MFS launches Diversified Target Return Fund
BOSTON, MA, February 4, 2008 -- MFS Investment Management® (MFS®) announced today the launch of MFS® Diversified Target Return Fund (DVRAX). The fund's investment objective is to seek a target total return that meets or exceeds the rate of inflation over a full market cycle by five percentage points. The fund will use an unconstrained benchmark approach, seeking lower correlation and lower volatility relative to the broader equity market to achieve more consistent returns through a combination of individual security selection, top down market allocation and active currency management.
The fund will utilize a combination of fundamental and quantitative analysis for individual security selection within fourteen underlying sleeve portfolios with the flexibility to invest in equities across all market capitalizations, styles (e.g. growth, value), regions and industries. The fund also has the ability to take short positions and may invest in fixed income securities as well. In addition, MFS has engaged UBS Global Asset Management (Americas) Inc. ("UBS Global Asset Management") as a subadvisor to the fund to actively manage the fund's market and currency exposures through the use of derivatives. As a result, to meet its investment objective, the fund will seek to generate returns from three independent sources: individual security selection, top down market allocation and active currency management.
"The innovative approach of MFS Diversified Target Return Fund allows active management of all the major sources of risk and return in a portfolio, releasing some of the investment constraints of more traditional approaches by tactically adjusting market and currency exposures," said James Jessee, President of MFS Fund Distributors, Inc., the retail mutual fund sales arm of MFS. "The fund can complement a portfolio of traditional investments with the diversifying characteristics of a flexible, institutional-quality, alternative investment strategy for mutual fund investors."
UBS Global Asset Management has more than 25 years of experience managing globally diversified, active asset allocation portfolios for institutional and private clients. By applying the firm's proprietary risk/return analysis, the fund may increase or decrease its overall exposure to certain markets or currencies through derivatives in an effort to manage volatility and provide more consistent returns.
"We are excited to work with MFS to bring this investment capability to its clients," said Neil Williams, Managing Director and Head of Asset Allocation for UBS Global Asset Management. "The investment tools and techniques utilized by MFS Diversified Target Return Fund, formerly accessible to only the largest institutional investors, are now available to virtually all investors in an affordable and liquid vehicle. This fund should enhance their overall diversification, while managing volatility, with the goal of more consistent returns."
The fund will be available in multiple share classes from MFS through financial intermediaries at insurance companies, wirehouses, independent broker/dealers and registered investment advisors for retail, fee-based wrap, retirement and institutional accounts.
Joseph Flaherty and Natalie Shapiro, PhD., of the MFS Quantitative Solutions Team, will oversee MFS' individual security selection process for the fund and will serve as lead portfolio managers for the fund. Flaherty is Co-Director of the MFS Quantitative Solutions Team and Portfolio Manager of the firm's asset allocation products. He has been with MFS since 1993 and has worked in the industry for more than 20 years. Shapiro is a Portfolio Manager and Quantitative Fixed Income Research Analyst. She has been with MFS since 1997 and has worked in the field since 1986.
Neil Williams and Tom Clarke will lead the UBS Global Asset Management team responsible for managing the market and currency exposures through derivatives. Williams has investment strategy responsibility for all the firm's multi-asset funds. He has worked in the asset management industry for 17 years, including having previously served as Chief Global Strategist at Goldman Sachs for six years. Clarke, with 17 years experience in the industry, is Managing Director and Head of Currency Analysis and Strategy for UBS Global Asset Management.
About MFS
MFS manages $204 billion in assets on behalf of more than 5 million individual and institutional investors worldwide as of September 30, 2007. The company traces its origins to 1924 and the creation of America 's first mutual fund.
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