/30/24

      • 0.55 % Gross Expense Ratio

        Gross Expense Ratio: The Gross Expense Ratio is the fund's total operating expense ratio from the fund's most recent prospectus.

    • Resources

      Resources

      Product Resources

      Fact Sheets are available approximately 15 days after quarter end.


      Quarterly Portfolio Review is available approximately 25 days after quarter end.


      Full Holdings available approximately 19 or 24 days after month end.


      Performance Attribution available approximately 15 or 25 days after month end.

      This website is a general communication and is provided for informational and/or educational purposes only. None of the content should be viewed as a suggestion that you take or refrain from taking any action nor as a recommendation for any specific investment product, strategy, plan feature or other such purpose. Your use of this website indicates that you agree with the intended purpose. Prior to making any investment or financial decision, you should seek individualized advice from a personal financial, tax, and other professionals who are able to provide advice in the context of your particular financial situation.

      Before purchasing any variable product, consider the objectives, risks, charges, and expenses associated with the underlying investment option(s) and those of the product itself. For a prospectus, or summary prospectus if available, containing this and other information contact the issuing insurance company. Read the prospectus carefully before you invest.

      MFS registered investment products are offered through MFS® Fund Distributors, Inc., 111 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02199.
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