MFS Invents First US Open-End Mutual Fund

On March 21, MFS establishes Massachusetts Investors Trust (MIT), the first US open-end mutual fund, revolutionizing an industry and opening the door to investing for millions of everyday investors.

MFS Publishes First Investor Reports

Setting an industry standard that all regulated mutual fund companies still follow today, MFS begins publishing transparent comprehensive reports for its investors.

MFS Weathers the Great Crash of 1929

On October 28, Black Monday shakes the stock market as the Dow Jones Industrial Average declines nearly 13%. MFS weathers Black Monday and the ensuing Great Depression, consistently paying dividends for investors amid the worst global economic crisis to date.

MFS Forms In-House Research Department

Led by the industry’s first research director Dwight Robinson, MFS establishes one of the very first in-house research departments. MFS creates new industry practices such as statistical analysis, touring potential companies’ facilities and meeting with company leadership.

MFS Registers Under Securities Act

A day after the Securities Act of 1933 passes, MFS is among the first mutual funds to register at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The Act seeks to curb fraudulent activities in the securities markets and increase the transparency of financial statements.

MFS Launches Second Fund Amid Great Depression

MFS is one of the few firms to grow funds, assets and shareholders during the Great Depression, establishing the Massachusetts Investors Growth Stock Fund.

MFS Petitions FDR on Behalf of Investors and Industry

MFS Chair Merrill Griswold and other Boston fund leaders meet with US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt at the White House to persuade the administration to exempt mutual funds from a proposed new double tax on investors. A pivotal moment in mutual fund history, this meeting is instrumental in passing the legislation that becomes the Revenue Act of 1936.

MFS Influences Investment Company Act of 1940

MFS trustees are directly involved in drafting the Investment Company Act of 1940. Their input is so influential that, after 1940, the requirements set forth in the legislation nearly mirror MFS’ bylaws. The 1940 Act still forms the pillar of financial regulation in the US today.

MFS Seeds One of First Venture Capital Firms

MFS takes a leadership position in the industry, investing in what would become the first modern venture capital firm in US history, American Research and Development Corporation (ARDC). This investment helped pave the way for greater access to financing for startups and small businesses, birthing the venture capital industry.

MFS Launches Industry’s First Growth Fund

MFS reinvents its second fund as Massachusetts Investors Growth Stock Fund (MIG), investing in growth companies to offer more options for clients. The launching of MIG creates the industry’s first growth fund and establishes both the criteria for and definition of a growth stock.

MFS transitions from Trusteeship to Portfolio Management Model

In order to expand and offer new investment opportunities to meet client needs, MFS’ trustees reorganize the firm, moving from a trusteeship that manages all funds to a portfolio management model in which small teams manage each fund’s holdings.

MFS Pioneers Active Fixed Income

After establishing its Fixed Income Group, MFS broadens the definition of “fixed income investing” for everyone by offering active fixed income. The first balanced fund, the MFS^® Total Return Fund, launches at a time when investors do not have wide access to money market funds or funds that invest bonds.

MFS Expands to Serve Institutional Clients

MFS opens its first institutional client account. Over time, MFS’ institutional clients include US and foreign corporations, governmental bodies, foundations, charitable organizations and university endowments.

MFS Enables Access to Municipal Bond Funds for Small Investors

In response to the Tax Reform Act of 1976, MFS launches the MFS^® Municipal Income Fund, one of the first municipal funds in the US. This new legislation allows for the creation of municipal bond mutual funds, so small investors can access the tax‐exempt features of bonds issued by state and local governments.

MFS Launches First US Global Fixed-Income Mutual Fund

Powered by original research, MFS creates the first global fixed income mutual fund based in the US (the MFS^® International Bond Fund). Not only is it the first MFS fund to actively trade derivatives and currencies, but the derivative strategies MFS uses become an integral part of active fixed income management.

Sun Life Purchases MFS

Sun Life Financial of Canada purchases MFS, establishing a successful, enduring partnership for both companies.

MFS Forms MFS Institutional Advisors, Inc.

To better serve its institutional clients, MFS establishes MFS Institutional Advisors, Inc. (MFSI), which provides sub‐advisory services to pooled investment vehicles, as well as investment advisory services to institutional clients, particularly separate accounts.

MFS Opens Funds for International Investors

Giving investors access to a broad variety of securities markets, MFS establishes MFS^® Meridian Funds as one of the first fund families for investors outside the United States.

MFS Opens First International Office

In recognition of the critical importance of having offices in the same locations as MFS clients, MFS International Ltd. (MIL), MFS’ offshore subsidiary, opens MFS’ first office outside the US in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Sept. 22.

MFS Creates First International Research Office

So analysts on different continents can work together more closely to better serve client needs, MFS opens its first overseas research office in London, England.

MFS Pioneers Intergenerational Financial Planning

MFS creates its Heritage Planning^® program, becoming the first mutual fund company to offer intergenerational financial planning resources to advisors.

MFS Expands into the Asia-Pacific

MFS opens a research office in Singapore, the first of multiple offices it opens in major cities in the Asia-Pacific region.

MFS Strengthens During the Great Recession

The most significant global economic crisis since the Great Depression, the Great Recession begins and lasts until 2009. MFS, having experienced many different market environments since 1924, knows how to think long-term during times of turbulence and comes out of this period even stronger.

MFS Signs United Nations’ Principles of Responsible Investing

MFS becomes one of the very first signatories to the United Nations’ Principles of Responsible Investing (UN PRI), formally recognizing the role ESG factors play in valuing potential investments as part of an active investment approach and integrating those factors into its global investment research platform.

MFS Unveils Infinite M

To better represent the global reach, interconnectivity and long-term investment philosophy that are fundamental to MFS, MFS introduces its new branding and new logo, the “infinite M.”

MFS Creates First Employee Resource Group

YPN@MFS (Young Professionals Network) becomes MFS’ first Employee Resource Group, and over the next few years, others are added to enhance MFS’ inclusive workplace culture: Pride@MFS, WE@MFS and Mosaic@MFS for members of the LGBTQ+ community, women and people of color, respectively.

MFS Establishes Alignment Platform

To ensure operations fully connect to its purpose to create value responsibly, MFS establishes its Alignment Group to provide formal structure around decision-making processes to ensure they fully align with client needs, as well as employees and the firm.

MFS Launches Purpose Statement

By formally launching its purpose statement — “we exist to create long-term value responsibly” — MFS states what has driven the firm since its founding — to always serve clients’ best interests by being responsible stewards of capital.

MFS Celebrates Century of Active Stewardship

MFS turns 100 and celebrates a century of putting clients’ interests first through its deliberate, long-term active management approach.