Fund Evaluator:

MFS International New Discovery I Overview

MFS International New Discovery I (MWNIX) is an actively managed International Equity Foreign Small/Mid Growth fund. MFS launched the fund in 1997.

The investment seeks capital appreciation. The fund normally invests its assets primarily in foreign equity securities, including emerging market equity securities. Equity securities include common stocks, depositary receipts, and other securities that represent an ownership interest (or right to acquire an ownership interest) in a company or other issuer. The fund may invest a significant percentage of the fund's assets in issuers in a single industry, sector, country, or region.

About MFS International New Discovery I (MWNIX)

There are 4 members of the management team with an average tenure of 12.74 years: Robert Lau (2008), Sandeep Mehta (2020), Nicholas Spratt (2021), Peter Fruzzetti (2004). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 2 primary benchmarks: MSCI ACWI Ex USA NR USD index with a weighting of 100% and MSCI ACWI Ex USA SMID NR USD index with a weighting of 100%. MFS International New Discovery I has 272 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 11.1% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

MFS International New Discovery I is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the International Equity fund group. MFS International New Discovery I has 94.1% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 2.8%. There is 94.1% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). MFS International New Discovery I has 3.1% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $374 million in total assets, which is above the $319 million average for the Foreign Small/Mid Growth category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

MWNIX Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The MFS International New Discovery I expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Foreign Small/Mid Growth category. MFS International New Discovery I has an expense ratio of 1.03%, which is 16% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a B. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. MFS International New Discovery I has a portfolio turnover rate of 17%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.1 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 65% for the Foreign Small/Mid Growth category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, MFS International New Discovery I returned 1.3%, which earned it a grade of B, as the Foreign Small/Mid Growth category had an average return of -1.5%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all funds in that category.

MFS International New Discovery I has a trailing yield of 1.56%, which is above the 1.43% category average. The fund normally distributes its income annually and its capital gains annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

MFS International New Discovery I Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 7.7%, 1.0 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of B. The fund has returned 10.9% over the past year (grade of B), 9.2% over the past three years (grade of C) and 2.9% per year over the past five years (grade of B) and 6.5% per year over the past 10 years (grade of C).

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